Philanthropic practice

"This time, our sector must make a long-term commitment to fund grassroots organizations working to end anti-Black racism and state-sanctioned violence," details a recent statement from Borealis Philanthropy responding to the urgent conversations around anti-Black racism and police brutality.

"Nonprofit collaboration has become an increasingly important social change tool—one that is needed now more than ever to address the fallout from the COVID-19 pandemic and recession. But working with other organizations—whether in a loose affiliate network or movement, or in a more structured partnership or merger—requires a commensurate growth in collaboration capacity."

"Philanthropy doesn’t stand still. Pressing issues and seismic political, economic, and technological shifts move us to regularly revisit and renew how we work."

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When the research started in 2017 for Freedom Maps: Activating legacies of culture, art, and organizing in the U.S. South, an upcoming report, the authors could not have imagined our current reality.

Arts philanthropy, while not leaving legacy gifts behind, is shifting toward "impact and engagement and making a difference,” says Anders Petterson, founder of ArtTactic and author of the report TEFAF Art Market Report: Art Patronage in the 21st Century, Barron's reports.

Grantmakers in the Arts is sharing resources and guidance on COVID-19 (coronavirus disease) and encouraging grantmakers to support their grantees by treating their funding flexibly in these difficult and rapidly shifting circumstances.

James Hirschfeld, program officer at the Howard Gilman Foundation, emphasizes the importance of responsive grantmaking and how, as he says, at the Howard Gilman Foundation they "view financial statements as one way of identifying opportunities for impactful grants."

Philanthropists and collectors Bridgitt Evans and Charlotte Wagner have joined forces to support small cultural organizations “beyond the art world’s power centers,” as Artsy recently reported.

A recent Chronicle of Philanthropy article reports that advocates say “foundations should rethink the way they measure success if they want to achieve progress.”