Community Music Center is honored to be a grantee recipient of Bloomberg Philanthropies’ Arts Innovation and Management (AIM) program. Through the two-year initiative, Bloomberg Philanthropies is providing $30 million across 262 small and mid-sized nonprofit cultural organizations around the country to help strengthen their operational and programming efforts, including training in fundraising, audience development and board member engagement.
“It’s such an honor to be recognized by Bloomberg Philanthropies for the life-changing music and music education services we provide to more than 23,000 people in and around San Francisco each year,” said Christopher Borg, executive director of Community Music Center. “This generous donation will allow us to expand our outreach efforts and programs to an even wider community. We’re thrilled for the opportunity to bring more people from all walks of life together to connect through music – no matter their age, musical ability or financial background.”
The invitation-only program supports nonprofit cultural organizations based in six cities: Boston, Chicago, Dallas, Detroit, Los Angeles and San Francisco. All organizations are locally or internationally recognized nonprofits that have been in existence for at least two years. The grantees are required to participate in a management training program; secure matching funds; ensure 100% board participation in fundraising; and maintain up-to-date information in the Cultural Data Project, an online financial & data collection platform that assists arts organizations across the country to collect, learn from, and use data effectively. The grants are unrestricted so that recipients can use them to address their greatest needs.
Funds from this grant will be used to expand fundraising and marketing initiatives, all of which will ultimately help CMC become a national leader in community-based arts education. Combined, these efforts will further the organization’s strategy to attract the highest caliber of teaching professionals, board volunteers and staff to sustain CMC’s work and mission.
Bloomberg Philanthropies is partnering with the DeVos Institute of Arts Management at the University of Maryland to develop curricula and conduct trainings for the AIM program in each city. The comprehensive workshops engage organizations around activities that strengthen their long-term health and goals and include consultations and implementation support for arts managers and their boards.