Nesta report says supporting the arts through three new funding models could bring in more than £70 million of additional finance over three years
Nesta is calling on private and public funders to explore new models for driving income growth in the arts. In its report The new art of finance: making money work harder for the arts, Nesta proposes that arts funders, such as the arts councils, local authorities and the Department for Culture, Media and Sport (DCMS), should make public money work harder and leverage new sources of finance in three new ways: research and development (R&D) funding, venture funding and matching money raised through crowdfunding.
The arts remain dependent on four funding sources: grants from public bodies, earned income (eg from ticket sales), philanthropy and investment. The new art of finance identifies three financing gaps and proposes solutions. They are:
If Arts Council England (ACE) were alone to ring fence one per cent of its overall budget on R&D funding, currently equivalent to £6 million a year, and public funders were between them to allocate £10 million a year towards piloting venture funds, accelerators and crowdfunding, the report argues that after three years we might expect over £70 million of new funding for the arts over this period.3
Hasan Bakhshi, Nesta’s Director of Creative Economy comments: “The recent funding cuts in England will not be reversed any time soon. They reinforce the need to urgently explore new ways of supporting the arts. Now is the time to develop funding models which leverage in money from new sources.”
The full report, The new art of finance: making money work harder for the arts, is available here.
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For all media enquiries please contact Laura Scarrott in Nesta’s press office: [email protected] / 0207 438 2697
Footnotes:
1. One per cent is broadly equivalent to the amount of money the UK spends on scientific and technological R&D as a percentage of gross output. A one per cent target is conservative when compared with, say, the 2.3 per cent and 3.2 per cent that the Computer programming and consultancy and Pharmaceuticals industries respectively spend on R&D as a percentage of their sales.
2. http://www.crowdingin.com/platforms/all/all
3. Over £70million of new funding over three years assumes an additional £1 is raised in 2015–16 (1 X £16 million), £1.50 is raised in 2016–17 (1.50 X £16 million) and £2 is raised in 2017–18 (2 X £16 million) for every £1 of public money spent. This is described as ‘up to’ £72 million in additional funding because some of this money may displace existing funding in the arts, How can money work harder for the arts
About Nesta: (www.nesta.org.uk) is the UK's innovation foundation. We help people and organisations bring great ideas to life. We do this by providing investments and grants and mobilising research, networks and skills. We are an independent charity and our work is enabled by an endowment from the National Lottery.