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Individual Donors to Arts and Culture Organizations in Canada in 2004

Record level of individual donations to cultural organizations in 2004 



Over the last few years, many cultural organizations have been raising funds to build new spaces, renew older buildings, develop endowment funds or cover operating expenses. A number of these projects have achieved a fairly high public profile.

A new report from Hill Strategies Research, entitled Individual Donors to Arts and Culture Organizations in Canada in 2004, provides a picture of arts and culture fundraising in 2004. The report shows that 732,000 Canadians 15 years of age or older made financial donations worth a total of $188 million to arts and culture organizations in 2004. This represents a record level of donations by individuals to arts and culture organizations – much higher than amounts captured in surveys conducted in 2000 and 1997.

Arts and culture donations in Ontario


Approximately 335,000 Ontarians, or 3.3% of the province’s population, donated money to arts and culture organizations in 2004. These donors contributed about $110 million to arts and culture organizations in 2004. 

The full report, funded by the Ontario Arts Council, the Canada Council for the Arts and the Department of Canadian Heritage and the Ontario Arts Council, is available here.

Individual Donors to Arts and Culture Organizations in Canada in 2004
Ontario Summary