Ms. Megan Schmoll


Ms. Jordan Shue

Giving Time & Treasure to the Arts Makes All the Difference

Posted by Ms. Megan Schmoll, Ms. Jordan Shue, Oct 24, 2014 0 comments


Ms. Megan Schmoll


Ms. Jordan Shue

Megan Bell Megan Bell

 

Throughout the blog salon this week during National Arts and Humanities Month (and Pro Bono Week!), we hope these posts have demonstrated the value of giving your time and treasure to the arts. Whether you are an individual philanthropist, business volunteer, young patron, emerging art leader, or corporate sponsor, your contributions strengthen the arts across America. As we saw this week, there are many ways to support the arts. We can encourage younger patrons to support the arts now and in future generations, engage the community in unique ways to raise awareness of the arts, donate time and volunteer skills to further the missions of individual arts organizations in your community, join the push for tax policy that favors the arts, recruit new supporters of the arts through workplace engagement and giving campaigns, and above all, become a passionate ambassador for such an important cause. Volunteering your time provides capabilities and experiences that many organizations may not have the resources to otherwise procure, and donating your resources grants arts organizations the means to continue focusing on fulfilling their missions, growing their audiences, and producing great art. Did you know:

  • Private sector giving to the arts, culture, and humanities was $16.6 billion in 2013, which accounted for five percent of total charitable dollars?
  • Corporate sponsorships raised a total of $920 million for the arts in 2013?
  • 2.1 million people volunteered at an arts organization in 2012? This amounts to 22 volunteers for every nonprofit arts organization in the country!
  • Through the Business Volunteers for the Arts® program, 825 volunteers donated 9,165 hours of pro bono consulting in 2012. At the mid-consultant rate of $120 per hour the donated amount equaled nearly $1.1 million.
  • United Arts Funds (UAFs) raised a total of $96.4 million that went directly to local arts organizations in 2012?

For more great reasons to support the arts, read Randy Cohen’s 10 Reasons to Support the Arts in 2014, and if you’re a business or are appealing to businesses for support, refer to the pARTnership Movement’s 8 reasons to partner with the arts. Finally, thanks to you–our readers–for participating in the conversation this week. We hope that you will continue to revisit this blog salon in the future for more ideas and inspiration on how to improve your organization’s fundraising, volunteer efforts, and corporate partnerships. We’d also love to hear more about how and why you give your time and treasure to the arts! Use hashtag #SupportArts on Facebook and Twitter to join the conversation and to see what others are saying. On behalf of the team at Americans for the Arts, thank you to all of our bloggers, commentators, and social media followers for a great blog salon this week, and thank you for your support of the arts! The Giving Time & Treasure to the Arts blog salon is generously sponsored by Patron Technology.

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