From asking to earning – the way forward for sponsorship of the Arts
The private sector in Sweden has not been very visible in the art sector over the last 40 years and culture organisations have been leading a comfortable, public-funded life. But as elsewhere in Europe times are changing, especially in the field of government policy’s and attitudes. Art institutions are now forced too look for alternative sources of funding and partnerships. One thing most organisations have in common is the inexperience of seeking sponsorship. Many Swedish institutions now look to the UK for advice. This is why British Council in Sweden together with Arts & Business Sweden co-arranged the highly appreciated and well visited seminar “Sponsorship in the UK vs. Sweden“.
The British speakers invited to the seminar where Holly Tebbutt from Mission Models Money and Philip Spedding from Arts & Business. Swedish speakers were Christer Nylander, Deputy Chairman of the Swedish Parliamentary Committee on Cultural Affairs and Christina Thörnvall, Sponsorship Manager at E.ON, one of Sweden’s largest energy companies.
Mission Models Money, MMM, fosters and encourages peer to peer cooperation in order to solve problems. They see themselves as facilitators for the British art organisations that are bold enough to seek new mission and models in order to secure future funding and income in a more resilient way. The best way to do this is to make sure different art organisations share and learn from each other. MMM is also a research organisation and has compiled several reports that can be found on http://www.missionmodelsmoney.org.uk/.
Arts & Business aim to create new partnerships between commerce and culture. They offer the arts learning and development as well as tailored advice, and for business A&B provide a connection with arts sponsorship that help bring the business to life. More info available on: www.artsandbusiness.org.uk.
At the seminar Holly Tebbutt highlighted that art organisations must rethink income towards a more diverse spectrum of different sources. We must go from asking to earning, a mind shift that is necessary if art organisations want to become resilient.
Governments say business should pay for culture but politicians as well as arts organisations don’t seem to understand what this entails, creating a big problem. One of the learning lessons from the UK is that the Arts sector has to move to an investment mindset which includes public and private money. A budget should ideally consist of 1/3 grant, 1/3 income from open market services, 1/3 sponsorship and you should never place all your eggs in one basket.
Art organisations need to clearly articulate their value – both to the public but also to the potential private sponsors. There is a need for sophisticated messages to different audiences. Philip Spedding shared a resent example from the UK that raised people’s eyebrows; Threats of budget cuts got art organisations in the UK involved in different campaigns to gain support from the public. Over a three month period one organisation was able to collect 60 000 signatures for an online petition. When the British government started to talk about selling off all the forests in the UK a green NGO was able to collect 300 000 signatures in just 6 weeks. Arts organisations must become much better at stating how they are making a difference. Why are they relevant to the public and consequently sponsors?
First task is to articulate your value and have a mission, and to rethink your money. The whole spectrum of funding requires specific skills so skills and knowledge become an issue. It is important to remember that everyone within an organisation plays an important part in fundraising. The Arts sector has to understand its asset potential, both tangible and intangible. If their staff e.g. have skills and knowledge that can be utilised by others, that’s an asset. You need to be entrepreneurial! The panellists stressed the importance of using social media and to be online all the time – or you will not be around much longer.
Arts organisations need to understand what private companies consider to be arts. Swedish business has a long history of sports sponsorship and it is easy to talk about football, ice-hockey or athletics since everyone has a common understanding of what that is. But what does a potential sponsor think of when you mention “arts”? Graffiti, modern dance, opera or commercial film with Hollywood stars? Art may not be for everyone to do and it can be difficult for companies to understand arts, its relevance and its target audiences. The arts sectors need to become a lot better at offering companies something in return for their sponsorship and deliver something they are both interested in.
Don’t get led by the funding just because it is there – remember you mission!
Selected reading for anyone interested in arts funding:
selected_reading_on_funding.pdf
measuring_intrinsic_value-2.pdf
making_adaptive_resilience_real-2.pdf
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