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The Arts Fund is dedicated to building a permanent source of support for metro Atlanta’s small and midsized arts organizations. If you are looking for a way to help ensure that Atlanta’s arts community remains strong and vital, consider a gift to the Arts Fund.
Six Atlanta theatre companies are partnering with the Midtown Assistance Center to give playgoers a break on ticket prices and Atlanta’s low-income working families something to eat -- $2 off your ticket price if you bring two cans of food. The theatres, Synchronicity, Dad's Garage, Theatrical Outfit, Horizon Theatre, True Colors Theatre and Actor's Express, are all Arts Fund grant recipients.
Arts Fund Grant Deadline: March 6, 2009 Arts Toolbox Deadlines: March 6, 2009 Arts Loan Fund: Apply anytime Common Good Funds of The Community Foundation: March 16, 2009 Grants To Green, a Community Initiative of The Community Foundation: April 13, 2009
Header (left to right): The 2008 Art Papers Auction (2007 grant) Work by Steffen Thomas at the Steffen Thomas Museum and Archives (2006 Toolbox) Martin Thompson and Elizabeth Wells Berkes in Theatre in the Square's 2008 production of Sherlock Holmes: The Final Adventure (1995 grant) Ceramic students at the John's Creek Arts Center. (2004 Toolbox)
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We are in a “new normal” now, a way of being we could not have predicted a year ago. It was prescient perhaps, that in June of last year The Community Foundation for Greater Atlanta including the Arts Fund began an organization-wide process to discover how to have a greater impact on the communities in the 23-county region that we serve. For six months we researched promising practices by leaders in the field locally and nationally and participated in training and conferences focused on evaluation methods, regional service, Atlanta's deep history, technology solutions, project management and more. The outcome is The Community Foundation’s Philanthropic Framework. For the Arts Fund’s grantmaking, the Philanthropic Framework encompasses a totally revised grant program designed to do what we have always done: strengthen and stabilize Atlanta’s small and midsized arts organizations. We will now do this through strategic general operating grants for small and midsized arts organizations with up to $2M in annual operating budgets. This grantmaking supports the whole “enterprise” of the funded organization and “buys” into the organization’s strategic plan. In other words, grants will support what the organization plans to do and where it wants to go. Nothing more, nothing less. Our Toolbox program of management consulting will help organizations with many tools, including creation of great plans – such as strategic plans and scenario plans – to enable arts organizations to be responsive and adaptable to this changing environment. Whoever said “a crisis is a terrible thing to waste” is right; it prods us to move fast, come together and be creative. We know that the arts are a place where people of all kinds can be revitalized, refreshed and imagine something truly different. At the Arts Fund we are excited that new responses are emerging – ArtsInCrisis.org is a remarkable national program matching arts groups in need with experts who have skills and talent to volunteer. It is fitting that the arts community is leading this new way of people helping people. New ways of working together are essential, as these times have created unimaginable stress and even some losses in the creative community. Indeed, groups are beginning to come together, like the recent case in which the Atlanta Gay Men’s Chorus (AGMC) became the beneficiary of the Atlanta Feminist Women's Chorus’s assets, as the Women's Chorus must close its operations. For 28 seasons, the AGMC has been a voice for diversity and inclusiveness, presenting high-quality musical entertainment – and it will continue to do so. We must embrace and invest in that which we treasure as we move on to the “next normal” together. We may be in different boats, but we are all in the same ocean. Lisa Cremin 2009 Arts Fund Grant, Toolbox and Loan Fund Programs ARTS FUND GRANTS For 2009, the Arts Fund is providing funds for general operating expenses to small and midsized arts organizations that have strong, current business plans and serve the community in a robust, vital way. These types of grants are based on the Philanthropic Framework of The Community Foundation and represent a significant change from the 2008 grant program. New in 2009:
ARTS TOOLBOX AWARD The Arts Fund’s Toolbox Award gives small and midsized arts organizations custom-designed packages of management consulting and tools to help them solve key organizational challenges or problems. In 2009, the Toolbox will be primarily focused on helping organizations address issues related to organizational collaboration, financial management, scenario planning, updates to strategic plans and board development. (More details) ARTS LOAN FUND The Arts Loan Fund helps arts organizations meet short-term capital needs by providing loans. Loans are accessible year-round with applications accepted on a rolling basis. In 2009, the maximum allowable loan has been raised from $25,000 to $40,000. (More details) Convenings of Metro Atlanta Arts Organizations On December 16 & 17, 2008, the Metropolitan Atlanta Arts Fund hosted two groups of artistic/executive directors and board leaders from a total of 26 small and midsized arts organizations. The discussion included a report on the results of a late November financial survey to all Atlanta arts organizations, a presentation on scenario planning and an open talk on how organizations are experiencing and adapting to the economic crisis. Organizations discussed the affects of the recession and how they are adapting their programming, marketing, fundraising and organizational practices. Comments, ideas and reactions collected from both sessions are available on the Arts Fund website. Resources for Arts Organizations ArtsInCrisis.org Does your arts organization need consulting or advisory services? Are you an experienced arts manager with the time and ability to mentor a troubled arts organization? Arts in Crisis: A Kennedy Center Initiative is a program designed to provide planning assistance and consulting to struggling arts organizations throughout the United States. Open to non-profit 501(c)(3) performing arts organizations, the program will provide counsel from Kennedy Center President Michael Kaiser and the Kennedy Center executive staff in the areas of fundraising, building more effective Boards of Trustees, budgeting, marketing, technology and other areas pertinent to maintaining a vital performing arts organization during a troubled economy. One of the most exciting aspects of ArtsInCrisis.org is that it enables senior arts managers across the United States to volunteer to serve as mentors to other arts organizations. Through the site, these managers can volunteer their services. The Kennedy Center staff will match them with organizations in need. If a mentor can't be found, Kennedy Center staff will help the organizations.
The Foundation Center has a list of resources for managing a nonprofit in an economic crisis. Information about classes, events and other local resources in Atlanta can be found at http://foundationcenter.org/atlanta/ or at the The Foundation Center - Atlanta's blog.
The Georgia Center for Nonprofits has created a section of its website to provide information tools and resources to help the staff and board of nonprofits lead, manage and govern successfully in this challenging environment. This section has a list of podcasts, classes, events and other resources on managing and governing through tough times. New Website for The Community Foundation The Community Foundation for Greater Atlanta has a new website: www.cfgreateratlanta.org. Check it out to learn more about the power of philanthropy to change communities in the Atlanta region. The Arts Fund is a Community Initiative of The Community Foundation and, although the Arts Fund's website is not changing, the email addresses of the Arts Fund staff have changed. Please update your address books with the new emails. Lisa Cremin, director Josh Phillipson, program associate Sandy Kring, Arts Loan Fund administrator In addition, this newsletter will be coming from artsfund@cfgreateratlanta.org in the future - please add it to your contacts so the messages don't get caught in your spam filter. And you can always join the Arts Fund on Facebook. National Endowment for the Arts The National Endowment for the Arts (NEA) was one of the first agencies in the federal government to release grant guidelines for applying for economic stimulus and job recovery arts funds. These recovery funds are intended "to focus on projects that preserve jobs in the arts." Details on applicant eligibility and the rest of the recovery grant program are available on the NEA's Recovery website. |
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