Wally Hurst

The Survey, The Public, and The Arts

Posted by Wally Hurst, Dec 09, 2010 0 comments


Wally Hurst

Wally Hurst

Giving to the arts, especially for businesses (large and small), is always a choice. For the businesses who support the arts in our little corner of the world, that choice is based on: 1) the personal relationships we have with the business owners/executives, and 2) the sustained quality of our product and our people. Through all the recent economic downturns and the twists and turns of fortune, these businesses have to prioritize their (perhaps) shrinking resources. They will continue to support those people and places with whom they have the strongest relationship.

For our organization, businesses that continued funding at the same or higher levels have all come, without exception, from businesses with exceptionally strong personal ties to us, either as performers on our stage, volunteers at the theatre, or visible supporters in the public eye. They are here for the same reason that our volunteers are here: because they love the place and the people that are associated with it. Just as we have a passion for the arts and for our theatre, these business people (and the businesses they run) have a passion and a personal connection to this place and its people. They do not have a business obligation to give – they have a personal obligation to do so. We have found that those businesses with whom we have little or no face-to-face interaction (their choice) are the most unlikely to continue regular funding our programs. Although the businesses in the survey said that they were cutting funding to the arts because of the economic downturn, I believe that those businesses with a close personal connection to specific arts organizations (and people) will move heaven and earth to continue supporting those organizations they believe in.

The economic downturn suggests a way for some businesses to stop supporting the arts. But as a “priority” in the giving of gifts, I have found that for individuals and for businesses, those priorities are set by the level of involvement with the charity and the belief in the charity. The survey hits it right on the head when it says that the reason they do not support the arts currently is that “they give where they have an existing relationship”. That relationship is with another charity, so 52% of those not currently supporting the arts have no relationship with the arts.

That is what we need to change.

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