"I join and welcome the concerted effort by other cultural leaders to protect arts budgets. We know there will be cuts to culture and that we must work collectively to minimise them. Every walk of British life is being challenged at this time. No one will be exempt. The private sector should be seen as a supplement to the public sector , but rarely a substitute. But together the public and private sectors are a powerful advocate , both for continuity and change. Let us not try and divide the two at this time.
Arts & Business’ analysis proves that we can grow the contribution of the private sector - 40% of the wider cultural sector in the UK currently receives no private investment. We must continue to work alongside these bodies to ensure they diversify their income sources through private sources. The majority of arts organisations (70%) expect private investment to be more important for them in the next three years, from friends schemes, to legacy campaigns to major gifts, to special appeals and more tax efficient giving, which are new income streams to unlock.Our strategic ambition remains for the private sector to invest £1billion in culture by 2016. We are working alongside philanthropists such as Alec Reed who are making an immediate contribution through the Big Arts Give and with others who collectively gave £353 million in 2008/09."
Colin Tweedy, Chief Executive, Arts & Business