Research

An interview series from MCW Projects LLC investigating how cultural leaders, collaborators and influencers are responding to the events of 2020 and re-envisioning the future of the arts.

Four ways that both arts funders and the overall sector could ensure that the cultural ecosystem emerges from the COVID-19 crisis stronger, more resilient and more sustainable. 

As arts funders navigate the opening stages of what will be a prolonged effort to stem the impact of COVID-19, many are already looking beyond the pandemic… In order to address what Wolf and McManus called a pre-coronavirus “crisis of relevance,” organizations need to “collectively remake the model into one that better engages next-generation donors. It is these donors that are yearning to redefine our system, and it can be remade in their image.”

While this crisis has been unfolding for just a short while, a clear playbook is now emerging for how philanthropy can best support the arts during a period of profound trauma.

A native Michiganer, Elysia Borowy-Reeder, Executive Director of the Museum of Contemporary Art Detroit (MOCAD), discusses the importance of cultural institutions supporting the communities which they serve.

As an art collector, dealer, curator and now author, Sabrina Hahn is an active supporter of – and advocate for – the arts nationwide.

We hope you will contribute your intellect, experience, energy, and enthusiasm in support of this mission. By working together, we can turbocharge arts giving, create new pipelines for private investment, and have a more direct and positive impact on society for decades to come.

Arts Funders Forum spoke with Fred Bidwell about building communities through the arts and what he hopes the inaugural Arts Funders Forum will achieve.

With one month until the Arts Funders Forum launch event in Miami Beach, we talk to Subject Matter’s Dan Sallick about his passion for increasing access to arts and culture for the latest edition of our interview series.   

Alternative funding methods for artists and cultural initiatives are on the rise. For our second interview in our philanthropist interview series, we sit down with Arts Funders Forum event speaker and Senior Director of Arts at Kickstarter, Patton Hindle.

As the cultural sector continues to change shape, so do the financial streams that fund it. Find out how artists are taking an innovative approach to fundraising in the 21st century to both maintain and grow their practices.

How are young donors shaping the future of philanthropy? For our 10 Questions series, we sit down with young philanthropists to discuss their thoughts on the arts sector, their ambitions for cultural funding and the impact they hope philanthropy can have on society. First up: Carla Shen.

Supported by the Knight Foundation, our research program uncovered insights from art funders and cultural institutions. Here, we present some of our key findings. To learn more, join us on December 3, 2019: our community will discuss new solutions for arts funding and shape the future of cultural philanthropy.

During our research phase, we built a database of cultural benefactors and experts in the U.S. We surveyed this community and conducted many interviews. We asked them about new frameworks for giving, new ways to measure impact, and what topics they care about most. We analyzed this data and used it to build a roadmap for a new platform.

Cultural institutions across the United States were already suffering from the fear that the rising generation of philanthropists is not that interested in the arts. Then, the sources of philanthropic funding were thrust into the spotlight. With three months until the launch of the Arts Funders Forum in Miami Beach, these events require deep discussion and exploration.

Melissa Cowley Wolf and host Erik Gensler talk about the findings of a recent survey conducted by the Arts Funders Forum and M+D, including millennial giving behaviors, how the cultural sector can engage new donor classes and why collaboration and transparency are critical to the success of the arts in the 21st century.

The world of philanthropy will be heavily shaped by the greatest intergenerational wealth transfer in history, with tens of trillions of dollars passed down in the next half-century. Estimates vary about how much of this wealth will find its way to charity, but one report estimated that transfers to Gen-Xers and millennials over the next decade alone could yield more than $20 billion a year in new grants to nonprofits. Where will all that cash go?