Funding Research

Download:

   Recalculating the Formula for Success (459Kb)

Download:

 Arts Funding Snapshot: GIA’s Annual Research on Support for Arts and Culture (3 Mb)

Earned income and private giving make up the largest share of arts funding in the United States, but government funds are an essential piece of the arts ecosystem. Public investments in the arts are citizen driven and beholden to the public interest. They support inclusive experiences, promulgated by representative democracy covering every part of the country.

Download:

   Arts Funding Snapshot: GIA’s Annual Research on Support for Arts and Culture (3 Mb)

Beginning with this snapshot of arts funding, Foundation Center’s annual analyses of foundation arts and culture grantmaking will be based on our new Philanthropy Classification System. This system of coding and organizing foundation funding replaces the Grants Classification System, which was employed by Foundation Center for nearly a quarter century. It reflects an evolution in the way that giving for the arts and other fields is captured and represented.

Download:

   Introducing Community Innovation Labs (395 Mb)

The mission of the James F. and Marion L. Miller Foundation, established in 2002, is to enhance the quality of life of Oregonians through support of the arts and education. In the midst of the 2009 recession, the foundation began a six-year grantmaking initiative that provided general operating support to Portland’s five large arts organizations. The foundation made important shifts in its grantmaking strategy to help shore up the financial strength and stability of the Portland Opera, Oregon Ballet Theatre, Portland Center Stage, Portland Art Museum, and the Oregon Symphony.

Extensive research has demonstrated what those close to the arts, culture, and humanities sector already know: the health of the sector is intertwined with the health of our communities. In addition to cultural enrichment, arts, culture, and humanities nonprofits create jobs, support economic growth, and contribute to community revitalization.

The arts in America are supported by a complex mix of funds, including individual contributions, corporate and foundation support, earned revenues, and government grants. Although government funds comprise a modest percentage of total arts income, they are an essential part of the American arts ecosystem, supporting community arts development, achieving a wide geographic dispersal of grants, and making arts funds accessible to communities that may have limited access to other resources.

February 2015, 32 pages. Minnesota Citizens for the Arts, 2233 University Avenue W. #355, St Paul, Minnesota, 55114, (651) 251-0868. creativemn.org.

Download:

For several years, Grantmakers in the Arts (GIA) members have noted the lack of sector-wide information about support for individual artists. Many funders feel that direct support for artists is a crucial part of the arts funding ecology and one that is underresourced. In the past, however, it has been difficult to assess the extent to which artists are being supported by institutional funders — in fact, it has even been difficult to have a field-wide conversation about the different ways in which artists receive support.