Distribution of private investment in the arts is “extremely uneven”

London attracts two-third of all private investment in the arts, according to new estimates.

The majority (59%) of income from private sources in 2014/15 was from individual giving, with a further quarter from trusts and foundations, and the remaining 17% from business support. The North East attracted just 1% of arts investment, the majority of which came from trusts and foundations.

The figures have been published in a report, ‘Private Investment in Culture 2012/13, 2013/14 and 2014/15’, which provides estimates of private income for the whole of England’s arts sector based on a survey of 1,300 arts and culture organisations.

Funded by Arts Council England (ACE), the study aims to fill the gap left by the agency Arts & Business, which produced annual estimates of private support for the arts for 30 years until 2011/12, when ACE cut its funding.

Uneven distribution

The report estimates that total private investment in culture in 2014/15 was worth £480m, of which just over half (£245m) was from individual philanthropy. £139m came from trusts and foundations and £96m from businesses.

But the distribution of the money is “extremely uneven”, the report concludes. As well as there being a geographic imbalance, the report notes that 60% of all private investment went to just 50 recipients.

The visual arts sector was significantly more successful at generating this type of income than any other art form, having attracted almost a third of all private investment.

Growth patterns

The total value of private investment in culture is estimated to have grown by 21% last year, with this figure being driven by a few very high donations to the largest recipients. For the rest, annual growth in income from private sources was estimated to be 8%.

The different types of private investment showed different growth patterns, there was:

• a 69% increase in individual giving;
• an 8% increase in support from trusts and foundations; and
• a 33% decrease in business support.

The figures are markedly different from those reported by ACE’s National Portfolio Organisations (NPOs) in their annual submissions for 2014/15. Total contributed income among NPOs was reported as growing by 1% that year, including:

• a 1% increase in individual giving;
• a 3.5% decrease in support from trusts and foundations; and
• a 12% increase in business support.