More than two dozen Austin-based cultural organizations recently received good news.
Bloomberg Philanthropies, a charitable foundation founded by Michael Bloomberg, the former Mayor of New York and a businessman, recently chose 26 groups in Austin to be recipients of grant money.
The funding is part of a $43m campaign, the goal of which is to give small and medium-sized arts nonprofits in the US a boost. The campaign is in its second phase. During the first phase, organizations in New York, Chicago, Dallas, Boston, Detroit, San Francisco and Los Angeles received a total of $65m.
In the spring of 2018, the foundation announced the second phase, during which it will award grants to organizations in Austin, Baltimore, Denver, Atlanta, New Orleans, DC, and Pittsburgh. The funds are meant to cover operational expenses rather than specific programs, which is a rarity in the funding world.
Organizations that receive grant money can use printing services to outline a plan for how they will use the funds. In the case of the Bloomberg grants, cultural groups are instructed not to reveal how much they have received, although some have suggested that the grants total about 10% of their group's total operating budget.
The Austin organizations who have been chosen for the grant money have discussed how they might use the money. Ideas include paying for rent, new equipment, and for marketing and development strategies.
