Philanthropy Front and Center-Cleveland

Cuyahoga Arts and Culture Names New Executive Director

The board of trustees of Cuyahoga Arts and Culture (CAC) announced (November 10, 2009) the appointment of Karen Gahl-Mills to the position of executive director. CAC is the public funding mechanism that supports arts and cultural organizations in Cuyahoga County. Trustees, in a unanimous vote taken at their regular, public meeting, appointed Ms. Gahl-Mills, currently the president and executive director of the Syracuse Symphony Orchestra, to a four-year term as CAC executive director. Ms. Gahl-Mills takes the reins of CAC at a critical time for an organization that, in fewer than three years, has become one of the nation’s top five sources of local public funding for arts and culture. To date, 145 Cuyahoga County organizations have been awarded CAC grants (General Operating Support, Project Support, and Special Initiative grants) worth a combined total of more than $33.5 million.

This Week at the Foundation Center (Oct 5-9)

Classes:

Tuesday, October 6:
Introduction to Fundraising Planning, 10:00-11:30am.
A successful nonprofit organization needs to cultivate multiple revenue streams through sound financial planning. Learn how!

Your Board and Fundraising, 12:00-1:00pm.
Learn about key elements in getting your board involved in fundraising.

October is Funding for Arts Month at the Foundation Center!

Wednesday, October 7:
Grantseeking Basics for Individuals in the Arts, 10:00am-12:00pm.
At our Cooperating Collection at the Akron-Summit County Public Library, this course is geared towards individuals involved in the arts and looking to fund any type of arts-related project.It includes presentations from special guests Kate Harmon, Mary Schiller Myers School of Art at the University of Akron, and Megan L. Van Voorhis, Community Partnership for Arts and Culture.

If you are an artist, performer, filmmaker, or other individual in the arts, the Foundation Center is the place to be on the afternoon/evening of October 7th!

Resource Market for the Creative Community, 4:00-6:00pm.
Learn about finding funding and meet representatives of organizations that provide valuable professional services and other growth opportunities for artists, filmmakers, and other individuals working in the creative community. In a trade fair atmosphere, meet vendors and attend mini sessions featuring must-know information from Art House SEAN, Community Partnership for Arts and Culture, COSE Arts Network, Foundation Center, Greater Cleveland Film Commission, The Red Dot Project, and Young Audiences of Northeast Ohio.

"I Got Funded" Artist Panel, 6:15-7:30pm.
Would you like to meet and learn from several artists who have applied for and received grants, fellowships, awards, or prizes? Join us to learn from the experiences of Donald Black, Jr., and Amy Casey. Hear how they did it and explore how you can get started.

Friday, October 9:
Coffee and Conversation with a Grantmaker: Lillian Kuri of The Cleveland Foundation, 9:30-10:45am.
Come and start a conversation with Lillian Kuri, Program Director for Architecture, Urban Design and Sustainable Development at The Cleveland Foundation.

Library Hours:
Monday:  12:00 - 4:30 pm
Tuesday: 9:30 am - 4:30 pm
Wednesday: 12:00 - 8:00 pm
Thursday: 9:30 am - 4:30 pm
Friday: 12:00 pm - 4:30 pm

Watch! October is Funding for Arts Month

Free Events:

Wednesday, October 7:
Grantseeking Basics for Individuals in the Arts at our Cooperating Collection at the Akron-Summit County Public Library, 10:00am-12:00pm.
For you if you are an individual involved in the arts and looking for funding to complete a project, mount an exhibition, put on a performance, conduct research, or anything else arts-related.

Resource Market for the Creative Community, 4:00-6:00pm.
Attend our “trade fair” and meet “vendors” that offer resources and services for artists, writers, and others in the creative community. Don't miss it!

"I Got Funded" Artist Panel, 6:15-7:30pm.
Meet and learn from several artists who have applied for and received grants, fellowships, awards, and prizes.

Friday, October 9:
Coffee and Conversation with a Grantmaker, 9:30-10:45am.
Meet Lillian Kuri, Program Director for Architecture, Urban Design and Sustainable Development, The Cleveland Foundation.

Wednesday, October 21:
Fundraising for Arts and Culture Organizations in a Challenging Economy, 1:00-2:15pm.
Gain a basic overview of what you can do to survive, thrive, and succeed in sustaining your nonprofit during the current economic recession.

