What is venture philanthropy? Do any of these funders make grants in the arts?
Venture philanthropy shares many characteristics with the venture capital model of the for-profit sector. With a final goal of sustainability and organizational capacity building, venture philanthropy combines active relationships between funders and grantees with carefully considered investments in initiatives that have measurable potential. Although ten years ago the funding community was abuzz with venture philanthropys potential for the arts sector, questions have been raised more recently about the real, long-term impact of this funding strategy. A common theory on why it may have been less successful than anticipated in the arts sector is that artists and arts organizations often have difficulty producing measurable goals and benchmarks for their programs. How does one determine whether a public sculpture, for instance, has had a serious impact on a local community? In the eyes of a funder, more measurable results may lie in education, social service, and job training programs th
