CECP, in partnership with the Conference Board, released the 2017 edition of Giving in Numbers. The latest report showed that arts funding increased from the corporate community between 2014 and 2016. The 12th edition of the survey was their largest ever, with 258 of the world’s leading companies participating. Of all of the program areas measured in the survey, culture and the arts grew the most in terms of cash giving over the two-year period. These results align with Americans for the Arts and the Conference Board’s survey of Business Contributions to the Arts released in June of this year. Both corporate giving surveys demonstrate that businesses are recognizing the role the arts play in advancing corporate goals, including increasing employee engagement and creativity.

Giving in Numbers also showed corporate giving increasing across the board, with median total giving among all companies increasing by 2.3% between 2014 and 2016.

Companies continue to focus on measuring outcomes of their corporate giving. In 2016, 87% of companies measured the impact of at least one grant (up 85% in 2014). In the survey Business Contributions to the Arts, 71% of companies indicated that they did measure the social or business impacts of arts support. As more companies continue to measure the impact of their grants, this can be an ongoing challenge for arts in the corporate philanthropy space.