Philanthropic practice

"Philanthropy doesn’t stand still. Pressing issues and seismic political, economic, and technological shifts move us to regularly revisit and renew how we work."

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When the research started in 2017 for Freedom Maps: Activating legacies of culture, art, and organizing in the U.S. South, an upcoming report, the authors could not have imagined our current reality.

Arts philanthropy, while not leaving legacy gifts behind, is shifting toward "impact and engagement and making a difference,” says Anders Petterson, founder of ArtTactic and author of the report TEFAF Art Market Report: Art Patronage in the 21st Century, Barron's reports.

Grantmakers in the Arts is sharing resources and guidance on COVID-19 (coronavirus disease) and encouraging grantmakers to support their grantees by treating their funding flexibly in these difficult and rapidly shifting circumstances.

James Hirschfeld, program officer at the Howard Gilman Foundation, emphasizes the importance of responsive grantmaking and how, as he says, at the Howard Gilman Foundation they "view financial statements as one way of identifying opportunities for impactful grants."

Philanthropists and collectors Bridgitt Evans and Charlotte Wagner have joined forces to support small cultural organizations “beyond the art world’s power centers,” as Artsy recently reported.

A recent Chronicle of Philanthropy article reports that advocates say “foundations should rethink the way they measure success if they want to achieve progress.”

In a recent blog post on Nonprofit AF, Vu Le calls for important interrogation of the philanthropic field’s learned practices and how "they constantly and unconsciously affect how we think about and do everything."

A newly established philanthropy, The Lewis Prize for Music, which seeks to invest in music leaders to facilitate positive change and increase access to music education, just announced it awarded nearly $2 million to its inaugural class of awardees: leaders of music programs and organizations across the country that foster engaged citizens and support the holistic growth of young people.