Relationships are Infrastructure: A collaborative reflection on affinity groups

Rachel Leon, executive director of Environmental Grantmakers Association (EGA) and Eddie Torres, president and CEO of Grantmakers in the Arts (GIA) penned a collaborative blog post as part of the GIA series continuing the conversation on the role of philanthropy-serving organizations (PSOs) in moving the field toward equity. Read it here.

Advancing Racial Equity in Arts Funding

This week, GIA heads to Cleveland where we will offer our racial equity in arts funding workshop as a way to support funders with nuts-and-bolts guidance on how to better serve African, Latinx, Arab, Asian, Native-American (ALAANA) communities through their grantmaking and funding. For more information and resources on racial equity in arts funding and to request a racial equity workshop in your city or community, visit our page.

From the GIA Reader

In “Buried in Shells,” featured in the Fall 2018 issue of the GIA Reader, Corrina Gould, an activist who has worked on preserving and protecting the ancient burial sites of her ancestors in the Bay Area for decades, and Michelle LaPena, member of the Pit River Tribe and an Indian law attorney, write about the tribal nations that lived in Oakland before it was Oakland and how the Native people of the East Bay Area are mostly overlooked by its modern dwellers. Read the piece here.

“The Value of a PSO” Webinar

Philanthropy-serving organizations (PSOs), often referred to as affinity organizations (AO) or membership organizations (MO), hold a unique position in the nonprofit-sector. These types of organizations gather insights and aggregate information on both the nonprofit field and the funder-response to those needs. Grantmakers in the Arts (GIA) provides information, resources, and leadership to funders of artists and arts organizations. A 2017 United Philanthropy Forum study revealed that national and regional PSOs reported a median 93 percent membership renewal rate, but why?

Join us to hear from David Biemesderfer, president and CEO, United Philanthropy Forum and Tatiana Hernandez, senior program officer, The Kresge Foundation’s Arts & Culture Program and a GIA board member. They will discuss the value of membership organizations, their impact, and why you should be a part of one! “The Value of a PSO” will be held next Tuesday, December 4, at 2:00pm EDT / 11:00am PDT. Details and registration available here.

Confronting the Colonial Dynamics in Philanthropy

A new book, "Decolonizing Wealth," challenges colonial dynamics in philanthropy and finance, philanthropy's white supremacist legacy, and the little investment and support of POC-led efforts in communities as result of those dynamics…

Art as Treatment: Doctors May Soon Prescribe Dance, Music, and Other Art Forms

British Health Secretary Matt Hancock unveiled this month an initiative that may soon enable the country’s doctors to prescribe therapeutic art- or hobby-based treatments for ailments ranging from dementia to psychosis, lung conditions, and mental health issues, reported Smithsonian Magazine…

Bringing Native Voices to Chicago's Field Museum

The Field Museum and Native American community partners are working together to renovate the museum's Native North American Hall, which has displays that have stood largely unchanged since the 1950s, announced the museum. The renovated hall, to open in late 2021, represents the museum’s engagement with Chicago’s Native community and better represent their stories…