Capitalization
Grantmakers in the Arts defines capitalization as “the accumulation of the resources an organization needs to fulfill its mission over time,” specifically regarding financial health. Capital is money saved in order to respond to challenges and opportunities. Capital is different from revenue (which is immediately spent), and from assets like endowments or facilities (which are not available as liquid cash that can pay expenses). It has been the norm for the nonprofit arts sector to be poorly capitalized, an issue which disproportionately affects organizations of color. In response, GIA embarked on the National Capitalization Project (NCP) in 2010. Since its launch, GIA has provided resources, conferences sessions, publications, and workshops on nonprofit capitalization. GIA’s Capitalization and Nonprofit Financial Health Workshops are specialized workshops, held separately for funders and nonprofit grantees, focusing on what each group can do to support the financial health of nonprofit arts and culture organizations. GIA has also updated the workshop to reflect the financial impacts of the pandemic and to reflect a racial equity lens. These workshops are available either in-person or online by contacting workshops@giarts.org.
February 2015, 31 pages. TDC, 31 Milk Street, Suite 310, Boston, Massachusetts, 02109. (617) 728-9151, www.tdcorp.org.
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Read More...December 2014, 14 pages. Nonprofit Finance Fund, 70 West 36th Street, 11th Floor, New York, NY 10018. (212) 868-6710. http://nonprofitfinancefund.org/
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Critical Steps Toward Capital Health in the Cultural Sector (61 Kb)
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Critical Steps Toward Capital Health in the Cultural Sector (61 Kb)
In 2010, Grantmakers in the Arts put capitalization on the national arts agenda by starting a conversation about what funders can do differently to address the chronic financial weakness undermining the vitality of the sector.
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Building a Resilient Sector (9.2Mb)
Grantmakers in the Arts began work on capitalization in 2010. Ever since then we’ve debated not using the word “capitalization,” but it has prevailed. In our work, the term is synonymous with financial health and the resources needed to meet an organization’s mission. In 2010, GIA published recommendations for grantmakers regarding actions they could take that would improve the undercapitalized nature of the nonprofit arts sector.
Read More...20 pages, 2012. Nonprofit Finance Fund, 70 West 36th Street, 11th Floor, New York, NY 10018, (212) 868-6710, www.nonprofitfinancefund.org.
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Change Capital in Action (9 Mb)
About four years ago I attended an extraordinary meeting in Philadelphia. Susan Nelson, principal of Technical Development Corporation (TDC), was presenting the draft of Getting Beyond Breakeven to the Greater Philadelphia Cultural Alliance and many other stakeholders associated with the work.
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