Love 4 One Another Charities
/OVERVIEW: Love 4 One Another Charities is a Minnesota-based nonprofit that was established to honor the philanthropic legacy of Prince, the artist. It is primarily interested in supporting, restoring and creating music and arts education programs in K-12 schools.
IP TAKE: This is a modest funder that is still struggling to find its footing. While its grants have been modest in size, it appears to offer critical support to many smaller arts and human services organizations, particularly those working with underserved urban communities, children and youth. This funder does not currently run an application program, but it is accessible. Reach out via email if you believe your organization is a match for Love 4 One Another.
PROFILE: Originally established in 1996 by the musician Prince and Mayte Garcia, Love 4 One Another Charities (L4OA) was founded in honor of their son, who died of Pfeiffer syndrome at only six days old. It prioritizes “helping people up and helping people out.” Named after a lyric from his song “New World,” Prince promoted the charity with a television special in 1997 and a website, and he subsidized it with various tours, including the Love 4 One Another Charities Tour. However, following the couple’s divorce, Prince let the foundation go inactive so he could concentrate his charitable energies toward giving funds directly to those who were positioned to make a better impact than he could alone. Prior to his death n 2016, Prince made monetary gifts to organizations including New York City’s Uptown Dance Academy, the Eau Claire Promise Zone, the Harlem Children’s Zone and Green for All, an organization advocating for green energy and social justice. Prince died in 2016, and Garcia and Tyka Nelson, Prince’s sister, relaunched L4OA in late 2019 to honor Prince’s legacy of giving and continue to honor his son’s memory. Currently, the foundation works to establish and support music and arts education programs in K-12 schools. It also makes grants for human services, housing and economic opportunity, with a strong focus on racial justice and equity.
Grants for K-12 and Arts Education
The organization’s primary focus area is music education in K-12 schools. It believes that a music-based arts education is crucial for student development and “fosters whole-brain learning, self-confidence, critical thinking and ingenuity.” Grantmaking seeks “to provide grants to deserving nonprofit programs that promote such music and arts programs within [L4OA’s] target audience, which may be directed toward scholarships; musical instruments and art supplies; and/or tuition/fees for music and arts classes.” Recent grantees include Create Now of Los Angeles, the East Harlem School at Exodus House, Minnesota’s Free Guitars 4 Kids program and Chicago’s Little Black Pearl Workshop. A signature program, Love 4 Learning, was created to help K-12 students transition from the classroom to the screen during the early days of the COVID-19 pandemic. It provides full year scholarships to Laurel Springs Online Education. While this program is still active, its information page has not been updated and it is not clear for how long the program will continue to accept applications.
Grants for Housing, Homelessness and Community Development
This funder does not name community development as a specific grantmaking priority, but several recent grants have supported organizations that support housing and other human services in low-income and other vulnerable communities. Grantees include LA Family Housing Donations, the Iowa Homeless Youth Center, New York City’s Do Something, the Minnesota Coalition for the Homeless and the Sabathani Community Center in Minneapolis. Love 4 One Another has also supported several public libraries for services provided to communities; recent grants have gone to the Louisville Free Public Library in Kentucky and the Von D. Mizell Library in Broward County, Florida.
Grants for Racial Justice and Indigenous Rights
Many Love 4 One Another grants support organizations operating intersectionally in education or human services and racial justice, with a strong focus on urban African American communities. In a recent year, the foundation made grants to organizations including the Black America Web Relief Fund, Chicago’s Dusable Museum of African American History, the Institute for Black Charities, the King Center of Atlanta and Ujaama Place, which supports “young African-American men experiencing inequity at the intersection of race and poverty” in St. Paul, Minnesota.
Grants for Arts and Culture
Many recent grants have supported small- to medium-sized performing and visual arts organizations that work to broaden audiences and reach communities through participatory programs. Grant recipients include the Thelonius Monk Institute of Jazz, the Black Ensemble Theater of Chicago, Create Now of Los Angeles and Inside Out Community Arts of Venice, California.
Important Grant Details:
Love 4 One Another Charities generally supports small- to medium-sized organizations with grants of up to $5,000. For additional information about past grantmaking, see the foundation’s charities page or its recent tax filings. While this funder does not run an application program, grantseekers working in its areas of interest may reach out with questions via email at any time.
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