Emergency Relief Funds Toolkit
The Personal Emergency Relief Fund is a long-standing program of Springboard for the Arts. The purpose of the Fund is to provide short-term, immediate relief to artists who are facing lost income or unexpected expenses due to situations like theft, illness, fire, flood, natural disaster, or in this current moment, global pandemics disrupting economic and social systems as we know them.
When it became apparent how hard the Coronavirus/COVID-19 pandemic and the wave of cancellations would hit the creative community in Minnesota, Springboard launched the Coronavirus Personal Emergency Relief Fund on March 12 with $10,000 allocated from Springboard’s budget.
In a little under a month, Springboard has been able to directly support 585 Minnesota artists with $280,000. Springboard has been overwhelmed by the generosity of donors who gave to the Fund, of organizational and foundation partners who have stepped up for artists, and of artists themselves, who have turned their creativity into ways to support their community. This is what gives hope in this moment.
To make sure that this moment isn’t lost, Springboard has created a resource – So You Want to Start an Emergency Relief Fund – that provides an overview of how their program is set up, practical processes, and big picture ideas around how and why to run an emergency relief fund. If you are interested in Emergency Relief Funds, you don’t have to re-invent the wheel, this resource is here for you!
