Funders continue to grapple with how to address issues of systematic inequality across their communities. We connect with Daniel Lewis, a longtime arts philanthropist looking to bring new thinking about inclusion to music education.
Read MoreMotown Records founder Berry Gordy recently gave $4 million to the museum devoted to preserving the label’s legacy and boosting Detroit. Lots of other funders are also excited by the Motown Museum’s plan for a $50 million expansion.
Read MoreWhile fundraisers are increasingly concentrating their efforts on younger and more impact-focused donors, they shouldn’t discount the emotional power of classical music and the giving power of “old world” patrons. For proof, we turn to a big recent gift.
Read MoreOrchestras continue to grapple with dwindling revenues and labor unrest. But a $55 million gift suggests that if ensembles can ensure organizational stability and roll out strong community outreach efforts, donors will throw them a lifeline.
Read MoreOver three decades into his career as an arts patron, Herb Alpert has carved out a unique, prescient, and often contrarian brand of giving. We check in with the acclaimed musician and record producer on his recent big donation and what lies ahead.
Read MoreLos Angeles-area lawyer David Gindler and his wife Kiki Ramos Gindler have emerged as top local arts funders in recent years. They are likely to play a hands-on role in the organizations that they support.
Read MoreAs opera companies grapple with a dwindling subscriber base and the exodus of older audience members, the Wallace Foundation’s latest installment in its $64 million initiative to drive engagement at performing arts organizations is both timely and instructive.
Read MoreAs regional giving continues to reshape the higher ed landscape, we’re seeing greater support for the highbrow performing arts at universities far from the familiar urban enclaves. Here’s an instructive case study.
Read MoreThe relatively few tech donors in the arts space typically hail from the engineering world. Ann S. Bowers, however, doesn’t fit the mold. We dig into her back story and recent big gift for chamber music.
Read MoreWhile a big recent gift to the Cleveland Orchestra was “unexpected,” there are strong reasons that the city's arts organizations and those of its Rust Belt neighbors keep raking in donor dollars.
Read MoreWhile the Bay Area's tech elite remain ambivalent about the arts, other funders in the region are a different story entirely. We dig into a historic brick-and-mortar gift out of San Francisco.
Read MoreWith 900 member stations nationwide, the NPR network offers hope for the future of journalism and culture alike. So it’s not surprising to see more big money flowing to public radio stations, most recently in Seattle.
Read MoreWith arts organizations fretting about declining corporate support in some places, we look at the recent grantmaking of a big bank that sees the arts and culture as a key to regional vitality.
Read MoreMellon has been promoting orchestral diversity for years. But its support for a collaborative effort to address the root causes behind the field's racial disparities takes things to a new level.
Read MoreDon't believe the rap that mega-donors now see L.A. as the innovative arts mecca and New York as the calcified city of yesteryear. A major gift to The Shed—by a billionaire Angeleno, no less—suggests otherwise.
Read MoreThe Wallace Foundation's latest Building Audiences for Sustainability Story looks at a theater troupe's successful efforts to attract younger attendees by tapping into the power of market research.
Read MoreWhat does it look like when a big-city cultural institution and a donor stay in sync for decades? The relationship between Henry and Elaine Kaufman and the Kaufman Music Center serves as a good case study.
Read MoreThe Great American Songbook Foundation may have a new home thanks to an estate donation valued at more than $30 million from Bren Simon of the Mel and Bren Simon Foundation.
Read More
Donors have found a lot to like about the Detroit Symphony Orchestra's innovative engagement initiatives, along with other steps the ensemble has taken to put itself on a path to sustainability.
Read MoreA new case study from the Wallace Foundation shows how the Seattle Symphony leveraged market research to effectively engage the city's burgeoning class of "new urban cultural consumers."
Read More
Whether you raise money or give it away,
Inside Philanthropy is an essential resource.
