Record Level of Individual Donations to Cultural Organizations in 2004

Over the last few years, many cultural organizations have been raising funds to build new spaces, renew older buildings, develop endowment funds or cover operating expenses. A number of these projects have achieved a fairly high public profile.

A new report from Hill Strategies Research provides a picture of arts and culture fundraising in 2004. The report shows that 732,000 Canadians 15 years of age or older made financial donations worth a total of $188 million to arts and culture organizations in 2004. This represents a record level of donations by individuals to arts and culture organizations – much higher than amounts captured in surveys conducted in 2000 and 1997.

The $188 million donated to arts and culture organizations represents, on average, a donation of $257 per arts and culture donor.

There is certainly strong competition for donors from other non-profit sectors. With $188 million in donations – 2.1% of total donations to all types of non-profit organizations – the arts and culture rank eighth out of 11 types of non-profit organizations.