Grants for Musical Instruments

Foundation Purpose

Art Mentor Foundation Lucerne seeks to contribute to the development of a vital culture of excellence in classical music and to help attract new audiences to the field. To achieve these objectives, the Foundation sponsors international academies and master classes conducted by established instructors.

In addition, Art Mentor Foundation Lucerne supports outstanding event series or festivals with visionary programming and innovative modes of outreach and communication to foster the public’s engagement with classical music. In general, the Foundation focuses on the promotion of new and contemporary music, although projects on music from other eras are by no means excluded.

Focus Areas

Visual Arts

Art Mentor Foundation Lucerne’s concept of «Visual Art» encompasses not only the classical genres of art such as painting, sculpture, graphic art, drawing and photography, but also new forms of expression and media such as performance, experimental film and video. The Foundation provides funds for regular and special exhibitions as well as their accompanying catalogues at publicly accessible, well established museums and art collections provided that the exhibitions funded are international in their orientation, relevant from an art historical perspective, and carefully curated. Furthermore, Art Mentor Foundation Lucerne supports innovative und interactive projects that explore new approaches to fostering art education so as to attract new audiences. In principle, the Foundation also provides funds for the involvement of modern media in the expansion or presentation of significant pieces of art in the context of major museum projects.c

Music

Art Mentor Foundation Lucerne predominantly supports contemporary classical music projects. However, projects on music from other eras are not excluded as a rule. In its effort to contribute to the development of professional music culture, the Foundation supports international academies and master classes conducted by established instructors. Furthermore, Art Mentor Foundation Lucerne supports various series of music events or festivals that explore new ways of fostering the public’s engagement with classical music in an attempt to attract new audiences. In principle, professional orchestras and ensembles or music centers may also submit a project request for the equipment of rehearsal rooms, the acquisition of instruments or other infra-structural needs.

Cultural Education

In the area of Cultural Education, Art Mentor Foundation Lucerne supports projects that bear a significant relation to Visual Art or Music. The target group includes children and teenagers, particularly from underprivileged backgrounds, who are introduced to art and music in the context of curricular or extracurricular activities. In this way, Art Mentor Foundation Lucerne offers support to teenagers in their personal development and, at the same time, trains the next generation of artists as well as a future audience. A project request can only be submitted provided that the programs are developed, conducted, and realized by a professional artist or a recognized public institution. Furthermore, the projects should have a long-term horizon and be accessible to as wide a group of participants as possible. Art Mentor Foundation Lucerne funds both expansion and continuation of ongoing projects as well as the launch of exemplary pilot projects.

In 2014, GPD Group established a 501(c)(3) medium named the “GPD Group Employees’ Foundation, Inc.” to aid in channeling donations that will enrich the K-12 public education experience and support children with medical and special needs. By focusing our efforts on improving the lives of children, we are developing a long-term commitment to investing in communities in which we serve.

Guiding Principles

For decades, GPD Group has relied on our passion and imagination to transform our client’s visions into reality. With the strength of our team of nearly 550 professionals and the commitment from our partners, we now strive to focus that same imagination towards making a lasting difference in the lives of children.Understanding fully the importance of education and social development, we believe that the right amount of encouragement in the classroom, including those children with medical or special needs, will help them tap into their utmost potential and perhaps spark their own imaginations.We firmly embrace the following guiding principles:

• Our actions shall be applied in appropriate manners to maximize the effectiveness of our support.
• We recognize that our foundation is only positioned to assist as a partner with problem solving and results depend on the quality of our partnerships.
• Many factors influence a child’s development and each child is unique.
• Our actions shall be conducted with integrity, honesty and a sense of community.
• Compassion is a key component in all decisions regarding the growth of children.
• Foundation staff is comprised exclusively of GPD Group employees who are volunteering to lead, support and carry out our mission.
• In addition to our employees support, cultivation of resources and funds from other sources is instrumental in our endeavors.

Who Benefits?

Public Schools

Children and teachers in kindergarten through 12th grade, particularly those children with special needs, have benefited from being awarded money by the Foundation. Grants to provide simple things to individual teachers in individual classrooms such as books, alphabet charts, games, or supplies; educational field trips for a particular grade level in a particular school building, musical instruments, computers / laptops, or gym equipment for use by an entire school building, or money to benefit certain groups of children throughout an entire district such as special communication devices for autistic kids or the implementation of a STEM program; are all worthwhile causes and worthy of consideration for grants by the Foundation. No request should be thought of as too unique, too unusual, too small, or too large; as long as the overriding purpose and goal is to help children develop and learn.

