The cultural sector response to the coalition’s arts philanthropy agenda

Executive Summary

Few can question the magnitude of the statement made by the Secretary of State for Culture, Media & Sport back in December on the future of the UK cultural community outlining as it did a number of aspirations to transform Philanthropy in the Arts. The potential scale of impact that this single speech may have on the sector left us in no doubt of our responsibility in service to the Arts to explore both the wider principles and specific issues raised with as many in the sector as could be encouraged to share their views. This is without doubt the most comprehensive and largest research exercise that Arts Quarter has undertaken since our research programme began in 2008 and we are exceptionally grateful to all who took time out to take part and share views as well as those bodies who assisted in disseminating our call to action, recognising the significance of this issue to the future of the sector. We hope that these findings complement work being undertaken by the Department for Culture, Media & Sport, Arts Council England and others in seeking to inform debate leading to the delivery of programmes that will resonate with the needs of the sector.

As in all of our research activities, our methodology sought to gather both quantitative and qualitative data from our respondents, recognising that each are essential in seeking to develop a rounded perspective on this critical issue. The openness of our respondents in sharing insights and experiences has added considerable value to our findings and again we are grateful to those who took time to share often detailed perspectives by way of free-form narrative responses to questions posed.