GIA News's Blog

Posted on February 22, 2011 by GIA News

(2-22-2011) This spring, the sixth NEA Education Leaders Institute will convene decisionmakers from state education departments, state arts agencies, along with educators, artists, public policy, business, and philanthropic leaders to put arts education at the center of discussion on education policy. The upcoming NEA Education Leaders Institute will take place May 11-13, 2011, in Chicago, Illinois.

Posted on February 22, 2011 by GIA News

(2-22-2011) By Steven Lawry from The Nonprofit Quarterly:

Several powerful donors have concluded that nonprofits make inadequate use of impact assessment tools. They are backing up their arguments with an implicit threat: measure in particular ways or you don’t get the money. Wise nonprofit leaders know that the problems they work on are not susceptible to simple measurement. They know that the kind of formal impact measures some donors expect and management consulting firms prescribe are hard to come by honestly. They collect various data all the time to inform their judgment and decision-making and to spur learning. Now, data collection (to donor-specified standards) is increasingly used for accountability purposes.
Posted on February 16, 2011 by GIA News

(2-16-2011) Erica Orden for The Wall Street Journal:

A year after ending a charitable program that pumped nearly $200 million into hundreds of arts and social-service organizations, Mayor Michael Bloomberg is reopening the pipeline to his personal fortune through his multibillion-dollar family foundation.

Posted on February 14, 2011 by GIA News

(2-14-2011) From AFTA News:

Today the Obama Administration released its much anticipated Fiscal Year 2012 Budget Request to Congress which includes funding for the nation’s cultural agencies and programs including the National Endowment for the Arts (NEA), Institute of Museum and Library Services (IMLS), and the Smithsonian Institution.

Posted on February 14, 2011 by GIA News

(2-14-2011) This report, Next Generation Organizations: 9 Key Traits, funded by the Annie E. Casey Foundation, provides a simple framework and self-assessment tool to guide nonprofits as they foster learning, identify organizational areas of strength, and focus staff and board conversations where they need to be to become next generation organizations.

Posted on February 13, 2011 by GIA News

(2-13-2011) Composer Christopher Tin won a Grammy for the track "Baba Yetu" title song for the video game Civilization IV. The track features GIA member, Ron Ragin, program officer at the Hewlett Foundation. Here's a clip of a live concert version, and here's the video game trailer.

Posted on February 11, 2011 by GIA News

(2-11-2011) Next Thursday, February 17, the Washington State Arts Commission and The Wallace Foundation present a free forum at McCaw Hall (Seattle) on community engagement through digital media. Professor Hanson Hosein, an award-winning documentary filmmaker and director of the Master of Communication in Digital Media at the University of Washington, is the featured presenter. The following day, workshops (also free) will be held in Seattle and Tacoma, with instruction for organizations on filming our stories and reaching constituents through digital media.

Posted on February 10, 2011 by GIA News

(2-10-2011) This week, LINC and the Ford Foundation announced awards of up to $100,000 to 12 nonprofits seeking start-up funds for arts and cultural facilities. The grants were made through the Space for Change program, which is designed to help grantees deepen their planning processes and leverage a stronger position as collaborative partners with municipalities, developers, and local stakeholders, while also expanding their national network of peers.

Posted on February 10, 2011 by GIA News

(2-10-2011) British research shows that consumers and do-it-yourselfers surpass what UK businesses invest in R&D for consumer products. What might the organizational equivalent be? Is there an untapped wealth of innovative practice developed by "amateur" nonprofit managers who are making it up as they go along?

Posted on February 10, 2011 by GIA News

(2-9-2011) Miller-McCune reports on The State of State Arts Agencies: