For Funders and Donors: Capitalization and Community

The workshop is free with support from The George Gund Foundation.

Support arts and culture nonprofits equitably and strategically during this time of great economic uncertainty. This conversation about capitalization was developed to combat the "norm" of under-resourced arts nonprofits, a standard that disproportionately affects ALAANA organizations. This workshop and presentation will feature national expert Rebecca Thomas of Rebecca Thomas & Associates (RTA) and senior staff from Grantmakers in the Arts.

Grantmakers in the Arts defines capitalization as “the accumulation of the resources an organization needs to fulfill its mission over time,” specifically for its financial health. Since its launch in 2010, GIA has provided resources, conferences sessions, publications, and workshops on nonprofit capitalization. GIA’s Capitalization workshops are specialized workshops, held separately for funders and nonprofit grantees, focusing on what each group can do to support the financial health of nonprofit arts and culture organizations.

For grantmakers, we encourage participation by program officers as well as colleagues in decision-making roles regarding application and reporting requirements. 

The goals for Conversations on Capitalization and Community are to:

1. Elevate the knowledge of capitalization for nonprofits and their funders, particularly during a recession 
2. Provide shared vocabulary that grantmakers and grantees use to inform and transform grantmaking and nonprofit financial practices
3. Provide insight into having effective dialogues between funders and grantees
4. Create a greater sense of complementary practice and camaraderie for a stronger, healthier arts and culture ecosystem

The workshop will be led by nationally-recognized arts finance consultant Rebecca Thomas of Rebecca Thomas & Associates (formerly with Nonprofit Finance Fund) and senior staff from Grantmakers in the Arts.

More than half of our Capitalization and Community workshop participants have said that they've changed their grantmaking practices to support their organizations more responsively and deliberately after having participated in the workshop.

Past participants have said:

"The workshop covered a complicated topic in a small amount of time in clear and simple terms."

“I will use what I learned in future grantmaking decisions.”

"I appreciated that the session called out and gave information valuable to individual donors and not just large foundations. I came away with a better understanding of the role of the individual donor in an environment where many larger foundations operate." 

“I found the knowledge on financial health and capitalization relevant to other sub-sector organizations such as education, healthcare, environmental justice, housing, food security, etc.” 

“I now have a better understanding of the impact of structural racism in the arts sector.”

Presented in partnership with