Philanthropic practice

One of the fastest growing affinity groups in philanthropy, the Association of Small Foundations serves trustees, staff, and consultants working with "foundations with few or no staff." Most of its members have assets of $50 million or less, and many of them depend on consulting groups to manage investments and assist with grantmaking. These consultants were well-represented at the conference as speakers, exhibitors, and general participants. As of August 2002, the Association had 2,801 members with assets totaling $47.8 billion.

Cultural Diplomacy Initiative

A labor of love for individuals committed to the significance and potential of media, Why FUND Media is a timely and worthy follow-up to a 1984 publication by the Council on Foundations titled How to Fund Media. Editor Karen Hirsch seamlessly brings together a series of separate chapters written by media arts experts who've based their chapter essays on extensive consultations with field representatives and grantmakers, and on historical research.

Two related sessions at grantmaking conferences last fall addressed important questions concerning the relationship of art, culture, and the environment. In each case, funders sought practical information about creative collaboration and successful cross-sector funding. Whether labeled "arts" or "environment" funders, grantmakers craved creative ways to attract new partners — both individuals and organizations — to their work.

January 2003, 46 pages. The Urban Institute, 2100 M Street, NW, Washington DC 20037, 202-833-7200, 202-429-0687 (fax), www.urban.org/publications/310616.html.

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2003, 53 pages. Blueprint Research and Design, 415-677-9700 or 206-324-4999, www.blueprintrd.com; Social Venture Partners Seattle, 206-374-8757, www.svpseattle.org. Report available at www.svpseattle.org

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   Transforming Philanthropic Transactions (733Kb)

2003, 52 pages. Fund for Folk Culture, P.O. Box 1566, Santa Fe, NM 87504-1566, 505-984-2534, www.folkculture.org; Urban Institute, 2100 M Street, N.W., Washington DC 20037, 202-833-7200, www.urban.org.

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At the GIA conference in fall, 2002, we hosted a round table discussion with the euphemistic title "Adapting in a Time of Constraints." Essentially its burden was to ask: what should we, as funders, be doing for the cultural institutions with whom we work in the context of these extraordinarily difficult times?

Editors of the Reader invited GIA's research advisors to reflect on challenges facing arts grantmakers in light of current research findings on arts funding trends.

What do recent research findings suggest about the prospect for the support of arts and culture in the years ahead?

Ed Pauly: After a decade of dramatic growth in foundations' support for the arts, the funding news is now somber. Yet the meaning we make from the most recent study of foundation funding for the arts depends, as always, on the perspective we choose.