Buddy, Can You Spare a Dime? Essentials and Innovations in Arts Loan Funds

Tuesday, October 20, 1:30 pm – 3:00 pm

Organized by Lisa Cremin, director, Metropolitan Atlanta Arts Fund.

Presented by Lisa Cremin; Marc Vogl, program officer, William and Flora Hewlett Foundation; Deepa Gupta, program officer—General Program, The John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation.

Arts grantmakers are expressing increasing interest (no pun intended) in loan funds as a way to help arts organizations manage their finances in a recessionary economy. This session will review the basics of lending vs. grantmaking, identify tactics for imbedded capacity building and financial literacy as part of the loan process, and explore effectiveness and innovations in arts loan funding. We will examine three different models for the design of foundations’ arts loan funds: one loan fund is perhaps the oldest arts loan fund in the country and lends from a pool of grants from several foundations; one that is part of a community foundation and lends its endowment capital as guided by volunteer financial and arts experts; and one that has given a PRI to a commercial bank for loans to arts organizations that receive pre-loan preparation from a nonprofit technical assistance provider.

Related Links:

Metropolitan Atlanta Arts Fund—Arts Loan Fund
The Working Capital Loan Fund for MacArthur Foundation Arts & Culture Grantees
Northern California Grantmakers Arts Loan Fund