Incorporating Democratized Forms of Fundraising and Philanthropy in Nonprofit Arts Organizations in the Greater Philadelphia Region
Authors:   , Benedetto Tylar Elizabeth , Yau Pamela 
Published: February 2023

Current imbalances within professionalized fundraising and philanthropy have led to recent research that suggests new forms of philanthropy need to be employed. These imbalances make it necessary to explore modes of fundraising that keep organizations grounded in their mission and focused on the communities they serve. These different types of fundraising have been labeled as democratic philanthropy, grassroots fundraising, trust-based, or inclusive and relationship-based fundraising (Jung 2015; MacKenzie 2021) and may utilize many tools such as crowdfunding, participatory budgeting, giving circles and more. They all strive to employ more democratic strategies of fundraising that involve the participation and voices of diverse individuals from the communities the organization serves (MacKenzie 2021). From this, my research asks: How are nonprofit arts organizations in the Greater Philadelphia region utilizing democratized fundraising practices? The purpose of this collective, instrumental case study was to better understand the use of democratized fundraising strategies by nonprofit arts organizations in the Greater Philadelphia region, so that it can be described how these strategies, if at all, change the overall philanthropic model. For this research, interviews were conducted with eight staff members across 5 nonprofit arts organizations in the Greater Philadelphia Region. Qualitative data was gathered and coded from the interviews conducted for further analysis. It is the aim of this research that audiences will learn of new philanthropic and fundraising strategies to use in an ever more diverse field and world, especially as we move through the COVID-19 pandemic, and various social justice movements in the United States. From the analysis, several common themes emerged including similarities between the mission, vision and values of all of the organizations, and their dedication to diversity. Specifically, it was common for all the organizations to operate of, by and for the community. Overall, many of these organizations faced capacity struggles that have made robust incorporation of democratic philanthropy more difficult to accomplish. This included when attempting to crowdfund. Crowdfunding appeared to be advantageous only for the relationships built, and exposure gained. However, cons related to both capacity and fees outweighed the benefits for most organizations. When analyzing each organization's current funding model, it was discovered that many rely of foundation support, and have yet to grow a robust individual donor base. From this, arises the most common theme, which was how important relationships, partnerships and personal connections are for fundraising, specifically democratized forms of fundraising. Finally, there were divergent opinions related to technology, but it can be determined that technology is a useful tool when employing democratized forms of philanthropy but won't replace the job of fundraisers. Finally, the effects of the COVID-19 pandemic were felt by every organization, and these impacts have continued to impact every organizations philanthropic and fundraising efforts.