Managerial opportunities for cultural organizations: the Italian patronage system in international perspective

This paper aims at analysing the management strategies, which could reinforce the fundraising capability of a cultural organization. In management literature, fundraising is represented as a necessity for reaching institutional goals by a no-profit organization, especially in the cultural sector, this has become even more relevant within the last years, with regard to the ongoing reduction of public funds. A good legislative system, which favours and encourages patrons to give resources to cultural organizations, could represent a valuable means to increase fundraising by private individuals. Therefore, this paper provides an international comparison among the fiscal incentives systems for cultural patrons in USA, France, UK and Italy. Italy, specifically, has recently experienced an important reform of its system with the so called “Art Bonus”, whose first results are presented in this work. Findings of the empirical analysis suggest some managerial implications for a successful fundraising strategy, which must primarily be based on an active dialogue between cultural organization and stakeholders of its geographical area.