According to the CAF UK Giving Report 2014 only 1% of donations in the UK went to the arts. In this context, arts charities face an upward battle to ensure that their cause is front of mind for donors against a myriad of competing charitable initiatives ranging from health to education.
The trends are exacerbated in a regional and national context – according to the latest Arts Council England figures from 2014/15, Contributed Income (sponsorships, trusts and individuals) raised by Arts Council-funded National Portfolio Organisations was £62m by the 10 major national organisations.
A significant sum of £60m was then raised by other organisations based in London, with North West organisations the next nearest contenders at £11m – as such, the regional differences in terms of ability to raise funds are stark. According to the DCMS Charitable Giving Indicators 2014/15, the Tate at £137m stands out from the crowd in their ability to raise significant private sector funds, followed by the V&A at £46m and the British Museum at £38m. Suffice to say, for organisations outside of London with limited internal resources for fundraising it’s a tough climate.
The key statistics
It is useful to look at the average income profile of the Arts Council funded National Portfolio organisations and the Major Partner Museums. Contributed income where fundraising sits, is at 12% and 7% respectively, which makes for a small but important part of overall totals. However, we shouldn’t forget how essential strong Earned Income and subsidy from Arts Council and Local Authorities, is to the overall picture.
When the contributed income data is broken down further it can be shown that individual giving remains the strongest area, yet the majority of NPOs are working to a growth in Trust fundraising as their key goal – an area that is only likely to diminish due to competition for funds. With this in mind, it’s apparent that fundraising strategies are often not being drawn up against a robust picture or benchmark of what is possible and/or achievable.
Positive trends
But there are also some very positive trends developing. According to the DCMS Charitable Giving Indicators 2014/15, fundraising income is catching up with public funding as a source of income for Arts Council England’s (ACE) National Portfolio Organisations. The total value of their ‘contributed income’ earned from fundraising activities grew from £180m to £186m between 2013/14 and 2014/15 – a 3.4% increase.
An additional £69m is now being earned from this source compared with five years ago – £30m more than has been lost in ACE grant in aid. An even stronger five-year pattern of growth can be seen amongst the 15 direct-funded DCMS museums and galleries. Excluding donated objects, contributed income has grown from £96m in 2010/11 to £193m in 2014/15, although this latest figure marks a fall of 15% on the previous year.
Cause for optimism
Similarly, a new annual survey from Arts Quarter also reports that cultural organisations are optimistic about their financial outlook, even those that are bracing themselves for local authority cuts, with a strong move away from statutory sources to a more mixed model of revenue generation. During the next financial year, 60% of responding organisations believed their fundraising revenues will increase, with 36% expecting an increase of more than 10%. However, 80% of organisations still see trusts and foundations as their main source of fundraising growth over the next three years, a position that will be unsustainable in the short to medium term.
But of course there is also work to do, despite these promising areas of development. The Arts Quarter survey also highlighted that only a quarter of arts organisations see their fundraising case for support as effective at engaging donors and 56% are not sure that their organisation’s Trustees have the skills to support their fundraising goals. Additionally, 47% of organisations surveyed planned to spend more on fundraising staff which also begs the question about making sure there are enough suitably trained fundraisers able to make a difference.
