Cultural support system bureaucratized and self-indulgent, says EdinboroughOctober 23, 1995; Canadian FundRaiser
Addressing the Annual Conference of the Canadian Association of Gift Planners, Arnold Edinborough, founding president of the National Council for Business & The Arts in Canada, pointed out that Canada has changed drastically in the last fifty years. The historical context in which development professionals are soliciting donations is built on active involvement in the public, secondary and university school system. We have moved from a small provincial public school system to a large national universal education system. We worked hard to bring in Medicare - at the time a revolutionary socialistic concept- in the 1960s. Support for cultural activity grew from nothing to a level of acceptance at which tax money was made available for arts funding in the 1970s. The system has become bureaucratized and self-indulgent. The rest of Canada should tell Toronto, he said, that if it wants Harbourfront, "then save it yourselves!"
We have a situation, he said, where actors are producing plays that people don't want to see, and only one orchestra in Canada is not operating at a deficit. We have installed in these bureaucratic structures, he claimed, a group of professionals who have lost touch with the original objectives of cultural support. "We need symphony orchestra managements that are budget-conscious, not top-heavy with bureaucracy, who know what the net return from their fundraising program is, and who are not simply interested in tours, recording sessions, and other self-indulgent ventures that put their names in the paper and build their egos, but never pay off."
"You need a vision for your group", said Edinborough. "People give to other people who have the same enthusiasm for an activity that they enjoy. Our visions can coincide. " Further, he pointed out, you must transmit your vision personally to someone who is already well on the way. You also need a method to raise funds, from people who have money, with all the appropriate tax incentives, to make the donation work as effectively as possible for the vision that you jointly share.
