OpenThe Books Oversight Report – National Foundation on the Arts and Humanities
Today, we released our OpenTheBooks investigation of the National Foundation on the Arts and Humanities.
With editorial coverage at the Wall Street Journal, we ask whether or not nonprofits have a right to public funding no matter how strong their balance sheet?
In 2016, nonprofit and higher education organizations across America received grants of $183 million. Recipients of $20.5 million included 71 financially rich entities – each with assets exceeding $1 billion. Those entities were awarded $120 million in taxpayer funds since 2009.
In the arts community, there is a stark contrast between the haves and have-nots. There were the “starving artist” organizations – 1,027 organizations with assets under $1 million – that received just $41 million in federal grants (FY2016).
This report raises several questions:
- Why are taxpayers funding nonprofits that have assets of at least $1 billion? Do charities have a right to public funding no matter how strong their balance sheet?
- If the public purpose is to fund the starving artist, then why are small organizations (less than $1 million in assets) receiving just $1 of every $4 in NFA-H nonprofit grant-making?
- Should prestigious universities receive arts and humanities funding despite their billion-dollar endowments?
- Who can explain the public purpose in forcing working-class taxpayers to fund arts organizations that obviously don’t need the money?
Read our investigation of the National Foundation on the Arts and Humanities.
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