4 Jul 2011
Jeremy Hunt, the UK Secretary of State for Culture, Olympics, Media and Sport, has unveiled plans for a £55 million Endowment Fund to encourage British arts institutions to broaden their sources of funding. Arts institutions will need to secure private funding from high net worth individuals and businesses to secure backing from the new fund.
The programme is aiming to encourage an increased use of endowments to help fund the arts. The endowment model is well established in the US where the New York Met has built up a $1.9 billion reserve, but it is not widely used in Britain.
“The money forms part of what is a combined £100 million pledge by my department, the Arts Council and the Heritage Lottery Fund to boost cultural giving across the UK,” Hunt said in a speech to launch the new fund at the Whitechapel Gallery. “A new Endowment Fund worth £55 million…should leverage at least £110 million more through match-funding from private donors.”
The Endowment Fund will oversee around 50 grants between £500,000 and £5 million through a competitive applications process. Former Conservative cabinet minister Michael Portillo will chair the judging panel.
To qualify for grants, arts organisations will need to raise from private sources up to three times the amount being applied for from the Endowment Fund. The programme is to unfold over four years.
The Whitechapel is one of the first UK galleries to commit to an endowment scheme. Under director Iwona Blazwick, the gallery has just launched a new campaign to raise a permanent endowment of £10 million by 2020. It will provide for a Future Fund to showcase outstanding emerging artists.
The programme is aiming to encourage an increased use of endowments to help fund the arts. The endowment model is well established in the US where the New York Met has built up a $1.9 billion reserve, but it is not widely used in Britain.
“The money forms part of what is a combined £100 million pledge by my department, the Arts Council and the Heritage Lottery Fund to boost cultural giving across the UK,” Hunt said in a speech to launch the new fund at the Whitechapel Gallery. “A new Endowment Fund worth £55 million…should leverage at least £110 million more through match-funding from private donors.”
The Endowment Fund will oversee around 50 grants between £500,000 and £5 million through a competitive applications process. Former Conservative cabinet minister Michael Portillo will chair the judging panel.
To qualify for grants, arts organisations will need to raise from private sources up to three times the amount being applied for from the Endowment Fund. The programme is to unfold over four years.
The Whitechapel is one of the first UK galleries to commit to an endowment scheme. Under director Iwona Blazwick, the gallery has just launched a new campaign to raise a permanent endowment of £10 million by 2020. It will provide for a Future Fund to showcase outstanding emerging artists.
