THE CONCEPT

Over the past few years, the arts funding world has been discouraging artists and arts professionals from setting up dedicated 501(c)(3) non-profit corporations. Instead, they have been advising the use of organizations whose primary purpose is to provide conduits for the purpose of fundraising in exchange for direct fees and a percentage of the money that may be raised through the use of the conduit. This has become a very commonly used element for artists and professionals. 

Common Tone Arts feels that the conduit approach is both short-sighted and far less productive for those whose purposes are better represented by the use of a specifically dedicated non-profit organization. Not only is this method is costly, but the equity that can be gained through the fundraising efforts and the activities that result from them is not retained by the actual funded program, but rather the overarching conduit. 

To address this need, we have set up an innovative program that is intended to not only nurture certain artists and professionals with like-minded purposes but also to serve as a model for other dedicated non-profits to follow the example.

CURRENT MEMBERS