Today marks Giving Tuesday, the Tuesday after Thanksgiving in the United States. This day serves as a day of giving and MusicRow has rounded up a selection of some of the charities and organizations that support the Nashville music community.
See below for a list of organizations and how to donate.
ACM Lifting Lives
ACM Lifting Lives, the philanthropic arm of the Academy of Country Music, is dedicated to improving lives through the power of music. With donations and support from artists and fans, ACM Lifting Lives funds music health programs while also serving members of the music community who face unexpected hardships through its Diane Holcomb Emergency Relief Fund. With generous donations and the support of artists and fans, ACM Lifting Lives has funded national music therapy programs serving various mental and physical health organizations. Since 2006, the organization has given more than $9 million to more than 150 worthy causes.
ACM Lifting Lives also responded to the growing needs in the country music industry from COVID-19 by creating the ACM Lifting Lives COVID-19 Response Fund. This fund helps to alleviate the burden that many of the behind-the-scenes professionals, such as touring personnel, musicians, songwriters, and developing artists, are facing. To donate to ACM Lifting Lives or its COVID-19 Response Fund, click here.
Americana Music Association Foundation
Launched in 2020, the Americana Music Association Foundation (AMAF) aims to preserve and educate people about Americana music. Since its founding, the organization has raised COVID-19 funds in collaboration with The Bluegrass Situation. They have also formed a partnership with NYU Steinhardt by launching a special edition of WORDS & MUSIC, which featured guests Lori McKenna and Jonathan Taplin in virtual interviews. In October, Rosanne Cash was unveiled as the first Americana Artist-In-Residence at NYU Steinhardt where she will work with students in a series of lectures, workshops and classroom visits throughout the 2021-22 academic year.
The Foundation is in conversations with major museums and educational institutions around the country to create programming in line with its mission. To contribute to the Americana Music Association Foundation, click here.
CMA Foundation
Birthed from the passion of artists and industry professionals who first fell in love with music within the four walls of a classroom, the CMA Foundation began investing in music education in 2006. The Foundation, through partnerships within the country music community, provides students with the opportunity to participate in music education programs all across the country.
The CMA Foundation believes that music is an integral part of brain development, human connection, and stress relief. For students, music is an effective and invaluable tool to help improve academic achievement and social development, increase student participation and classroom engagement, and enhance social and emotional development. Throughout the last 15 years, the organization has been able to invest more than $27 million into the enrichment of music education programs. To donate to the CMA Foundation, click here.
Country Music Hall of Fame & Museum
At the heart of the Country Music Hall of Fame & Museum’s mission is education. During a time when music and music education are needed more than ever, the Museum doubled down on its commitment to connecting people everywhere with the art of songwriting. From curriculum-based school programs for students and teachers to music-making experiences for families, Museum educators offer unique resources across the United States, in Nashville neighborhoods, and inside the Museum’s walls.
Through giving from the country music industry and fans, many of these unique resources are available to participants at no cost. To donate to the Country Music Hall of Fame & Museum and its music education initiatives, click here.
International Bluegrass Music Association
The IBMA is the non-profit music association that connects, educates, and empowers bluegrass professionals and enthusiasts, honoring tradition and encouraging innovation in the bluegrass community worldwide. The IBMA Trust Fund was established in 1987 as a means to offer financial assistance to bluegrass music professionals and has given over $800,000 in direct aid to professionals in emergency need. The Fund helps eligible bluegrass professionals who are currently or have previously been significantly involved in the industry, including artists, composers, broadcasters, media representatives, event producers, agents, educators, managers, and employees of record companies. To donate to the IBMA Trust Fund, click here.
The IBMA Foundation helps individuals, organizations, foundations, and corporations work together in supporting the future of bluegrass music. Through grant-making, philanthropy, and planned giving, the foundation aims to share bluegrass with future generations. To donate to the IBMA Foundation, click here.
Music Health Alliance
Founded in January of 2013, Music Health Alliance aims to provide music industry members access to healthcare through services that protect, direct, and connect music professionals with medical and financial solutions. With this model, MHA allows the focus of the healthcare solution to be based solely on the client and their specific needs.
MHA has served over 13,000 music industry professionals and their families, and secured over $63 million in health care cost reductions to Heal the Music. To donate to Music Health Alliance, click here.
MusiCares
Founded by the Recording Academy in 1989, MusiCares aims to help the people behind the music that gives so much to the world. Offering preventive, emergency, and recovery programs, MusiCares is a safety net supporting the health and welfare of the music community. The organization assists music professionals through direct financial grant programs, networks of support resources, and tailored crisis relief efforts. To donate to MusiCares, click here.
This holiday season, MusiCares is also hosting a Peer-2-Peer fundraising campaign. Through this initiative people are able to start their own personal fundraisers in support of Help for the Holidays. For more information, click here.
Musicians Hall of Fame and Museum
The Musicians Hall of Fame and Museum serves to honor all great musicians and technicians, regardless of genre or instruments, through exhibiting the actual instruments that were used to record some of the most iconic songs in recorded history. The Musicians Hall of Fame and Museum also educates its visitors about the musicians who played on the sound tracks of their lives.
Through its patrons donations, the Hall is able to support dynamic exhibits and award-winning interactive features, education programs for children and youth, public programs featuring live performances by national and local artists, and interviews with music industry icons. To donate to the Musicians Hall of Fame and Museum, click here.
