National Capitalization Project
In 2012 and 2013, Grantmakers in the Arts offers Conversations on Capitalization and Community, daylong workshops for local funders in locations across the country. Workshops have been held in or are scheduled for Philadelphia; Menlo Park, CA; Oakland; Seattle; Lansing, MI; Minneapolis; Houston; Los Angeles; Portland, OR; Boston; Atlanta; New York; and Chicago. The Conversations focus on capital drivers and economies in local communities and how private and public funders act independently but think collectively about the cultural ecosystem in the area they serve. Conversations were designed and will be facilitated by senior consultants from TDC, Boston, and Nonprofit Finance Fund, New York City, with advise from National Arts Strategies. GIA staff will be in attendance. Conversations can be scheduled for 2013 by contacting Janet Brown or Abigail Guay at Grantmakers in the Arts.
In January of 2010, Grantmakers in the Arts (GIA) launched its National Capitalization Project. Formed in response to the observation that it has been the norm for the nonprofit arts sector to be poorly capitalized, the project convened representatives from 16 regional and national funders of the arts (some of whom had been in conversations about capitalization for nearly two years before convening), five subject experts and GIA staff in two intensive working sessions to learn together, and to begin a conversation about what funders might do individually and collectively to address this long-standing condition. The first of these sessions was held at the Ford Foundation in April 2010 and the second at the Hewlett Foundation in July 2010. Following are the reports from this work.
National Capitalization Summary (.pdf, 399Kb)
Summary and conclusion of convenings including a “set of common practices” agreed upon by Project participants that could, if implemented by funders, improve the financial stability of the nonprofit arts sector.
Capitalization Literature Review (.pdf, 525Kb)
Discussion was informed by a comprehensive literature review on the subject of capitalization compiled by TDC, Boston.
Related Blog Postings
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Nonprofit Finance Fund Publishes Capitalization Research
Nonprofit Finance Fund has published a new series on the need for and uses of capital in the arts. The materials convey stories and lessons learned from NFF’s $15 million Leading for the Future Initiative, the first national Initiative to deploy a specific kind of investment – change capital – to help arts organizations adapt their programming, operations and finances to thrive in a changed and changing economic and cultural landscape.
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