Philanthropic practice

GIA is pleased to announce the publication of Creative Family Giving in the Arts, the second volume in its series of Field Resource Books. The book portrays a variety of innovative programs of support for the arts and artists, and emphasizes giving by small family foundations and programs that make grants under $10,000. The project was co-chaired by Kathleen O'Grady of the O'Grady Foundation and Mercy Pavelic' of the Heathcote Art Foundation.

Policy Perspectives for Individuals, Institutions, and Communities
Edited by Gigi Bradford, Michael Gary, and Glenn Wallach
2000, 364 pages, $18.95 paper. The New Press, New York.

1999, 23 pages. Final report of collaborative research project, Millennium Communications Group, Inc., 58 Salem Street, Andover, Massachusetts 01810.

Although its main focus seems to be on exploring ways of expanding philanthropy among new donors, Philanthropy's Current and New Stakeholders: Building a Common Vision for an Expanded Future also offers some interesting — and disturbing — observations on how traditional philanthropy is viewed.

A recently released study of giving in Hawai'i confirms what many culture and arts groups in the state already know — it's hard to raise money! A local firm, SMS Research, conducted the study for Hawai'i Community Foundation in spring 1999. Titled Hawai'i Giving Study 1999, the study's purpose was to better understand charitable giving among Hawai'i residents.

How can the arts promote positive social change? That's what the staff and board of the Kentucky Foundation for Women wanted to find out. We thought we knew. Or at least we thought we had a pretty good idea. After all, our mission is to promote positive social change through varied feminist expression in the arts, and we have been around for fifteen years.

A growing chorus of complaint has emerged about foundation giving in recent years. According to critics, foundations do not distribute enough in grant payments to justify their privileged position. On average, foundations pay out about 5.5 percent of their total assets each year and many critics believe that is just not enough.