More, Or Less

It is kind of an open secret that New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg is one of the non-profit sector's most reliable anonymous donors. Through an arrangement with the Carnegie Corporation, the richest man in town annually gives millions of dollars away to arts and cultural organizations across the city--usually without requiring groups to submit huge amounts of onerous paperwork.

A recent New York Times article reveals that some questioned the mayor's altruism all along, and confirms that nothing lasts forever:

"Mayor Michael R. Bloomberg, New York City’s richest man and biggest philanthropist, is quietly pulling the plug on an unusual program that has poured nearly $200 million of his fortune into nonprofit groups across the five boroughs."

In Politics: President Barack Obama postpones a Pacific trip, because a Sunday vote on the "health care" legislation is likely, and he wants to be here to take the blame or credit.

Plus: It is Friday and ATA is on Facebook!

Also: Jill Scott - Hate On Me

Relative Value

At Arts Blog, a link to an essay (pdf) that makes the case for increased levels of funding for small cultural organizations; groups whose size belies their importance to their communities.

Written by Ron Chew former director of the Wing Luke Asian Museum, the essay came out of the Exemplar Program; a Ford Foundation sponsored funding initiative which provided two years of support, totaling $150,000 each to 12 small to midsized arts and cultural organizations nationwide.

"...opportunities will abound to reassert the connection of the arts to community service.

Marjorie Schwarzer, chair of the Department of Museum Studies at John F. Kennedy University in California, said the public “seeks solace in the arts during troubled times.” She noted, for example, that museum attendance rose during the Great Depression..."

Also: @ ESPN, Major League Baseball - Salaries for 2009 (Copyright 2009 by The Associated Press)

DETROIT TIGERS

Magglio Ordonez $18,971,596

Miguel Cabrera 14,383,049

dl-Jeremy Bonderman 12,500,000

Carlos Guillen 10,000,000

dl-Dontrelle Willis 10,000,000

Nate Robertson 7,000,000

Brandon Inge 6,300,000

Placido Polanco 4,600,000

Brandon Lyon 4,250,000

Justin Verlander 3,675,000

Curtis Granderson 3,500,000

Gerald Laird 2,800,000

Fernando Rodney 2,700,000

Marcus Thames 2,275,000

Edwin Jackson 2,200,000

Rick Porcello 2,095,000

Bobby Seay 1,300,000

Adam Everett 1,000,000

Ramon Santiago 825,000

Juan Rincon 750,000

Matt Treanor 750,000

dl-Joel Zumaya 735,000

Zach Miner 437,500

Armando Galarraga 435,000

Jeff Larish 403,000

Josh Anderson 400,000

Eddie Bonine 400,000

Ryan Perry 400,000

Read More @ USA Today.

Hold Tight

Since I'm not a journalist, I failed to notice last week when the National Endowment for the Arts (NEA) announced the names of the lucky few; dozens of nonprofit arts organizations are receiving grants to support the preservation of jobs threatened by the great depression.

Rejoice.

The names of the award-winning Arts Education organizations are listed here.

Local members of the $50,000 Dollar Club include: The Studio Museum, in Harlem; the New 42nd Street/New Victory Theater (!!!); City Lore; and DreamYard, in the Bronx.

Also: Angel Desai - Another Hundred People (Company - S. Sondheim)

Thinking of You

The website of the Dana Foundation might seem like an odd choice for a giddy tour-guide to take a group of fellow teaching artists, but there are at least 196 reasons to take a whirl:

"In 2001, The Dana Foundation created the Arts Education program with a sole focus of providing grants to support professional development for teaching artists and in-school arts specialists. The first several years of grants were to programs in New York City, Washington,DC, Los Angeles and to organizations with a 50 mile radius of the three.

Through 2008, Dana has awarded 196 grants for a total of $8,008,900."

Money, as you may have noticed, changes everything, but Dana's not just for fundraisers. The foundation's Arts Education publications provide inspiration, data and information that is relevant to the work lives of professional TAs.

Highlights: Reports on brain research that comes close to proving, once and for all, that the arts really can positively impact learning. A collection of essays on effective planning, and a working model of an effective school partnership.

Alarmingly, the foundation is reevaluating its approach to funding arts education. But they say not to worry.

Also: Thelonius Monk - Straight, No Chaser

What They Said

Luckily, the Foundation Center maintains an archive of panel discussions about issues related to fundraising.

If you have any interest in that sort of thing, you might want to give it a whirl. 

This mp3, recorded in October 2008, features five program directors from the New York State Council on the Arts (NYSCA) talking about everything you need to know about NYSCA grant opportunities, eligibility, and the application process.

All New

The Community Arts Network   reports that Claudine Brown, director of the Arts and Culture Program at the Nathan Cummings Foundation, may be a candidate for chair of the National Endowment for the Arts. 

