08/30/2012

Atlanta Launches Power2Give Crowdfunding

power2give is open only to OCA's contracts for arts services recipients who can post $5,000 projects online once they're reviewed by a panel and the City of Atlanta will match dollar for dollar up to $2,500. Participating organizations currently include MOCA GA, the Atlanta Ballet, Boys and Girls Club of Metro Atlanta, and C4 Atlanta, among others. The city was able to offer the matching grants thanks to a $250,000 budget bump for 2013, of which $100,000 is going toward the power2give campaign.

The Atlanta launch of power2give comes on the program's one-year anniversary and is a result of a partnership with the Arts and Sciences Council of Charlotte. power2give is currently in eight cities and has raised $1.2 million to date.

'The arts are a vital component to any great city; art defines greatness in my judgement,' said Mayor Kasim Reed to a small gathering of arts organizations at City Hall. 'We're completely committed to Atlanta being a great arts city,' he continued before referencing his 2012 budget proposal that included slashing arts funding in half from an already measly $470,000. 'With your support I was smart enough to change that decision.'

'[The arts] are a space we have to continue to grow in to be a special city. We need to invest at least $10 million annually to be a serious arts city. We're far away from it now but we have to figure it out. We have to do more to support our artists and this is a step in that direction.'"

Creative Loafing Atlanta Fresh Loaf blog 08/29/2012