Magazine Article Aptly Frames The Arts Funding Challenge

For many, audiences or attendance have been slow to rebound since the pandemic, while support from state and local governments remains paltry or nonexistent and costs continue to rise. It’s also no secret that these factors have increased the pressure on private philanthropy to fill gaps in operating budgets and contribute to an escalating cascade of capital and endowment campaigns.

A recent article in Milwaukee Magazine does a nice job capturing both the arts and culture sector’s big picture challenges and some troubling new developments. For example, the article notes the impact of federal funding cuts on other nonprofit sectors like social services and education and warns that the growing needs of organizations in those sectors threaten to eclipse those of arts organizations. Also, with quotes from yours truly, it explains the growing tension for philanthropy between requests from arts groups seeking to grow their endowments or embark on revenue-generating capital improvements and urgent pleas from other groups for increased operating support.

I don’t have any grand solutions to offer in this space (though I will suggest some in future blogs), but I did want to note one possible area of promise. Imagine MKE convened dozens of arts and culture stakeholders and funders at multiple planning sessions throughout the last half of 2025 to explore solutions to the sector’s financial challenges. One of the outcomes was a push to create a new Arts Philanthropy Council, comprised of major foundation and individual donors to the arts and culture sector.

While still in its formative stage, the idea is to have prominent arts and culture funders meet regularly to share data, compare notes, and seek ways to strategically collaborate. By becoming more aware of each other’s priorities and interests – and by determining collectively where philanthropic investment can be most effective – the region’s largest arts donors might be able to optimize their own effectiveness and get a bigger bang from their bucks.

We’ll use our blog to provide updates on this nascent effort as it enters the planning stage early in 2026. If you have any initial thoughts about the idea and would like to discuss it, please don’t hesitate to reach out!