Mile-High Musings on Arts, Culture, Creativity and Philanthropy

The significant actions of very large foundations like Ford and Mellon, both in response to COVID and the imperative to address racism and social justice, have understandably received considerable attention, in both the general press and the philanthropy press. The work that they have been doing has been extraordinary. From Ford announcing an allocation of 10% of their assets - $1 billion - towards  impact investing in opportunities like affordable housing and economic opportunity, and committing $156 million to support arts organizations run by people of color ,  to Mellon's recent announcement of a $250 million commitment to reimagine monuments in America , these commitments are big and meaningful. There are about 120,000 foundation in the US, mostly independent private foundations (as opposed to community foundations and operating foundation). 98% of these foundations are smaller, with assets of $50 million or less. If you use a cutoff of $100 million or less, the figure i...