The Stage

Fundraising focus for Arts and Business

Published Tuesday 27 January 2009 at 16:55 by Alistair Smith

Arts and Business has unveiled an overhaul of its operation in response to the £2 million of annual funding it lost as part of Arts Council England’s recent spending allocation.

The organisation will now have an increased focus on learning and development, so that it can give advice to arts organisations on how best to fundraise from corporations, individuals and trusts in light of the worsening economic situation. It will no longer offer its matched funding scheme, through which it used to double the sponsorship that arts organisations had received.

It has also appointed Verity Haines to the new role of national arts director. Joining from the Royal Society for the encouragement of Arts, Manufactures and Commerce, where she was director of marketing and development, she will head up a team of six at A&B.

Haines told The Stage: “This is about needing to tailor our offer much more closely to the needs of the sector, because it became clear that no other organisation does what we do, nor are they in a position to do so.

“The charitable sector has lots of different training providers but there is no - or very little - training specific to the cultural sector and, as fundraisers know, arts fundraising requires a unique set of skills. Our training is for fundraisers at entry level, mid way through their careers and also to refresh the skills of the very experienced - so the offer is lifelong.”

• Meanwhile, A&B has announced its annual figures for private and corporate sponsorship of the arts. Private sector investment reached a record level in 2007/8, up 25% to £382 million. Business investment fell by 7% from the previous year, down to £163 million. Overall, this meant a 12% increase above inflation to £686 million, which includes £141 million from trusts and foundations - up 7%.

A&B chief executive Colin Tweedy said: “The overall figures show the remarkable achievement of the UK’s arts fundraisers. But in this economic climate the challenges facing cultural organisations are immense and the cultural sector cannot remain immune in a global recession. With a squeeze on public investment and a reduction in some private giving imminent, the key is to maintain long-term relationships, so the cultural sector can weather the storm. Great creativity can grow from times of hardship.”

Within the overall figures, theatre sponsorship fell by just more than 1% to £53 million, but dance grew 58% to £23 million, and opera was up 35% to nearly £30 million.