Togetherness as a strategy

Art organizations appear to have consistent problems with generating sufficient revenue. Recent government cutbacks in the Netherlands have increased this problem for art organizations operating in the city of Rotterdam. In the Netherlands corporate support of the arts in the form of corporate sponsorship and corporate philanthropy, which could provide the necessary relief, is declining in general. Therefor strategies need to be explored, that could provide the necessary income for art organizations in Rotterdam from sources that are likely to fund based on certain strategies. Collaboration between art organizations could provide such a strategy, as recent collaborations were able to retain government support for several art organizations in Rotterdam. Can a similar strategy be used to ensure revenue from corporations? This thesis poses the following research question: To what extent can collaboration be a feasible strategy from 2017 onwards for government subsidized art organizations in Rotterdam to strengthen their relationship with for-profit business in terms of corporate sponsorships and corporate philanthropy and increase/safeguard their necessary incomes to survive and innovate? To approach this question a qualitative research strategy is employed. A literature review on art-art collaborations provided the framework through which data could be analysed. Data analysis relied on qualitative content analysis of annual reports, released by Rotterdam’s subsidized art organizations. The findings from the annual reports were supplemented by the analysis of unstructured face-to face interviews. Analysing the data shows that, although, art organizations in Rotterdam have a rich collaborative history, collaboration is not a feasible strategy for art organizations in Rotterdam to ensure the necessary income from corporate sponsorship and corporate philanthropy.