A survey of corporate support for the arts and other cultural activities in the Chicago Metropolitan Region was undertaken by the Chicago Council on Fine Arts in the second half of 1977 as part of its efforts to further the arts in Chicago. The objectives of the study were:

1. To gather basic data concerning the financial support available to the arts community from the corporate sector in the Chicago Metropolitan Region.
   
   
2. To analyze this support so that:
   
        (a) Chicago corporations can be aided in their determinations of support for
             arts and cultural activities.
        (b) The artistic and cultural community can become aware of this support in
             the formulation of their programs.
        (c) The Chicago Council on Fine Arts can take the steps to encourage more
             extensive support for arts and cultural activities from the private
             sector.

Methodology:

A sampling of 158 Chicago-based corporations were included in the survey mailing. Usable responses were received from 103. The companies in the survey sample were selected because of their prominence and past support of arts and cultural activities in the Chicago Metropolitan Region.

Nature of support:

Corporate support for arts and cultural activities in the Chicago Metropolitan Region takes several forms (Table 1) These are:

1. Direct corporate contributions.
2. Corporate foundation contributions.
3. In-kind services contributions.
4. Other miscellaneous contributions, e.g., donations by corporate officers.

About one-third of those responding indicated that direct corporate contributions were their sole form of participation, while 27% of the respondents contributed only through subsidiary foundations. Nine percent of those responding indicated that they used a combination of these two methods. The balance of corporate support, approximately one-third, was from a combination of the four methods.

Under existing tax law, corporations may distribute up to 5% of their net annual profit into philanthropic activities, directly or through subsidiary foundations. This limit may be extended through personal contributions and the provision of in-kind services. In-kind services are widely used in the Chicago region, as 20% of the respondents indicated that they utilized such contributions to support the arts and cultural activities. About one-quarter of the corporations responding to the survey indicated that they do not substantially support arts and cultural activities.

Almost two-thirds of all cultural support by corporations and foundations is partially dependent upon corporate sales and profits, according to the survey. When an arbitrary net profit baseline is exceeded, a portion of this excess becomes available for distribution to civic uses. While there is some carry-over to succeeding years, it can be expected that annual contributions generally will follow the trends of profits.

It appears that a long period of economic growth and expansion would have a beneficial effect on the level of contributions, while periods of economic instability and limited profitability would negatively affect the support of cultural and artistic endeavors in the region.

CONTENTS
Preface.

  1. Introduction.
  2. Methodology.
  3. Nature of support. 
  4. Participation by standard industrial classification.
  5. Timing of initial arts and cultural support.
  6. Share of corporate support by type of activity.
  7. Share of corporate support by donation and standard industrial classification.
  8. Level of corporate support.
  9. Future corporate support.
10. Suggestions for obtaining corporate support.
11. 1976 corporate and cultural contributions.

Appendices.
     A. Tables.
     B. List of corporate survey respondents.
     C. Questionnaire.