GIA Blog

The National Trust for Historic Preservation, in partnership with the Ford Foundation, The JPB Foundation, and the Open Society Foundations, have announced the launch of the African-American Cultural Heritage Action Fund (AACHAF). The multi-year national initiative is aimed at uplifting the largely overlooked contributions of African-Americans by establishing a grant fund for the protection and restoration of African-American historical sites. From the protection of Shockoe Bottom in Richmond to Fort Huachuca Black Officer’s Club in Arizona, the fund will help to support direct action needed to protect threatened sites of historic significance, address critical funding gaps for the preservation of African-American historic sites, and help uncover hidden stories of African-Americans connected to historic sites across the nation.

The Chronicle of Philanthropy has published an easy chart comparing the current US House and Senate tax bills and how they could affect nonprofits. Click to enlarge.

ArtPlace America has announced $8.7 million in grants to 23 creative placemaking projects in communities of all sizes across 18 states and one US territory. ArtPlace has a deep commitment to funding in rural America, with almost 52% of this year’s funded projects working in rural communities.

Its National Creative Placemaking Fund has invested in communities across the country in which artists, arts organizations, and arts and culture activity help drive community development change across 10 sectors of community planning and development.

Jim Kelly has announced that he will retire as 4Culture’s executive director as of March 31, 2018. 4Culture is an independent public agency supporting arts, heritage, preservation, and public art in Seattle and surrounding municipalities in King County.

Under Kelly’s leadership, 4Culture has become the largest cultural funder in Washington State. During his tenure, over $130 million has been distributed into the sector to 2,800 individuals and groups.

Tim Delaney, president and CEO of the National Council of Nonprofits, has published an open letter against the tax bill currently under consideration in Congress: The Tax Cuts and Jobs Act changes personal exemptions and the standard deduction in a way that effectively denies 95 percent of taxpayers any tax incentive for giving back to … Continue reading Open Letter from Tim Delaney: Tax Bill Will Hurt Nonprofits and Communities →

Tim Delaney, president and CEO of the National Council of Nonprofits, has published an open letter against the tax bill currently under consideration in Congress:

From Crain's Cleveland Business:

The board of trustees of Cuyahoga Arts and Culture, the public agency that parcels out money from the 30-cent-a-pack Cuyahoga County cigarette tax, on Monday, Nov. 13, approved parceling out $12 million to 258 organizations for 2018, an 18% decline from grants totaling $14.6 million for 2017.

The reduced grantmaking for 2018, first announced in October, triggered objections by some in the arts community about the steepness of the drop in funding.

A new report from the National Endowment for the Arts finds that rural arts organizations draw more non-local audiences to their venues and report greater civic leadership and customer connectedness than their urban peers. The report is based primarily on 2014 data from the US Department of Agriculture’s Economic Research Service (ERS). The ERS’s Rural Establishment Innovation Survey examines the type and breadth of innovation within rural businesses.

On Monday, November 20, the US Senate Appropriations Committee released a 2018 spending bill that would fund the National Endowments for the Arts and Humanities at 2017 budget levels, $150 million for each agency. Americans for the Arts President and CEO Robert Lynch released a statement Tuesday in response: This action is in stark contrast … Continue reading Senate Appropriations Bill Recommends Continued NEA, NEH Funding at 2017 Levels →