Read about it at Daily Kos.

Eat the Rich

Staggering.

Glorya Kaufman gives $20 million to Dance at the Los Angeles Music Center.

"It's the perfect time," Kaufman said, "because everyone is starting to get into the doldrums. They're not spending money, not doing this, not doing that. What this does is, we can have music on the Music Center courtyard, we can have little bands and people learning to dance. . . . Everyone is happy dancing."

Also:

The wealthy do the $2500 Saturday Brunch.

AIG paid out millions of dollars in bail-out funded bonuses to a handful of executives.

The FY 2009 Omnibus Appropriations Act includes "a significant $10 million increase..." for the National Endowment for the Arts and the National Endowment for the Humanities.

Eat the Rich.

California

If you check out the Insider's Guide to Arts Education Planning on the website of the California Alliance for Arts Education you might feel encouraged because it is a really informative guide on how to go about getting a comprehensive community plan for arts education off the ground.

If your job is to raise money for arts education in California, you're going to need all the encouragement you can get because the plan to close California's $42 billion deficit involves "devastating" cuts to education, which means there is less money for art.

In this case, "less" means none.

The California Teachers Association has testimonials about the impacts of the budget crisis. This one is from student Jose Corona who goes to school in the Azusa Unified School District:

"The effect of the budget crisis in my school is that they want to cut all K-12 music as well as many other arts which prepare us for the future. I will be a musician, but this budget cut is going to hold me back."

If you check out Joni Mitchell singing California live on the BBC you'll feel better about everything. It won't change anything about the budget, but you'll feel better.

Since it is Monday, I would suggest you start with dessert.

Get What You Need

If you are a fearless leader looking for money in and around the Mid-Hudson Region, you should know that the Dutchess County Arts Council administers a terrific grant with an awkward title and they would like you to apply.

The 2009–2010 Arts-in-Education Local Capacity Building Program is an arts in education funding program supported by the Local Capacity Building Initiative of the Arts in Education Program at the New York State Council on the Arts (NYSCA).

The application deadline is Monday - March 9, 2009 at 5:00 p.m.

If I were you, I would download the guidelines (pdf) now.

Don't wait until the last minute to get everything together because you know that is the same day the copier will decide it no longer has the will to live.

Common Ground

COMMON GROUND is New York State's annual arts-in-education conference. This year, it will be held from March 25-27 at the luxurious Crowne Plaza Hotel in Albany.

Workshop listings are here and we note that on Friday, March 27th, Laura Reeder, Executive Director of Partners for Arts Education, will be leading a session titled Budget Treasure Hunt: Aligning Existing Resources for Arts Education Partnerships. Since new funding streams are as rare as butterflies in January, I predict it will be standing-room only.

If you are worried about expenses, I also read that there are some TAP grants available. I have no idea what TAP stands for but they have extended the deadline for applications to February 15th.

REGISTER NOW!

That Clinking, Clanking Sound

The Chronicle of Philanthropy is not free, but if you are a fearless leader trying to raise money to pay the Teaching Artists, it is absolutely worth the $2.49 per issue.

To lure you in they have started offering a series of free podcasts as bait.

The show is called Social Good and it arrives on the first Thursday of each month.

I got caught in a blurb:

Allison Fine, a nonprofit leader and expert on technology and communications, discusses how charities and foundations can more effectively use social-media tools to spread their messages and raise money.

Find the audio links here.

Also: Cabaret (youtube)

Happy Days Are Here Again

If you are an independent TA in NY State or a fearless leader trying to find money to pay Teaching Artists, you may have noticed that there is no more extra money in the budget for art. 

None. 

Less than none.

We wonder just how bad it will get.

Sure, it may be cathartic and accurate to blame the rich people for bringing back the depression, but, since we desperately need their leftover money to continue our work, it would not be politic to offend them.

According to a report by Giving USA, recessions do not seem to be a strong determining factor in arts giving and regular non-rich people also like to give money to worthy causes.

That's good news. That raises the possibility that there is still some money somewhere in your neighborhood community. It is probably hidden in people's wallets and the job is to get them to take it out and hand it to you before the end of the year.

The Grassroots Institute for Fundraising Training (GIFT) is a multiracial organization that promotes the connection between fundraising, social justice and movement-building. They sound like hippies, but they are so smart about getting the money...it's thrilling.

According to the experts at GIFT, here are three key things to know about fundraising:

1. People give when they are asked, and rarely give when they are not. Even when people are asked, they don't always give. So, you need to ask for more gifts than the number you need to bring in, and you need to be comfortable with people saying "No."

2. Donors are not ATMs. You need to thank them and keep them posted on what your organization is doing with their money if you want them to give more than once.

3. You can't raise all the money your group needs by yourself. Spend some time building a team of people to help you.