About Artsupport Australia
Artsupport Australia is an initiative of the Australia Council for the Arts
Artsupport Australia was launched in 2003 by the former Prime Minister, John Howard AC, for the sole purpose of growing cultural philanthropy in Australia. It began as a three-year joint pilot between the Australia Council for the Arts and the Australia Business Arts Foundation (AbaF).
In 2006, Artsupport Australia began operating solely under the auspices of the Australia Council and has grown from two staff members in the Sydney headquarters to include managers located within the state/territory arts ministries of Darwin, Brisbane, Perth, Adelaide, Melbourne and Western Sydney (meet the team).
Their efforts have paid dividends. In fact, more than $60 million of new philanthropic income has been facilitated to around 200 Australian artists and 600 arts organisations since 2003. It is a strong outcome for a government investment of nearly $5.2 million, providing a return of over 1,000 per cent.
Artsupport Australia defines philanthropy or giving as: individual gifts or donations (including major gifts, bequests, workplace giving, direct mail appeals and crowd funding), philanthropic grants by private and corporate foundations and corporate philanthropy.
Services
To maximise the philanthropic exchange, Artsupport Australia focuses on two key groups:
- individual artists and arts/cultural organisations, and
- individual philanthropists, private and corporate foundations.
Artsupport Australia model
Artsupport Australia's innovative business model works for the following reasons:
- it is a free advisory service
- it provides direct and quick access to specialist knowledge
- it provides customised advice/mentoring to both arts organisations and philanthropic individuals/entities
- it has a national reach
- its small and flexible team is able to respond to opportunities quickly
- staff salaries and expenses are covered by the Australia Council, the government’s arms-length funding body as well as state/territory governments
- it has access to the resources of a parent organisation (venues, systems, communications, IT, HR and other services)
- it holds strategic marketing events to build brand, networks and business
- it has access to high-profile champions with industry expertise who publicly campaign for the cause and who facilitate strategic introductions
- it has important relationships with key bodies in government and business, in particular the financial and legal sectors.
A full summary of the Artsupport Australia rationale, model and programs is available a here.
Another perspective is available in the first issue of e-journal Cultural Policy Update (page 44, March 2011 edition).
Artsupport Australia's web presence was developed with the generous support of the Westpac Foundation.
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