In a new report, “Studying Early Pandemic Data: Did Giving Sustain the Arts?,” SMU DataArts shares analysis on the impact of giving to the arts during the COVID-19 pandemic. Daniel Fonner, associate director for Research writes the pandemic “has turned the arts and culture sector upside down in many ways.”
“With wide-scale closures beginning in March 2020, organizations saw steep drops in earned revenue from ticket and admissions sales loss but found some relief from government funding programs and adjusted grant terms that allowed for some restriction removal or reallocation of funds to general operating needs.” This research asks how these revenue model shifts played out and if they were enough for organizations in the sector to meet their needs to at least break even financially?