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PHILANTHROPY SLUMPS
06.12.2011 / News / 0 Comments
NCA survey shows fall in investment
New sS
Business sponsorship and individual giving to the arts has slumped, according to a new survey of the arts, the UK Arts Index compiled by the National Campaign for the Arts with Audiences UK. The finding coincides with the completion of the Year of Corporate Philanthropy declared by culture secretary Jeremy Hunt.
The UK Arts Index, which will be an annual health check on the sector, shows that business investment fell by 17% between 2007 and 2010, and individual giving by 13%.
However, the overall Arts Index score, scanned from 20 publicly available indicators, has remained unaffected thanks to a one-off cash injection from the National Lottery designed to offset the effects of the recession.
The report in particular highlights the decline in philanthropic giving. "Given the government's stated intention that cuts to the arts should be supplemented by philanthropic donations, these UK and US trends are worrying" it says.
The arts have remained healthy through the recession so far thanks to stable levels of funding, but the analysis does not reflect recent subsidy cuts which began to take effect in England this year.
Employment in the arts went down between 2008 and 2010, but earned income rose possibly reflecting that arts organisations are working harder with fewer people.
The UK Arts Index is the first measure of the contribution the arts make to the economy. Samuel West, the actor and a trustee of the NCA, said: "The way the arts are funded and the policy that underlies that funding is changing fast. Now is a good time to catch up. Now, perhaps more than ever, we need to be able to measure the health of our sector and to trace the positive or negative effects of change. The UK Arts Index lets us do this."
He said the intention was to publish every year, and that the UK Arts Index was to become the standard measure of the health of the arts.
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