Non-Profit Organizations

Outside of a formal school structure, children and especially those with special needs, rely on grants to assist them in a variety of ways.…so who pays for providing a tutor for your child if he or she ends up with an extended stay at a local children’s hospital? The Foundation can award the hospital a grant for that cause. How about the funding for a local organization who buys, raises, trains, and then provides service dogs to blind or deaf children, or to those with another impairment? The Foundation can assist with that. Or even groups such as the Boys and Girls Club, Camp Invention, Special Olympics, and others; the Foundation can provide some funding to these types of organizations and their affiliated programs. The possibilities are endless – while the children’s needs are great!

History

Classics for Kids Foundation (CFKF) was formed in 1998 in response to the decline of music performance education programs for young people. Our mission is to support young people and the programs that serve them by offering matching grants for fine stringed instruments. Our focus is on at-risk and rural youth, with the premise that learning a complex musical instrument brings with it a host of lifelong benefits including better self-discipline and academic performance, the confidence that comes from doing something well, better coordination, positive peer groups, and immersion in the beauty of music.

CFKF has a grant-making presence in all 50 states of America; at this writing, we’ve supported well over 300 string programs with over $2 million in beautiful new stringed instruments that inspire young people to participate and remain in their programs.

Funding

Our philosophy is simple: we believe that playing a stringed instrument can transform a child, giving them experiences and skills that can help make them more successful in life.

If your school or non-profit organization believes in the role of fine instruments in your program, and can show evidence of need and commitment to raising matching funds, you are a strong candidate for the Classics for Kids matching grant program.

Instruments needed can be: 

• Violins
• Violas
• Cellos
• Double Basses

NOTE: CFKF grants never exceed 50% of total instrument cost; please contact CFKF to determine total instrument cost through CFKF’s authorized instrument provider.

Note: Full proposals are by invitation only, and will not be considered if unsolicited. Those interested in funding should complete the Initial Inquiry Form, to provide organizational details and some brief narrative elements. No inquiries submitted via any other channel, including postal mail, will be considered.

Mockingbird Foundation Grants

The Mockingbird Foundation provides funding for music education for children, through competitive grants, emergency-related grants, and tour-related grants – more than a million dollars, and counting. Competitive grants are awarded through a two-tiered grant application process that is among the most competitive: We are currently able to fund fewer than 1% of inquiries received (e.g. $40K on $1.4M in inquiries). That’s in part because the need is so widespread, and in part because we are unique in what we fund, differing from other players in this funding area in important ways:

Music itself matters – Music is powerful not only culturally and emotionally, but for skills, health, and general well-being. However, we have never funded a grantee solely on the basis of such tangential benefits (such as for music therapy), and tend to favor applicants who recognize the importance of music education for its own sake. While a laudable enterprise, music therapy is just not what we do.

Direct experience is best – Each grantee works to bring the power of music into the lives of a particular group of children. Several grantees have also utilized funds to expose students to music, also a laudable effort. But the Mockingbird board has historically been more interested in programs that engage students directly with music, rather than in funding musical performances for students who would only observe others experiencing music.

Underserved niches are great – Like Save the Music and Mr. Holland’s Opus Foundation, we’ve given support to high school bands. But we’re especially proud of support we’ve given to economically, culturally, and musically distinct efforts. Many of our grantees serve children with special needs and/or underserved populations, and some have been internal efforts by dwindling indigenous peoples. Additionally, we are interested in supporting unconventional forms of instruction, and instruction in unconventional forms; and we are not focused on traditional performance skills, but are also interested in composition, vocalization, and musical improvisation.

Unconventional outlets are interesting – Our funding guidelines define music education for children broadly and somewhat unconventionally. For example, while we have funded many schools – rural and urban, public and private, kindergarten through university – we are especially interested in efforts outside of schools, including hospitals, shelters, foster homes, prisons, churches, camps, and community centers.

Outcomes may not be assessable – Nearly all relevant advocacy efforts have focused on putting instruments in public schools, promoting music education as a tool within broader education, and measuring outcomes in terms of assessable skills. Contrarily, the Mockingbird Foundation looks beyond public schools, and is interested in some areas for which skills may be less assessable (or even irrelevant).

