Private Support

Donations and sponsorship from individuals, foundations and businesses are vital to the planning and staging of events and broadening of collections for many arts organisations.

The arts also play an important role in helping Victorian businesses to expand into new markets and raise Victoria's profile and reputation as a place of innovation and diversity.

Key Arts Organisations

In 2010, 106 organisations recurrently funded by Arts Victoria generated $30.2 million in private support representing 10% of total income.

• $11.8 million from donations
• $8.0 million in cash sponsorships
• $5.6 million of in-kind sponsorships
• $4.8 million from philanthropic trusts

Since 2003:

• Total value of private support has increased by nearly 40%, from $21.5 million to $30.2 million
• Private support as a proportion of total income has remained around 10%
• There has been a decrease in proportion of cash sonsorship from 42% to 26%, matched by an increase in donations from 28% to 39%

Sources of Private Support for Victoria's Key Arts Organisations 2003-09

The Festivals sector;and Museums and Galleries sector rely on private support more than other sectors with 21% and 16% of each sector's total income respectively derived from private support.

Industry Sector	Amount of private support	Proportion of sector's total income
Festivals	$5.9 m	21%
Museums and Galleries	$6.1 m	17%
Performing Arts Organisations	$16.3 m	9%
Industry and Cultural Development Organisations	$1.5 m	8%
Performing Arts Centres	$294,000	1%
Total	$30.2 m

For more statistics on Victoria's key arts organisations click here.

Australian Business Arts Foundation national survey on private sector support

In 2009, the Australian Business Arts Foundation (AbaF) released findings of a national survey into private sector support for the arts.

A sample of not-for-profit arts and cultural organisations was surveyed nationwide.

Some of the findings from the survey in Victoria were:

• Total private support was $62.1 million, respresenting 28% of the national total
• Two thirds of the private support (67%) came from donations

Download a copy of the full report from the AbaF website.

Australian Major Performing Arts Group (AMPAG)

The (AMPAG) report Tracking Changes in Corporate Sponsorship and Private Donations 2011 tracks the level of corporate sponsorship and private donations for the major performing arts sector from 2001 to 2010.

The report found similar trends to Arts Victoria's data on Victoria's key arts organisations. Since 2001, there has been a decrease in the proportion of private support from corporate sponsorship and an increase in the proportion of private support from donations:

• In 2010, 49% of private support was received in the form of corporate sponsorship and 51% from donations (including fundraising events).
• In 2001, 72% was from corporate sponsorship and 28% from donations (including fundraising events).