The Rise of Place-Based Giving

The intergenerational transfer of wealth, migration to regional Australia and unprecedented investment in arts infrastructure presents a significant opportunity for arts and culture fundraisers.

Every Saturday in 1945, my mother and her sister would travel from the farm to the small town of Tocumwal on the Murray River for a dance held at the local hall. The return trip was full of gossip about the night and anticipation around the following week.

Years later, in Bendigo, at another gathering in another hall, my parents met. Dad asked Mum to dance. She took the offer, returned to her teacher’s college after curfew and was grounded for two weeks. He waited each week. She didn’t show. Six years later with a lot of dances and halls in between, they were hitched.

And that’s a recent story. For 60,000 years, our First Nations communities have been dancing, drawing, designing, singing, weaving and storytelling at meeting places. We see evidence of our cultural heritage all around us, regional and urban. Heritage halls, ‘talkie’ cinemas, museums, woolsheds, churches, pubs, rock art. Walls holding thousands of stories of first invaders, first world wars and first loves.

So we know people in regional areas have always participated in the arts, yet there is a common mindset that people will not give. I don’t buy it. I suggest we have been asking the wrong way, if at all — and that place-based philanthropy is the way to encourage new gifts.

The arts connect communities, contribute to individual wellbeing and have an economic impact. However, when it comes to solving social issues, the arts is usually part of the implementation but not the plan. Why? Arts fundraisers are passionate arts advocates. They know the case for support and expertly articulate the arts contribution to social change. It’s time they set the table rather than wait to join.

PLACE-BASED GIVING — WHAT IS IT?

Place-based giving targets a specific location with the intention of improving the quality of life of those that live there. It recognises that every community has different needs and challenges which will require targeted solutions and tailored approaches. It promotes longterm investments through collaborative partnerships and leverages resources to create systemic change…

Read more here in the Fundraising & Philanthropy Australia Magazine.