Program Areas

The Mockingbird Foundation, Inc. (“Mockingbird”) offers competitive grants to schools and nonprofit organizations that effect improvements in areas of importance to the Phish fan community. Our programmatic focus is music education for children, defined as follows:

Music: We recognize broad and basic needs within conventional instruction, though are particularly interested in projects that foster creative expression (whether in instrumentation, vocalization, composition, or improvisation) and encourage applications associated with diverse or unusual musical styles, genres, forms, and philosophies.

Education: Education may include the provision of instruments, texts, office materials, or equipment; the support of learning, practice, and/or performance spaces; and the provision of instructors or instruction. We appreciate the fostering of self-esteem and free expression, but have never funded music therapy separate from education nor music appreciation which does not include participation.

Children: We primarily fund programs serving children eighteen years of age or younger, but will consider projects which benefit college students, teachers, instructors, or adult students. We are particularly (though not exclusively) interested in programs which benefit disenfranchised groups, including those with low skill levels, income, or education; with disabilities or terminal illnesses; and in foster homes, shelters, hospitals, prisons, or other remote or isolated situations.

PlayUSA

Carnegie Hall’s PlayUSA supports community partner organizations across the country that offer equitable instrumental music education programs to K–12 students, including those whose opportunities to engage in instrumental music instruction are limited by socioeconomic, geographic, or other factors. These organizations receive funding, as well as training and professional development for teachers and arts administrators, in addition to guidance from Carnegie Hall staff to help address challenges and build on best practices.

The primary objectives of PlayUSA grants and support are to

• reduce the barriers to entry in music learning and performance for students from economically under-resourced communities
• make a transformative investment in the creativity and human development of students
• engage in partnerships with grantees that increase the organizational capacity, effectiveness, and impact of socially responsive instrumental instruction

PlayUSA partnership includes :

• financial support for new or expanded programmatic work
• program development consultation in working with partners to solve problems, address challenges, and build on best practices in the field
• professional development both online and in-person for music educators to support delivery of exceptional programs

The Program's Objective

To support performing and presenting organizations whose artistic excellence encourages and improves public knowledge and appreciation of serious contemporary American music.

Funds are available for General Operating Support for professional performing ensembles and presenting organizations with a history of substantial commitment to contemporary American music and with plans to continue that commitment. The program also provides Project Support for exceptionally important activities relating to contemporary American music proposed by professional performing ensembles and presenting organizations that do not normally feature contemporary American music in their programming.

Special note for dance applicants: The Fund’s primary focus for dance applicants is on the quality of the music and the performance, which must be by live musicians, not the choreography. However, the choreography must enhance the performance of contemporary American music.

Special note for festival applicants and other applications with educational activities: If the primary focus of the organization or project is public professional performance of music, the applicant should apply to the Performance Program. If the primary focus of the organization or project is educational activities, workshops, professional training, or career development, the applicant should apply to the Supplemental Program.

Support window: Support will be given only for activity that occurs in the current season. Thus, for the 2018 grant round, support will only be given to activity that occurs between September 1, 2018 and August 31, 2019. Multi-year projects will be considered if they begin in the current season, but projects that began in an earlier season generally will not be eligible for support.

Project Support applicants: An eligible project is a clearly defined endeavor that includes one or more performances of contemporary American music and, often, other activities related to the performance(s) that improve the public’s knowledge of such music. An aggregated list of contemporary American music activities spread intermittently over the course of a season would not be eligible for Project Support, but could be considered for general operating support if a multi-year history of substantial commitment to contemporary American music is demonstrated as an integral part of the season.

The Performance Program supports the electronic dissemination of live performances, whether as a simultaneous transmission or via a recording of a live performance, by means including broadcasting and streaming. Expenses such as recording and electronic distribution costs can be considered as eligible costs in a request for general operating or project support when included live performance. 

Funding Provisions

In general, grants range from $1,000 to $20,000. Grant amounts for larger organizations with a demonstrated extraordinary commitment to contemporary American music may exceed these amounts at the discretion of the panel. Please note that the awarding of a grant for general operating support in one year does not imply continuation of that support in subsequent years. Project support grants are for that project only, and no more than one grant will be awarded for a single project.