RSF is pleased to announce that it has allocated $50,000 in grant funding to six arts service organizations in Los Angeles County. The funding shines a light on a pioneering model of grantmaking, called Shared Gifting, as well as indicates the need for continued support of the groups that work backstage to keep art communities vibrant.
Since 2010, RSF has been developing the Shared Gifting model as an alternative to traditional philanthropy, in which foundations typically make grant decisions behind closed doors.
“We created this tool to transform the power dynamics that we saw in philanthropy, so it builds trust and cooperation between the organizations,” says Kelley Buhles, director of the program. “It brings collaboration, transparency, and community wisdom into the grantmaking process.”
In late January, the latest round of recipients—18th Street Arts Center, Arts for LA, California Lawyers for the Arts, Center for Cultural Innovation, LA Stage Alliance, and the Latino Arts Network—came together in Santa Monica for a daylong meeting, called a Shared Gifting Circle, to collectively decide how the grant funding should be allocated among them. The participants reviewed each other’s proposals and made the final recommendations for allocations.
“It was like no other funding process that I’ve been through in the 20 years that I’ve worked in fundraising and development,” says Rebecca Nevarez, executive director of the Latino Arts Network. “The intimate format, with hands-on creative activities and personal stories, allowed us to really get to know each other and encouraged collaborative thinking. It gave us all opportunities to explain the needs of each organization and constituency, and allowed us to act on our gut feelings about the needs of L.A.’s arts community as a whole.”
The L.A. Shared Gifting Circle also seeded collaborations to gain more visibility for the important role of these organizations in the arts community.
“Because we are behind the scenes in the art world, many funders underestimate the significance of the work we do until there is a crisis,” explains Alma Robinson, executive director of California Lawyers for the Arts. “We’ll use our grant to restore the funding for our arts arbitration and mediation services so we can help more artists and arts organizations resolve conflict.”
The work of LA Stage Alliance and 18th Street Arts Center, both borrowers in RSF’s Social Enterprise Loan program, inspired RSF to offer grant funding to arts service organizations because they play a crucial role in supporting artists and arts non-profits, and they often find it challenging to attract funding.
“In the meeting, we heard how important this is—arts services organizations often compete with the non-profits they support,” said Buhles. “It was extremely gratifying to help with funding needs and to expand our support of the arts in L.A.”
