A new study from the University of Sheffield, University of Kent, and the Chartered Institute of Fundraising has shown that “Over half of the UK's arts and cultural venues and organisations believe they are at risk due to the decline in income during the pandemic.”
The study is titled, 'Dealing with the crisis: Creativity and resilience of arts and cultural fundraisers during Covid-19' (28 May 2021). It is a compilation of gathered information about how arts and cultural fundraisers were impacted by and managed the Covid-19 pandemic during 2020. Almost two-thirds of fundraisers (62 per cent) surveyed in the study, expected their organisation's income to fall during the pandemic, with nearly half (47 per cent) reporting the social restrictions during the pandemic meant many of their revenue-generating programmes had been postponed.
Some key findings of the report included:
79 per cent of respondents said that their fundraising activity overall has decreased
66 per cent of organisations said they had postponed planned arts and cultural projects and programmes
64 per cent said financial support in 2021 and beyond was very important to the survival of the sector
89 per cent said supporting organisations unable to access emergency funding was important
Reports of increased workload and stress also highlighted the concern that if staff welfare issues are not addressed, there will be a real risk of a significant loss of talent from the sector in the future.
