All Within My Hands
/OVERVIEW: All Within My Hands was founded by the members of the heavy metal band Metallica. The organization supports community colleges, foodbanks and disaster relief in the U.S. To a lesser extent it supports local organizations in the cities and towns abroad where Metallica performs.
IP TAKE: All Within My Hands’ largest initiative is its Metallica Scholars program, which makes $100,000 grants to community colleges for vocational, technical and applied learning programs. The organization also supports food banks and disaster relief efforts across the U.S. During Metallica’s most recent European tour, All Within My Hands also gave to local organizations in the areas where the band performed.
This funder is not accessible. Instead, it prefers a proactive approach to giving and researches who it wants to fund. You need to network here to get on this funder’s radar. Do so by reaching out to previous grantees or by contacting the foundation directly, but note the later tactic is less likely.
More than half of all grants remain in the U.S., and California appears to be an area of geographic priority. However, this funder also makes grants internationally, often in the humanitarian aid realm.
PROFILE: All Within My Hands was established in 2017 by the four members of the heavy metal band Metallica: James Hetfield, Lars Ulrich, Kirk Hammett and Robert Trujillo. Based in San Rafael, California, All Within My Hands is “dedicated to creating sustainable communities by supporting workforce education, the fight against hunger, and other critical local services.” The foundation supports its philanthropic work through proceeds from Metallica’s ticket sales and fan donations, and the expense of running the foundation is paid for by the band’s four members and the foundation’s board of directors.
Grants for Higher Education and Work Development
All Within My Hands supports higher education via its Metallica Scholars program, which focuses on supporting vocational, technical and applied learning programs at community colleges in the U.S. Established in 2019, the program provides $100,000 grants to community colleges selected in collaboration with the American Association of Community Colleges for programs that support students enrolled in career and technical education programs. Since its inception, the program has increased the number of grants it offers each year; in 2021, it awarded grants to 23 community colleges including Grand Rapids Community College, the Community College of Baltimore County and Spokane Community College.
Through the same program Metallica Scholars program, this funder also invests in vocational, technical and applied learning programs at community colleges across the U.S. The program makes grants of $100,000 to community colleges for programs for “students training to enter the American workforce.” Grantees include Wisconsin’s Gateway Technical College, Kentucky’s Elizabethtown Community and Technical College and Alvin Community College in Texas.
Grants for Food Systems and Nutrition
All Within My Hands fights hunger by donating a portion of Metallica’s ticket sales to local foodbanks in areas where the band performs. Additionally, the organization has collaborated with Feeding America to encourage its fans to volunteer at and donate to local foodbanks. Recipients include El Pasoans Fighting Hunger, the Second Harvest Food Bank of Middle Tennessee and the Community Foodbank of Eastern Oklahoma.
Grants for Disaster Relief and Humanitarian Aid
This funder supports disaster relief and recovery efforts in the United States through its critical local services funding area, although this is not a primary focus of the foundation’s giving. In recent years, All Within My Hands has supported COVID-19 relief efforts by Direct Relief and Feeding America. The foundation has also supported several organizations involved in fighting California’s wildfires including the North Valley Community Foundation, the Los Angeles Fire Department Foundation and the California Community Foundation’s Wildfire Relief Fund. In the wake of Hurricane Florence in 2018, All Within My Hands supported disaster relief efforts by the Second Harvest Food Bank of Metrolina in North Carolina. It is worth mentioning that Metallica collaborated with the Tipping Point Community in the Band Together Bay Area Benefit Concert, which raised $17 million for “low-income communities hit hardest by the North Bay fires” in California in 2017. It also donated $500,000 to World Central Kitchen, the nonprofit organization run by philanthropist and chef José Andrés, to help feed Ukrainian refugees from the Russian invasion of Ukraine. In early 2023, to benefit those impacted by the 7.8 magnitude earthquake in Turkey and Syria, it donated $125,000 each to Direct Relief and World Central Kitchen, and $150,000 to organizations addressing the string of tornadoes that ripped through Mississippi, Alabama, and Georgia, as well as a storm-caused levee breakage that flooded Monterey County in California.
Grants for Global Development
All Within My Hands does not name global development as an area of grantmaking interest, but the organization gave over $1.6 million to local charities in Europe during Metallica’s 2019 European tour. Donations prioritized organizations in the cities and towns where the band played, including Freezone Manheim, a German organization working with homeless youth.
Important Grant Details:
All Within My Hands has made between $3 and $4 million in grants a year in recent years. Grants to community colleges are generally made in the amount of $100,000, while grants to hunger-related organizations are generally made in the amount of $10,000. Across all funding areas, the foundation’s average grant size is about $25,000. For additional information about past grantmaking, see the organization’s who we support page.
All Within My Hands does not run an open application program. Prospective grantees interested in applying are advised to reach out via the organization’s contact page.
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