Business Contributions to the Arts: 2019 Edition
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Business Contributions to the Arts: 2019 Edition

March 17, 2020 | Report

In partnership with Americans for the Arts, The Conference Board conducts an annual survey that seeks information regarding businesses’ support for the arts. This edition, fittingly laid out in infographic form for a more visually appealing read, demonstrates that 83 percent of participants expect their support for the arts to remain the same or increase and that their contributions constitute 39 percent of their total charitable giving. Further indicators of the value respondents place on arts contributions include 67 percent indicating that they enable employees to volunteer with arts organizations and a 36 percent increase in the number of respondents that track the outcomes of their donations; both results evidencing strategic intent. 

The 2019 Business Contributions to the Arts survey shows that the environment for contributions to the arts is healthy. Participants expect the value or level of their support to remain the same or increase and are leveraging opportunities for employees to engage with arts organizations through volunteer work or other means. More companies are tracking the outcomes of their efforts. These results indicate that more companies are aligning arts contributions programs with business strategy and goals, thus justifying continued giving.

This year’s survey garnered 130 responses, similar to the levels of participation of the last two surveys. One hundred and twenty-five of those respondents made a contribution to the arts in 2018, and the total amount contributed to the arts was $77.7M (with an average contribution of $631,997). These arts contributions represented 39 percent of respondents’ total charitable giving for 2018. Total arts contributions were split

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AUTHORS

RobertSchwarz

Former Senior Researcher, ESG Center
The Conference Board

RandyCohen

Vice President of Research and Policy
Americans for the Arts

IsaacFitzsimons

Research Coordinator
Americans for the Arts


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