“Can use culture pass to buy Yakult?”

So goes a comment from the HardwareZone forum on a government arts incentive – the SG Culture Pass. This gives every Singapore citizen aged 18 and above $100 worth of credits to spend on arts and cultural events – but unfortunately for the commenter, not cultured drinks.

While the Government’s commitment to the arts is noteworthy, the comment reveals a popular misconception about arts and culture: they are dispensable. At most, a pleasant diversion.

This perception comes with a consequence. When it comes to charitable giving, the arts sit at the bottom of the national heap – accounting for less than 2 per cent of overall donations, according to recent figures from the Commissioner of Charities.

Donations to arts and heritage institutions of a public character (IPCs) make up around 3.5 per cent of all tax-deductible giving in Singapore, although such IPCs form over 12 per cent of the total.

This is despite the fact that Singapore has one of the most generous and donor-friendly tax incentive systems for charitable giving in the world. Donations to IPCs receive a 250 per cent tax deduction of the qualifying donated amount.

There are also government incentive schemes such as the Cultural Matching Fund, which matches private donations dollar for dollar to eligible arts charities, and the Sustain the Arts Fund, which assists small arts groups.

Yet, arts charities continue to face funding challenges. What do we need to do to inspire more people from all walks of life – whether organisations or individuals – to donate?

The arts funding scene

Many arts and heritage groups operate as non-profits, charities or IPCs, and receive a mix of government grants, private donations and income from ticket or merchandise sales. Government support – particularly via the National Arts Council (NAC) and National Heritage Board – is significant, but may not cover the full cost of operations.

Donations from the public help to plug these gaps, fund new initiatives and support less visible but essential needs such as staff salaries, venue rental or community outreach. Without these crucial funds, many programmes cannot be sustained or even launched.

Public giving also plays a crucial role in developing experimental ideas or supporting fledgling practitioners as they hone their craft.

A young playwright may not be able to attract audiences to fill a theatre or command commercial interest from sponsors. But with a small grant or private donation, they might be able to stage a first reading, pay collaborators fairly, or simply carve out the time and space to write.

These early interventions often don’t make headlines, but they form the scaffolding on which stronger, more resilient arts careers are built.

While legally speaking, the advancement of arts and heritage is a recognised charitable purpose, arts and heritage are also home to social enterprises and commercial players. This can blur the lines between charitable and business objectives.

A visual art charity which helps artists from marginalised communities might also mount exhibitions where artwork can be bought and sold, and offer consultancy services, not unlike a commercial gallery.

But this does not mean an arts charity doesn’t need donations.

What’s holding back donations?

One reason is the perception there are other, more “worthy” causes out there.

According to Ms Emmeline Yong, co-founder and centre director of visual arts centre Objectifs – Centre for Photography and Film, many view the arts as something only for the privileged – a “nice-to have”, rather than essential.

She added that there are also those who see the arts as something that should be offered free, and thus mostly government-funded. “This might limit people’s desire to support the arts, even if they are able to.”

There’s also the fact that givers may want to see how their contribution makes a tangible impact – think meals delivered, or scholarships awarded; a “feel-good factor” of sorts.

Mr Joshua Ip, the director of Sing Lit Station, a literary non-profit and writers’ centre, observed it is easier to raise funds for migrant writing or prison workshops than for literary programmes without an obvious social hook.

“Singaporeans appear more loath to give to the arts as opposed to more tangible images of suffering or need,” he said.

Indeed, as Mr Paul Tan, chief executive of the Community Foundation of Singapore (CFS) noted, donors tend to favour social causes with “visible” impact, like eldercare, mental health, or supporting lower-income families. Many also prefer to support education through bursaries or scholarships.

“It can be more challenging to quantify the standalone value of beauty, imagination or intangible cultural heritage,” said Mr Tan, former deputy CEO of the NAC.

The corporate social responsibility gap

Compounding this, the arts are often excluded from the dominant frameworks of institutional philanthropy like foundations, corporate entities and large charitable trusts.

Many corporate social responsibility efforts align with environmental, social and governance goals, or the UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). But arts and culture are not SDGs. Climate action is. Education is. Health is. The arts? Mentioned only in passing.

While some argue that arts initiatives have the effect of enabling communication and progress across all SDGs, this is a harder story to “sell” to donors – and even harder to quantify.

