Kayleigh Howard with fellow intern Chris Dolich at the former Presser Home for Retired Music Teachers.
By Kayleigh Howard
Reflecting on the last two months as my internship comes to a close, I am extremely grateful for all I have learned about the nonprofit and philanthropy sector, a field with such far-reaching impacts yet little spotlight.
One of the most significant moments during my internship came during mid-July when the team went to do a site visit at the Wildflower Composers summer camp. Amongst the many talented young students in the room was a female composition teacher with strong determination and the most captivating stories. As someone with very little music experience, I found her connection to composing and all of her work to be very enlightening and inspiring. She brought to life the abstract concepts of music and its different parts through her descriptions. I was especially intrigued when she shared that she believed so deeply in her musical composition work that she put her own life savings towards making her dissertation a true masterpiece and production. This tangible reality right in front of me made me even more aware of how underfunded musicians truly are in today’s world. In order for musicians to put themselves out there and find ways to succeed, they almost always have to make huge sacrifices, something that many professions don’t require. The site visit also shed light on some of the types of organizations The Presser Foundation supports and the work they are doing, especially in the realm of music education.
The past month, I have also focused a lot of my efforts towards completing a twenty year grantmaking report for one of the family foundations that harp-weaver works with. In compiling this report, I analyzed data surrounding the foundation’s grantmaking areas and how its distribution of grants has changed over time. Additionally, I was able to build on my understanding of mission-aligned investing by performing external research and looking at concrete examples of this investing done by the foundation. Something I found to be especially interesting was learning about holistic philanthropy and the cycle created by mission-aligned investments. When mission-aligned investing is done successfully by a foundation, as this one has, that foundation is opening more opportunities for maximizing their grantmaking. This creates a “return on investment” type of model, just in a slightly different nature. In co-authoring this report, I also learned to think about catering to our client’s possible wants and desires for viewing their overall impact over the last two decades. Additionally, reading and writing about some of the most successful and “failed” projects that the foundation has funded taught me about barriers that pilot programs and smaller organizations face that are out of their control.
The experience I have gained, from attending site visits to bringing together a complete report, have provided me with the tools and awareness to continue impacting the communities around me, whether that be in New York City or Philadelphia. Additionally, my internship at harp-weaver has also shown me the necessity in going through the small, tedious, initial phases of a project in order to reach the end result. The profound difference made by small-scale grants reminds me that even simple acts can yield significant results, a principle I will always carry with me and hope to emulate in my everyday life.
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