Fund Development Pulse Check: How Are Arts and Culture Organizations Doing? 2:30-3:30pm.
Learn about seeking financial support in today's economic environment from the experiences of leading development professionals from arts and culture organizations in Northeast Ohio.

Friday, October, 23:
Community Arts Organizations of the Future, 10:00am-12:00pm.
Explore today's pressing issues affecting community-based arts and culture organizations: funding, leadership capacity, community, and sustainability.

October 30:
Webinar! Funding Trends in Arts and Culture, 3:00-4:15pm.
Join us from the comfort of your own office and learn about funding trends and the outlook for arts and culture from national experts in the field.  

The Ohio Cultural Data Project

Ohio's arts and culture organizations now have an online management tool that allows tracking of financial and programmatic performance and benchmarking against similar organizations. Launched September 1, 2009, the Ohio Cultural Data Project is designed to strengthen organizations' ability to track trends and produce reports that can be used with funders and policymakers to make a case for support. Benefits of participation include a streamlined application process to participating funders, free access to help, and training. There only participation cost is time.

Free training sessions will be held throughout Ohio including several in Northeast Ohio, September 21-23, 2009.

News Roundup: Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, Arts Commission of Greater Toledo, Don and Alice Noble Foundation

The Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation announced (July 16, 2009) the last of three rounds of Opportunity Online grants, which will help public libraries in eleven states to upgrade hardware and add new public workstations. Ohio's grants will be administered and managed through the State Library of Ohio. Despite the fact that most libraries are typically the only provider of free Internet access in their communities (73 percent), many do not have adequate funding to maintain quality computer and Internet services, and to meet growing community demand for these technology tools. Nick Slone, a librarian at Garnet A. Wilson Public Library in Waverly, OH, which is eligible for the grants, said, “A rising unemployment rate in our county has stimulated even more demand for the technology resources at our library. Many people in our community without Internet access elsewhere now come to the library regularly—even daily—to take courses and search for jobs online. If it weren’t for the library, these people would simply not be able to use the Internet as a tool to find new opportunities in this tough economy.”  Read more>>

The Toledo Blade reported (July 10, 2009) that the Arts Commission of Greater Toledo has been awarded $250,000 in stimulus funding, part of $30 million disbursed by the National Endowment for the Arts. The Commission will keep $50,000, using it in part to hire teens for a summer program. The remaining $200,000 will be applied for by local arts and culture organizations that have lost staff or are at risk of losing staff, and will be administered in part by the Toledo Community Foundation. Read more>>

The Daily Record reported (July 9, 2009) that a $500,000 grant is in place to begin the development of Oak Hill Park from land gifted to the city of Wooster by the Don and Alice Noble Foundation. The 100-acre property is valued at $1.5 million and is being designed to have 1.7 miles of recreation trails and plantings for year-round interest. Read more>>

News Roundup: Verizon Foundation, The Kresge Foundation, Andrew W. Mellon Foundation

Verizon recently announced that thanks to the generosity of its customers who support Check Into Literacy, nonprofit organizations in 23 states and Washington, D.C., will receive more than $1.1 million to bolster literacy efforts. The participating states are: Arizona, California, Delaware, Florida, Idaho, Illinois, Indiana, Maryland, Massachusetts, Michigan, North Carolina, Nevada, New Jersey, Ohio, Oregon, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, South Carolina, Texas, Virginia, West Virginia, Washington and Wisconsin. The Check Into Literacy initiative allows Verizon landline phone customers to make a $1-a-month, tax-deductible donation to literacy programs when customers pay their Verizon bill. The Verizon Foundation, the philanthropic arm of Verizon Communications, supports the advancement of literacy and K-12 education through its free educational Web site, Thinkfinity.org, and fosters awareness and prevention of domestic violence.

 

The Kresge Foundation recently announced awarding $10.6 million in grants to 19 human service organizations around the country that provide food service and distribution, shelter to homeless individuals and families, affordable housing for the poor, and legal aid to residents of North Carolina's Appalachian Region.The largest single human service award - $1.45 million - went to Mid-Ohio Foodbank. As the state's largest food bank, it distributes more than 29 million pounds of food to 20 counties through a network of 530 food pantries, soup kitchens, senior centers, homeless shelters and after-school programs.