Musicians On Call
Musicians On Call is the nation’s leading provider of live music in hospitals. For over 20 years, MOC has brought live and recorded music to the bedsides of patients in healthcare facilities for children, adults, VA hospitals and hospices. Throughout COVID-19, MOC has launched and expanded its Virtual Bedside Performance Program and Music Pharmacy to serve the populations most in need during the pandemic.
MOC believes that all patients, families and caregivers should have access to and benefit from the healing power of live music. It has been demonstrated that music has a direct effect on people and can improve blood pressure, manage stress, alleviate pain and improve pain tolerance, and improve outlook and overall mood. To donate to Musicians On Call, click here.
Nashville Musicians Association Crisis Assistance Fund
As part of the Nashville Musicians Association, the Crisis Assistance Fund seeks to assist professional musicians in the Nashville area who have been adversely affected by the COVID-19 pandemic. Initially created after the 2010 Nashville Flood, the program was reactivated in early 2021 and distributed its first round of funds in August.
With hopes of a second distribution in the coming months, donations will go towards helping musicians who have lost work and need financial assistance. To donate to the Crisis Assistance Fund, click here.
Nashville Songwriters Foundation
Since 1970, the Nashville Songwriters Hall of Fame has enshrined some of the greatest writers to put words to music in Music City. Operated by the non-profit Nashville Songwriters Foundation, the Hall of Fame is dedicated to honoring Nashville’s rich songwriting legacy through preservation, celebration and education. In 2013, the Hall opened its Hall of Fame Gallery, located on the first floor of Nashville’s Music City Center. In addition to songwriting memorabilia, the gallery features interactive touch screens that allow visitors to access audio, video and other digital information about the history of Nashville songwriting and members of the Hall of Fame.
Through donations, the Nashville Songwriters Hall of Fame continues its mission to honor and preserve songwriting excellence. To donate to the Nashville Songwriters Hall of Fame, click here.
National Museum of African American Music
Opened in fall of 2020, the National Museum of African American Music is the only museum dedicated to preserving and celebrating the many music genres created, influenced, and inspired by African Americans. The museum’s collections share the story of the American soundtrack by integrating history and interactive technology to bring the musical heroes of the past into the present. NMAAM strives to educate the world, preserve the legacy, and celebrate the central role African Americans play in creating the American soundtrack.
In 2016, NMAAM created programs to further educate the community on the achievements and influences of African American music, reaching over 132,000 individuals across the country. To donate to the National Museum of African American Music and to support its education initiatives, click here.
Opry Trust Fund
Started in 1965 by the Grand Ole Opry, the Opry Trust Fund’s mission is to help those in the country music industry by offering financial assistance during their time of need. The Opry Trust Fund provides financial assistance in time of extraordinary need, emergency or catastrophe to individuals who are or have been employed full time in a facet of the country music industry, whether that’s as a performer, songwriter, publisher, radio, session musician, etc.
Since its inception, the Opry Trust Fund has distributed more than $4.8 million to assist with medical bills, living expenses, rent or mortgage payments, utilities, and more. To donate to the Opry Trust Fund, click here.
Porter’s Call
Porter’s Call is a non-profit based in Franklin, Tennessee that has provided recording artists free counsel, specifically attuned to their unique profession for over twenty years.
Today (Nov. 30) the organization announced Friends of Porter’s Call, a recurring giving program that invites donors to support the mission of Porter’s Call. Starting now, individuals are able to contribute donations ranging from $15 to $250 or more monthly. As a core component of the nonprofit’s ongoing fundraising initiatives, the program offers an accessible way for community members to give back. Donations ensure that the services of Porter’s Call can strategically meet the heightened need for free counseling and support.
To learn more and donate to Porter’s Call, please visit porterscall.com/friends.
T.J. Martell Foundation
The T.J. Martell Foundation funds innovative medical research focused on finding treatments and cures for cancer. Since its formation in 1975 by music industry executive and philanthropist Tony Martell, it has raised more than $280 million in support of medical research grants at leading institutions across the United States. Through the foundation’s work, the best and brightest minds in clinical and translational cancer science come together to support high-risk, high-gain cancer research that propels the science forward and saves lives.
The bench-to-bedside process of funding promising research that will lead to clinical trials and drug discoveries has been the Foundation’s interest for over 45 years. To donate to the T.J. Martell Foundation, click here.
Touring Professionals Alliance Relief Kitchen
The Touring Professionals Alliance (TPA) includes over 200 Production Managers, Tour Managers, Coordinators, Vendors, Accountants, and other committed industry professionals, all working together to find solutions for the music industry during the COVID-19 pandemic. The TPA strives to address the unique needs of the music community, specifically the touring industry, including assistance in finding aid for crew members facing economic hardship, health insurance, mental health issues, and more.
The Touring Professionals Alliance Kitchen program was launched last year as a direct result of the pandemic that left tens of thousands of touring professionals out of work. Through a grant from BMI, the Kitchen was able to provide over 100 music industry members with chef-driven, high-quality meals. To donate to the Touring Professionals Alliance or the Touring Professionals Alliance Relief Kitchen, click here.
The post It’s Giving Tuesday: How Can You Give Back? appeared first on MusicRow.com.