Grantmakers in the Arts

(4-5-10) As part of an effort to increase the impact of its giving, the Ford Foundation is to announce a plan on Monday to dedicate $100 million to the development of arts spaces nationwide over the next decade. The plan is by far the largest commitment the foundation has ever made to the construction, maintenance and enhancement of arts facilities.

(4-1-10) Grantmakers in Film and Electronic Media is offering a briefing conference call on the recent South by Southwest Interactive Festival. The conference has been described as both amazing and overwhelming, and it can be challenging to absorb everything and turn rapidly changing technological and social landscapes into concrete opportunities for social change. For those who attended, the upcoming call provides a great chance to reflect and share ideas and ways of moving media grantmaking forward.

(4-1-10) The Foundation for Art & Healing today releases the proceedings from its Arts and the Heart Roundtable, a gathering of luminaries from the medical, arts and public health sectors regarding the connection between creative engagement and cardiac health. Held during the summer of 2009 in New York, the goal of the meeting was to draw on research and clinical expertise as well as the direct experiences of cardiac patients who have found creative endeavors to aid in their own personal healing processes.

(4-1-10) By an overwhelming margin, technology experts and stakeholders participating in a survey fielded by the Pew Research Center’s Internet & American Life Project and Elon University’s Imagining the Internet Center believe that innovative forms of online cooperation could result in more efficient and responsive for-profit firms, non-profit organizations, and government agencies by the year 2020.

(3-31-2010) Last week I attended Katrina@5, a conference for funders sponsored by the Association of Small Foundations. Grantmakers in the Arts was one of the several association partners that helped plan and promote the conference. The goal was to share the successes and mistakes of the philanthropic response to the catastrophe that was hurricanes Katrina and Rita and the breaking of the levies.

(3-30-10) Poking around on the White House website, I actually found a brief statement about the administration's position on the arts. Interesting that arts is listed among "Additional Issues" - apparently the B-list issues, including "Faith, Arts, Child Advocacy, Katrina, Science, Sportsmen (by which they mean those who hunt and fish, apparently all male) and Transportation.

(3-29-10) The Geraldine R. Dodge Foundation announced today that Christopher J. Daggett will assume the position of President and CEO of the Foundation on June 14, 2010. He will succeed David Grant, who has led the Dodge Foundation since 1998. Since 2004, Mr. Daggett has been a Principal with JM Sorge, Inc. (JMS), a full service environmental consulting and management firm providing assessment, investigation and remediation services to the public and private sectors. Mr.

(3-26-10) On March 21, The Chronicle of Philanthropy released the results of their survey of 80 large private foundations. While this select group is only a small percentage of the nation's grantmakers, The Chronicle estimates that it represents 20% of the foundation world's wealth and can therefore be considered an indicator of major trends in giving.

The survey results, in short: