1 July 2010
Private support for the arts rose slightly to $212 million in 2008-9, despite the economic downturn, according to new research by the Australia Business Arts Foundation (AbaF).
The 2010 edition of the annual AbaF Survey of Private Sector Support for the Arts has just been released, tracking the value of sponsorships and donations to Australian not-for-profit arts organisations for 2008-09.
The survey tracks small and medium sized arts organisations as well as major galleries, festivals and major performing arts.
AbaF received responses from 241 participating arts organisations for this year’s survey, using those figures to extrapolate a figure for the whole not-for-profit arts and cultural sector. The survey measures total contributions received by participating arts organisations in the form of sponsorship and partnerships (monetary and in-kind) and donations from individuals, foundations and trusts. Gifts of property and artworks are not included.
- Overall private support for the arts was $212 million in 2008-9, an increase of four per cent from the previous year
- Sponsorship exceeded $100 million for the first time, rising to $100.7 million
- Giving increased to $111.4 million
- Private support as a share of total arts sector income remained steady at 9.3 per cent.
“Private support for the arts appears to remain healthy despite the economic downturn,” said AbaF CEO Jane Haley.
AbaF’s surveys of historical trends show that overall private sector support has increased 90 per cent since 2001-2, at an annual growth rate of 13 per cent.
Sponsorship has increased by 56 per cent in the last eight years, while giving has grown even more rapidly, rising by 136 per cent.
New South Wales and Victoria secured the lion’s share of private support for the arts nationwide in 2008-09 – 71 percent of the total.
The art forms attracting the largest amount of private support are the performing arts ($76.6 million), art galleries ($59.1 million) and arts festivals ($39.9 million).
Download a summary of the report for free.
Media enquiries: Nick Gadd, AbaF communications manager (03) 9616 0308 / 0425 862 119
