Every October, the Foundation Center celebrates Funding for Arts Month with a busy schedule of free seminars for artists and arts organizations all around the New York area.
This year, there were so many great seminar topics in the works that we couldn't fit them all into just one month! As a result, we decided to get things started early this time, with two August events for anyone looking to get some arts funding information ahead of schedule.
On August 10, we offered a panel presentation, Fundraising for Independent Filmmakers, which was moderated by Natalie Difford, senior program officer at Chicken and Egg Pictures, and featured panelists Julia Bacha, director and producer of the film Budrus and media director at Just Vision; Randall Dottin, film director and faculty member at the New York Film Academy; and Edwin Pagán, founder-in-chief of Latin Horror.
If you missed it, be sure to keep an eye on our online multimedia archive, as we'll be posting a video of this event shortly. In the meantime, you can find some excellent fundraising tips in this blog post based on a similar program from last summer, Fundraising for Filmmakers: Dreamers Need Deadlines, Research, and a Good Pitch.
The next day, on August 11, we had a terrific presentation from Dianne Debicella of Fractured Atlas on Fiscal Sponsorship for Artists. Fiscal sponsorship can be a highly useful tool for artists who need funding but are not affiliated with an arts organization. This seminar will also be posted in our multimedia archive soon, and you can learn a bit more about how fiscal sponsorship works by reading this blog post, What is Fiscal Sponsorship and How Can It Help You as an Artist?.
We have planned more events for arts organizations and artists coming up during Funding for Arts Month in October, so have a look below at what's on the schedule. You can sign up for any of these through our online event calendar.
- Tuesday, October 4: Raising Money for Arts Organizations Using Silent and Online Auctions – Times are tight for raising money lately, so it helps to be creative in your methods. If your organization is looking to try its hand at holding an auction, stop by this seminar presented in collaboration with the Arts & Business Council of New York.
- Wednesday, October 5: Fiscal Sponsorship for Your Project – If you missed our most recent event on fiscal sponsorship, this will be a great one to attend. Fractured Atlas's Dianne Debicella, from our August workshop, will be discussing sponsorship programs once more in this event, along with Leonard Glickman of FJC, and the Foundation Center's own Jeannine Corey.
- Thursday, October 13: New York City Funding Opportunities for the Arts – Curious about what kinds of government funding might be available for your projects? The Mayor's Office of Contract Services has been collaborating with us on a series of events on government funding throughout 2011, and this one will be focused on finding City funding for arts organizations as well as individual artists.
- Wednesday, October 19: Stand Out in a Crowd: Crowdfunding Microgrants for the Arts – Crowdfunding is one of the newest trends in raising money, especially when it comes to the arts. Learn how to attract the attention of online donors, and figure out how to get your donors to become your audience!
- Tuesday, October 25: Fundraising for Actors – This is a topic that the Foundation Center has not broached before now. While it's commonly assumed that actors do not need to fundraise, the reality is that many actors are in search of funding for training programs and special projects. This seminar will show you exactly where to look.
- Thursday, October 27: Dialogue with Donors: Foundation Funding for the Arts – Find information on what arts funders are seeking, directly from the funders themselves. All of our panelists will represent foundations that actively support the arts, and they'll be happy to take your questions.
Again, check our October calendar online for registration and other information, and stay tuned for more details as the fall approaches!
-- Tracy Kaufman, Library Assistant, Foundation Center-New York
The program that The Foundation provided us a few weeks ago was PACKED with an energetic and interesting panel of professionals and I would like to voice my opinion and to Thank The Foundation for caring.
Mike Raci
Posted by: Mike Raci | August 23, 2011 at 05:51 PM