Although key Monetary Authority of Singapore-administered tax incentives under Sections 13O and 13U of the Income Tax Act treat certain types of charitable giving as part of local spending requirements for family offices, some arts charities tell me they rarely get the opportunity to engage high-net-worth donors directly – even though Singapore’s wealth management industry is booming and many of these individuals are active private art collectors or patrons.

So, we need to consider how financial advisers and donor networks could be more intentionally engaged to introduce high-net-worth individuals and family offices to arts causes.

The recent launch of the ImpactCollab platform, which aims to match a growing pool of high-net-worth funders with credible, vetted charities, social enterprises and mission-driven organisations across Asia, marks a promising step towards bridging this gap.

The CFS’ Mr Tan notes that there is certainly more interest in arts and heritage among younger donors and newer residents to Singapore, including those setting up family wealth management offices.

“These individuals tend to appreciate the intrinsic value of culture, and understand its connections to identity, belonging, and community,” he said.

“Arts charities that can frame their work within these contexts, while still staying true to their creative vision, tend to garner stronger support. Donor recognition, such as naming rights for programmes or performances, could also help build sustained relationships.”

Funding the less-glamorous things

Many arts charities acknowledge that donors prefer focusing on “front-line” programming – landmark performances or exhibitions – that offer visible public engagement rather than core operational costs such as staff salaries and training, rent, systems upgrades or strategic planning.

For example, a visual arts charity might receive corporate sponsorship to mount a high-profile public exhibition, but struggle to maintain the staff or infrastructure needed to run year-round artist residencies or provide subsidised exhibition or studio space for emerging artists. These funding gaps undermine stability and make long-term growth difficult to sustain.

Ms Elvia Goh, general manager of Ding Yi Music Company, a charity which promotes and cultivates interest and appreciation of Singapore Chinese chamber music, also highlighted the importance of growing arts leadership and management capacity.

Quite apart from fund-raising, “sustaining strong leadership is vital for the professional growth and long-term success of arts organisations”, she said.

Sing Lit Station’s Mr Ip echoed these concerns, mentioning that operationally, there is a need to tap a “mixture of volunteer work plus youthful employees driven by passion”.

“There is a time limit on both of these, leading to a constant churn of volunteers and employees alike after a few years,” he said. “We are able to pay industry norms or above at entry level, but to scale salaries year on year to the point where people can settle down, buy a house, start a family – it begins to get challenging.

“And so our best people tend to leave over time.”

Surely, if we expect excellence from the sector, then we must be willing to fund what enables it? One way is simply to donate unrestricted funds directly to the charity, rather than earmarking gifts for specific projects.

Education is key

But as the CFS’ Mr Tan noted, donors’ giving decisions are ultimately shaped by their personal passions and values.

This is why a crucial piece of the puzzle is education. “If the arts are woven more deeply into early education, we will raise generations who value them not as luxuries, but as necessities,” said Ms Mae Anderson, chairman of non-profit Art Outreach.

She added that an educational curriculum that gives “meaningful space” to the humanities and sustained exposure to the arts can shape how young people perceive culture, empathy and creative expression.

Schools play a leading role here. This might take the form of more sustained arts exposure through deeper partnerships between artists and schools, more regular theatre or museum visits, or integrating arts appreciation more deeply into cross-disciplinary school subjects.

There’s also something to be said about the social power of ground-up funding, instead of relying exclusively on large government grants and family office donations.

If we believe that the arts are an expression of who we are as Singaporeans – in the songs we sing, the stories we write, the paintings we create, the plays we stage, or the way we move in dance – then public support begins to mean something more. These aren’t just performances or exhibitions. They carry our voices, our memories, our jokes and our different ways of seeing and living.

In that context, small donations of a few dollars here and there, from a larger group of donors, take on a quiet weight. They suggest that more people, not just a few wealthy backers, care about the work our artists do.

This is an opportunity for arts charities to widen their giving circles – to design campaigns that speak to more people, to meet supporters where they are, and to treat small gifts not as lesser, but as signs of shared belief.

So no, the upcoming SG Culture Pass won’t buy us Yakult. But it will be able to buy a ticket to something that nudges us out of the everyday – a play, a concert, a bookshop or a quiet moment in a gallery.

These experiences help build a community that understands why artistic work deserves support – not just from the state, but from all of us.

Source: The Straits Times © SPH Media Limited. Permission required for reproduction.