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.
Download:
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.
Download:
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.
Read More...Creative placemaking is electrifying communities large and small around the country. Mayors, public agencies, and arts organizations are finding each other and committing to new initiatives. That’s a wonderful thing, whether or not their proposals are funded by national initiatives such as the National Endowment for the Arts’ Our Town program or ArtPlace.
Read More...January 2013, 36 pages. Evelyn & Walter Haas, Jr. Fund, 114 Sansome Street, Suite 600, San Francisco, California, 94104. (415) 856-1400 http://www.haasjr.org/
Download:
Read More...Dynamic Adaptability: Arts and Culture Puget Sound was a series of conferences for cultural sector leaders sponsored by a consortium of five funders in the Puget Sound: The Paul G. Allen Family Foundation, The Boeing Company, 4Culture, Seattle Office of Arts & Cultural Affairs and The Seattle Foundation. This initiative was a response to a March 2009 study about the effects of the recession on area cultural institutions and their needs at this time.
Read More...
Download:
A Vision for Emergency Readiness, Response and Recovery in the Arts Sector (1Mb)
Download:
Autopsy of an Orchestra (12.7Mb)
Grantmakers in the Arts and Melanie Beene are pleased to provide this republished digital edition of the seminal report, Autopsy of an Orchestra.
Read More...73 pages, June 2012. Cultural Policy Center at the Harris School and NORC at the University of Chicago, 1155 East 60th Street, Suite 285, Chicago, IL 60637, (773) 702-1999, http://culturalpolicy.uchicago.edu/setinstone/.
Download:
Set in Stone (4.5Mb)