News

The MA has given a cautious welcome to culture secretary Jeremy Hunt’s announcement yesterday that the Department for Culture, Media and Sport (DCMS) and Arts Council England (ACE) are to invest £80m in a match-funding initiative to encourage philanthropy for the arts.

MA director Mark Taylor said: “It is too easy to be cynical about the government's promotion of philanthropy for museums but it is clearly a laudable aim.  It is encouraging that Jeremy Hunt acknowledges that this is a long-term project.”

DCMS aims to boost giving from individuals and corporations through a series of match-fund schemes designed to raise an equivalent amount or more from private donors. ACE may contribute up to £50m of lottery money to the scheme.

The initiative is part of a ten-point DCMS plan to make philanthropic giving more straightforward and commonplace.

Other steps include offering more visible recognition to private donors, encouraging legacy giving, supporting the development of endowments and promoting fundraising skills in the cultural sector. ACE chief Alan Davey has also called for a review of the Gift Aid system.

Taylor said: “To persuade ordinary people to regularly consider giving money to museums will take a major cultural change and a generation. Tax benefits will also be vital.”

But Taylor warned that philanthropy should not be promoted as a substitute for government funding, and would do little to ameliorate the impact of cuts announced in October’s spending review. National museums in England are facing a 15% funding reduction over the next four years.

Taylor said: “What is important is that the government sticks to its word and does not pretend that philanthropy can in any substantial way make good the cuts that are set to devastate so much of the museum sector.”

For more details on yesterday’s announcement, click here