Two new efforts, one aimed at raising the profile of Black-founded nonprofits and the other geared toward supporting Asian, Black, Indigenous and Latinx arts organizations, have received pledges of support from a variety of partners and supporters.
In the first, 16 donors and foundations banded together and pledged $156 million to support Asian, Black, Indigenous, and Latinx arts organizations. Many of the organizations being supported have lost substantial funding during the coronavirus pandemic. Backers include the Ford Foundation, as well as Bloomberg Philanthropies, Barbara and Amos Hostetter, the Abrams Foundation, Alice L. Walton Foundation and Tom and Laura Blumenthal.
The first group of recipients includes Alaska Native Heritage Center, Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater, Apollo Theater, Arab American National Museum, Ballet Hispanico, Charles H. Wright Museum, Dance Theater of Harlem, East West Players, El Museo del Barrio, Japanese American National Museum, Jazz at Lincoln Center, Museo de Arte de Puerto Rico, Museum of Chinese in America, IAIA Museum of Contemporary Native Arts, National Museum of Mexican Art, Penumbra Theatre, Project Row Houses, Studio Museum in Harlem, Urban Bush Women and Wing Luke Museum of the Asian Pacific American Experience. Collectively, the grant recipients are referred to as America’s Cultural Treasures.
Grants range from $1 to $6 million, with recipients receiving up to an additional $100,000 for organizational capacity building such as digital strategies.
Additionally, the America’s Cultural Treasures initiative will provide matching funds for multi-year grants awarded to regional or local cultural groups of color. Participating foundations in this effort include the Ford Foundation, as well as the Barr Foundation, Getty Foundation, Heinz Endowments, Houston Endowment, John D. & Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation, Joyce Foundation, McKnight Foundation, The Ralph M. Parsons Foundation, Terra Foundation for American Art and William Penn Foundation.
Recipients will be announced in 2021.
Separately, Give Blck, New York City, offers a digital platform that enables donors to identify and fund Black-founded nonprofits, including those that serve underfunded causes or help balance racial disparities in philanthropic funding. The site, https://wwwgiveblck.org, currently lists more than 200 organizations.
“We know that ongoing giving stems from people aligning their causes with their passions, so we envision Give Blck as a tool that both corporate and individual donors can use to priorities the Black community long term, not just now, and make necessary shifts to their investment norms,” Give Blck co-founder Christina Lewis said in a statement.
Partners include nonprofit development software firm Benevity, charity evaluator Charity Navigator, the Ford Foundation and Microsoft.
