Giving a little could mean a lot for the arts, as I salute Australia’s philanthropists.

“Money, money, money, must be funny, in a rich man’s world”, as those sage, Swedish masters of song, Abba once said. Dollars and cents have once again been the hot topic of the week among artists in Australia, but not all the news was doom and gloom. While Senator Brandis revealed that no outside consultation with the artistic community had preceded his radical restructuring of the arts funding infrastructure, and Mayor of Sydney Clover Moore prepared to fight to save the Powerhouse Museum from property developers, the Australian Ballet recorded an astonishing $8.5 million dollar surplus in it 2014 Annual Report.

Figures like this are rare as hens’ teeth in the arts, so how did this organisation register such a favourable result? The answer has some very intriguing implications for the way the arts are supported. Australian Ballet received a phenomenal amount of financial support through donations and philanthropy – to the tune of $9 million. Lets just take a minute to think about that: $9 million donated by ardent lovers of the magnificent art form that is ballet, who believe passionately that it was...