Insights into the health of NZ's Not-for-profit sector's performance in the pandemic

Extract from Institute of Directors NZ; Published 19 October 2021 by Sonia Lee

What does this look like in reality?

According to Anne Rodda, the deceleration of registered charities in the arts sector isn’t representative of a decline in support. And she says within the sector, philanthropic donations have been steady regardless of Covid-19.

Rodda is a leader across several arts and education companies and her background includes consulting governments, NFPs and corporates.

She says the pandemic has elevated the role of the arts with people seeing a greater need to be entertained. And despite the cancellation of shows and loss of revenue in the sector, creativity has continued to thrive.

“We are already seeing the vast output – new paintings, novels, symphonies,” she says.

Rodda is quick to point out that "more Kiwi kids are learning to dance, rather than learning to play rugby."

Anne Rodda. Photo credit: Pah Sheena Haywood

But one frustration the sector continues to face is government funding and media coverage is more heavily-weighted to sport, rather than the arts. Part of that, she says, is about the sector taking ownership of the problem.

“I think the arts have not played a strong enough role in proactively demonstrating their value in common sense ways, and far too often, people jump to the conclusion that arts are for the hoi polloi.”