Quote of the Day

“Corporations are not Medicis; they never have been, they’re not supposed to be...They’re not in business to be philanthropic.”

-Nancy Perkins, a professional "fundraising consultant."

Read it and weep, development directors. According to today's Times, "Over the last decade, the portion of corporate philanthropy dedicated to the arts has dropped by more than half."

Moreover:

When companies do support culture, they are increasingly paying for it out of their marketing budgets, which means strings are attached to the funds: from how a corporation’s name will appear in promotional materials, to what parties it can give during an exhibition, to the number of free or discounted tickets available to its employees.

The impetus for the article is the long rumored pullout of Altria (formerly--cough, cough--Philip Moris) from much of its A-list arts funding portfolio, leaving such illustrious org's like BAM and Alvin Ailey in a panic.

Just think of where this leaves the little guys of the nonprofit world.