Thank you for your interest in joining Fair Funding Access (FFA). 

Fair Funding Access (FFA) is a project to develop and test a framework for measuring the fairness of its grantmaking by participating arts funders.

The goals of FFA are for funders to: 

1.      Move from general impressions of progress to concrete data about the degree to which our grant portfolios are making progress in advancing fair access to funding.

2.      Augment our grants data with an agreed-upon set of measures of fair funding access, as developed by peers.

3.      Take ownership of our data and our story of addressing fair funding access.

4.      Eventually, consider setting goals related to fair funding access to which we can hold ourselves and our field accountable. 

Over several years, Doris Duke Foundation developed the FFA Framework by working with a larger cohort of funders, mostly foundations, to measure the fairness and effectiveness of their arts grants in meeting their stated goals. Originally, racial disparities were the main source of content for the framework, but the flexible design can be adapted to other funder priorities or interest areas. 

FFA will provide a discussion space about encouraging fair funding access as well as technical assistance to do so in dialogue with our peers.

We are collecting the information in this form to better understand your organization’s interest in FFA as well as your capacity to participate. Using this information,  a group of 30-60 funders to be invited to participate.  FFA has two Tiers. GIA members can participate in one or both tiers. 

• Tier 1 involves attending a series of  monthly forums in 2025 to share recent experiences and strategies in funding according to their values and aims. These sessions will not be recorded. 
• Tier 2 involves learning about and applying the FFA measurement framework to code your grants for their fairness according to your goals, and participating in monthly sessions (which will not be recorded). Support will be offered from GIA staff, CCA, and/or peers.

Priority will be given to members who commit to participating in both Tiers.  

For more information, including descriptions of each tier, please visit the GIA FFA page or email fair@ForTheArts.org.  For more information on how to apply, visit the FFA Intake Overview. 

Please complete the form by September 10. Participants will be selected by September 18 and begin work in October 2025.