Supporting Strategic Growth, Collaboration

Healthy communities have vital arts and culture. Phoenix has a young arts environment, and arts and culture organizations are notably underfunded compared to other major metropolitan areas. The Trust developed its key grantmaking strategies to assist arts and culture organization in becoming stronger. Piper Trust does not fund individual performances or events and does not make artistic justments in deciding which organizations to fund. The Trust supports both well-established arts and culture organizations and smaller, community-based groups.

1) Strength through Building Organizations
Piper Trust focuses on develoing arts and culture organizations by improving financial stability, marketing, planning and leadership:

• Financial capacity through cash operating reserves, marketing to increase visibility and sales, fundraising efforts and endowments.
• Enhanced business operations through grants for business and strategic planning, technology, training and management development.
• Capital project grants.

2) Strength through Collaboration
The Trust works to form specific inititives to foster collaboration among arts and culture organizations as a way to promote efficiency and cross-fertilization. Through funder collaboration, the Trust has sponsored significant research to measure the impact of arts and culture on the community and funded a major initiative with Flinn Foundation—Metopolitan Phoenix Partnership for Arts and Culture, designed to advance arts and culture in Maricopa County. Another Piper Trust initiative, Alliance for Audience, addresses collaborative arts marketing.