Grantmakers in the Arts

(7-20-10) Further to our July 2nd post on community-vote-based corporate giving, Kate Taylor reports on ArtsBeat about a Lincoln Center employee who used Twitter to issue a call to arms against fellow American Express grant candidate StoryCorps. The arts community responded:

(7-19-10) July 18, Rebecca Knight for The Financial Times:

A growing number of business programmes are introducing courses focused on 'practising philanthropy,' with the aim of teaching MBA students how to have a strategic edge in their giving by conducting site visits to non-profit organisations, tracking social and operational metrics and measuring the impact of their charitable contributions.

(7-19-10) New Research by Katherine Fulton, Gabriel Kaspar, and Barbara Kibbe, published by the Monitor Group and supported by the W. K. Kellog Foundation and the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation.

(7-16-10) On July 10, the Paul G. Allen Family Foundation announced grants totaling nearly $4 million, with $1,597,500 directed to the arts. On the same day, Paul Allen announced his intention to leave the bulk of his $13.5 billion estate to philanthropic causes—in part, answering a challenge to "America's uber-rich," issued by fellow billionaires Warren Buffett and Bill and Melinda Gates, to make public pledges of substantial support to philanthropic causes.

(7-15-10) Mid Atlantic Arts Foundation has announced the awarding of 80 grants through its 2011 ArtsCONNECTprogram. The grants will provide $479,700 in fee support for 15 performing arts ensembles. Grants are awarded directly to the organizations presenting the artists' engagements. The Foundation received 119 applications requesting over $830,000 in support of 25 tours for the latest funding round of the program.

(7-15-10) From USA Today:

(7-15-10) From the Kentucky Arts Council:

With profound sorrow we announce the death of John Stoughton Benjamin. John was the director of arts education programs at the Kentucky Arts Council from April 1, 1990, until his retirement on April 1, 2008. Passionate about the arts, particularly theater and arts education, John shared his joy in the arts with everyone he met.

(7-15-10) "Thanks to a last-minute funding infusion from the Board of Supervisors, Los Angeles County's arts grants won't suffer a double-digit decrease in the fiscal year that began July 1," Mike Boehm reported in a July 14 Culture Monster post. The board approved a budget increase that has saved the grants program from the 10.6% cuts faced by many county operations, a result of revenue shortfalls. The grant budget, totaling $4.1 million, will fund museum and performance venues, arts groups, and the annual county-sponsored holiday concert.