Arts & Social Change Funding Circle 2008-2009
We are pioneering a new approach to help bring more support for the field of arts & social change, which has sadly received less and less funding over the years.
Contact us to learn how you can play a part. And read below...
Learn about the 2007-8 arts & social change organizations and projects we were honored to support. Click here.
Purpose of Circle
To increase funding for arts and social change by:
- being a visible, widespread, public magnet for individual donors already interested in this field;
- drawing in new individual funders by showing the field’s breadth, beauty and effectiveness;
- creating a simple and appealing structure whereby donors can pool their funds for greater impact, and learn (from each other and from field experts) how to make a strategic difference in their areas of interest.
How to request funding
Alas, you don’t. At least for now projects will be selected by funding circle members, to make the work more manageable.
Our hope is that this first few funding cycles will be just a beginning – the start of attracting and pulling together donors from many sources. We hope the pool can keep growing through many years, inspiring the launch of other Arts and Social Change funding circles, more open to requests from the wider community.
How to join or support the funding circle
To Join: Contribute $1,000 or more and take part in a two-day meeting in the spring. See more details below under roles. Please contact us if you are interested in exploring joining this year or possibly in the future.
To Support the Work: If you believe in what this work is about and want to see it succeed, but don't have time to be involved, please consider donating to the funding pool or to help with the organizing costs. Info about how to contact us follows.
All contributions are tax-deductible. 100% of the gifts to the funding pool directly support arts & social change organizations.
Areas of funding for 2008-2009
The Funding Circle will start out with three committees: social action, community development, and dialogue. All funds collected will be divided evenly between the three committees.
Social action: To help infuse pressing social movements with the power of the arts.
Current priorities: arts that address environmental crises; infrastructure for arts for social action.
Community development: To strengthen communities by engaging grassroots creativity.
Current priorities: low income youth; infrastructure for community arts field.
Dialogue: To use the power of the arts to bridge deep divisions.
First year priorities: Bringing together people across religious, ethnic and racial divisions; bringing together influential decision-makers across sectors or ideologies; infrastructure for dialogue work.
Additional criteria for all projects funded:
- Use participatory arts (i.e., They engage community members in the art-making)
- Artistic quality
- Promote positive values (e.g., love not hate, hope not fear, tolerance not prejudice) and embody these values in their organizational process, not just the artistic outcome
Roles You Can Choose Among for Involvement:
- Member: Give $1,000 or more. Sponsor an arts project for possible funding. (Optionally) join conference calls and/or site visits to learn more about different approaches and strategies modelled by exciting arts & social change projects. Come to the spring two-day meeting.
- Decision-maker: Give $1,000 or more. Join a fall meeting if you want to help select among the projects to be considered. Do site visits and project evaluations. Come to the spring two-day meeting to make decisions about the grants.
- Supporter: Make a donation (tax deductible) and get our e-bulletin and and final report of what fabulous projects you helped to fund.
For donations of $100 or more you are invited to educational opportunities and may recommend a project to be considered by the funding group.
For information about how to join or how to make a contribution to the pool please contact: Zhaleh@ZingFoundation.org.
For more details about our process click here.
This is a pilot collaboration between Zing Foundation and Threshold Foundation.