The Corporate Tale

When I talk with other people in the arts, one thing always makes me cringe. I hear it from brand new companies and from very huge organizations:

"We're looking to attract more corporate sponsorship..."

According to Giving USA (executive report is free, but requires registration) in 2009, Corporate giving only made up four percent of philanthropy. Individual giving makes up 75% of giving in the US.  

$14.1 billion was given by coprorations in 2009. $227 billion was given by individuals, with another $23 billion in bequests. Together individuals and bequests make up 83% of philanthropy.

Think about that. How much time do you spend on grants? How much time have you spent trying to get a piece of the corporate pie? How much time do you spend doing what people care about? Making people care about what you do?

Corporate giving is a tiny slice of the philanthropic pie, and it is shrinking. In addition, corporate sponsorship is also decreasing. The corporate landscape for arts funding is bleak and will continue to get bleaker. I wish more people got that.

Corporate funding is fickle. Corporations get bought out, change their funding areas of interest, etc. all the time. Depending on corporate funding is a disaster waiting to happen. The one of the worst things you can do as an organization is waste time and resources by focusing on hunting down corporate money.

Philanthropy is very much a popularity contest, it always has been. People give to organizations they care about, that inspire them. Chase, American Express, Target etc, they make a lot of noise when they give. But corporations don't fund the future. They don't separate the wheat from the chaff. Individuals do.

They may not be as flashy, they may not cut one huge check a year, they may not have a fancy logo; however, people determine whether or not your organization thrives. Do you treat people like they determine your future? Should you?