Survey of Sponsorship of Cultural Events and Activities
Contents | Foreword | Introduction | Analysis | Total Responses | Sample Survey Form

Foreword

1.1

The survey that this document reports on was prompted by three facts. First, we live in an environment where most organisations experience financial constraints. Second, cultural organisations rely heavily for their income on private sponsorship. Third, the next eighteen months bring a series of events - one of them of epochal significance - that will offer New Zealand businesses alternative opportunities for gaining the public's attention.

1.2

Against this background, the Ministry for Culture and Heritage considered that it would be timely to provide the Government with information on the trend of the cultural sponsorship market, based on a mainly attitudinal survey of businesses. In a less formal fashion the Ministry also sought the views of cultural organisations that receive funding through the Ministry but also rely on sponsorship. This report summarises the views and intentions of the 70 businesses that filled in the survey form, a copy of which is included. Though the survey was confidential and we cannot name them here, we are very grateful for their co-operation.

1.3

In asking the survey's fifteen questions we were interested in examining the following topics:

· The capacity or willingness of businesses to enter into cultural sponsorship arrangements in the next three financial years (1999/2000-2003) compared with the last three

· The factors influencing any discernible trend to or away from cultural sponsorship

· The preferences of sponsoring businesses among the different kinds of cultural activity

· Business's views on the likely state of the sponsorship market as a whole in the next three financial years

1.4

The survey was designed to the Ministry's specifications by Statistics New Zealand, which also analysed the results. Anne Spellerberg of that department's Social Policy Division prepared the attached report. It has been published for the information of people working in the cultural sector or in the corporate sector, which will continue to play a significant role in the fortunes of the cultural sector, and for anyone with an interest in our cultural life and its continued development.

Martin Matthews
Acting Chief Executive
Ministry for Culture and Heritage

January 1999