 

A recent article at Bloomberg.com announced a $1 million gift from the Andrew W. Mellon Foundation to start a classical music festival in New York that will offer reasonably priced seats. Set to debut in 2011, the Spring for Music Festival will feature orchestras from Dallas (TX), St. Paul (MN), and Toledo (OH), among others.

News Roundup: Research and Science Education, Team NEO, COSE Arts, Cleveland Carbon Fund

Representative Marcia L. Fudge named vice-chair of the Research and Science Education subcommittee.  This subcommittee of the House Science and Technology Committee oversees all programs at the National Science Foundation and the White House Office of Science and Technology Policy. Representative Fudge said:

“We have a very unique opportunity to elevate science once again. We have a White House and a Congress committed to affording scientists a platform to develop new innovation and technology for a more sustainable world.”

Team NEO, grantee of the Fund for Our Economic Future, recruited 10 new companies to Northeast Ohio in 2008 (Plain Dealer, 2/3/09).  Payroll at the new companies is projected to be $30 million within 3 years.

COSE Arts Business and Innovation Awards.The Council of Smaller Enterprises (COSE) is now accepting nominations for the 2nd Annual Arts Business and Innovation Awards. Nominations will be accepted through March 2, 2009.Winners and finalists will be recognized in four categories:  Individual Artist, Arts Business, Arts and Culture Community Champion, and Young Arts Entrepreneur. The awards will be presented at the Arts Business and Innovation Awards ceremony on April 23, 2009 at The Cleveland Play House.  Learn more at COSE.

Cleveland Carbon Fund launches.  As the first community-based, open-access carbon reduction fund in the United States, the Cleveland Carbon Fund invests in local community projects that reduce greenhouse gas emissions and spark economic development in Cleveland. The Fund provides an easy, highly transparent option for anyone wishing to play a role in reducing carbon emissions. By investing in the Cleveland Carbon Fund, donors can be assured their worthy contributions are making sustainable, positive change in local Cleveland neighborhoods.

Listen to This! Deena Epstein Shares Insights into Arts and Culture Grantmaking at the George Gund Foundation

In this edition of the Philanthropy Chat Cleveland series of podcasts, Deena Epstein, senior program officer for arts at the George Gund Foundation, discusses current priorities and practices in arts grantmaking including tips for first-time applicants, trends that nonprofits should be aware of, and how funding decisions get made at the board level. Listen!

Attention Artists! Resource Market for the Creative Community

Resource Market for the Creative Community.
Monday, October 20, 4:00-7:00 pm.

We invite all artists, writers, and other individuals in arts and culture to learn more about finding funding while networking with representatives of organizations that provide valuable professional development and other services for artists, writers, and other individuals at work in the creative community. It's free but registration is required.

The Resource Market is primarily a meet-and-greet opportunity, not a formal panel presentation. You may come at anytime and talk to the service organizations listed below while taking advantage of the following 15-minute mini sessions:

• 4:15-4:30: Get the latest information about Community Partnership for Arts and Culture's plans to create an artist portal for Northeast Ohio, based on the successful model, CAR - Chicago Artists Resource
• 5:00-5:15: Gain a hands-on introduction to the Foundation Center's Foundation Grants to Individuals Online, an online database of more than 6,500 foundation and public charity programs that fund students, artists, researchers, and other individual grantseekers
• 6:30-6:45: Learn About NYFA Source, the New York Foundation for the Arts extensive national directory of awards, services, and publications for artists

Connect with key staff members from these service organizations and learn about the opportunities they offer for artists:

• Art House SEAN (Supporting Educators and Artists Network)
• Community Partnership for Arts and Culture
• COSE Arts Network
• The Foundation Center
• Greater Cleveland Film Commission
• The Lit: Cleveland's Literary Center
• The Red Dot Project
• Young Audiences of Northeast Ohio

Listen to This! Kathleen Cerveny Discusses How The Cleveland Foundation Advances Arts and Culture in Northeast Ohio

We are pleased to premiere our first podcast in the Philanthropy Chat Cleveland series of audio programs. We invite you to listen to our interview with Kathleen Cerveny, program director for arts and culture at The Cleveland Foundation. Kathleen talks about her role at the foundation in developing and directing the foundation's special initiatives and programs and shares information about new activities currently underway. She also talks about trends she is seeing in arts philanthropy and shares information about The Cleveland Foundation that every grantseeker needs to know.