about The Fund

Mission Statement

The Fund provides assistance to selected major arts and cultural institutions as they adjust to a free market economy. Our senior consulting experts serve pro bono and share their expertise in administration, management, governance, planning, public relations, marketing and fundraising with visual and performing arts organizations.  We believe that promoting healthy, vibrant, and welcoming institutions of art and culture strengthens civil society.

How The Fund Operates

The Fund is a nonprofit U.S. corporation overseen by five officers, a governing board, and senior advisors. There are no paid full-time staff members.

Founded in 1991, The Fund began working in Poland, Hungary and Czechoslovakia (later the Czech Republic). Our work expanded to the three Baltic countries, Latvia, Lithuania, and Estonia, and later Bulgaria, Russia, Ukraine, and Georgia, Romania, Serbia/Montenegro, Macedonia, Albania, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Croatia, Mongolia, Armenia, Slovakia, and Azerbaijan.

Upon request, The Fund provides assistance to selected major arts and cultural institutions to assist in their adjustment to a free market economy. Our senior consulting experts serve pro bono and share their expertise in administration, management, governance, planning, public relations, marketing, and fundraising with visual and performing arts organizations. We believe that promoting healthy, vibrant, and welcoming institutions of art and culture strengthen civil society.

Typically, The Fund’s activities in a country develop through the following process:

- After formal invitation by a principal of a cultural institution, a ministry of culture, or the U.S. Embassy, a Fund director makes an initial visit to the country involved. This visit establishes contacts with government representatives (e.g., the Ministry of Culture, Mayor’s office, etc.), administrators and directors of local major arts and cultural institutions, and other thought-leaders in or from the country; U.S. government representatives (e.g. the U.S. Embassy, consulates, etc.), and local executives of NGOs. An informal needs assessment of arts and cultural organizations is undertaken, and Fund objectives are agreed upon.

- Experts willing to provide the assistance needed are recruited. In cooperation with the requesting institution, consultants for The Fund work on-site to help develop plans and programs in their areas of expertise. They participate in roundtable discussions, seminars, and workshops, provide training courses, and/or give lectures or individual consultations. Continuing contact between the institution and The Fund’s consultant(s) is maintained through e-mail communication and return visits where indicated.

Restrictions:

The Fund receives many requests for assistance that are not within the purview of its mission. The Fund does not give outright grants nor does it support individual artists. Generally, it does not assist start-up institutions, nor does it involve itself with the preservation and restoration of buildings or the programs of educational institutions.