A dozen national, regional and international funders in the Caribbean arts and culture sector joined the first Caribbean Arts and Culture Funder Convening on March 20. Cohosted by the Caribbean Culture Fund (CCF) and the Caribbean Philanthropic Alliance (CariPhil), the convening aimed to drive better coordination and collaboration between funders in the sector. 

CCF raises funds to support grants to creative and cultural organizations in the Caribbean and its diasporas. CariPhil is a Philanthropy Serving Organization (PSO), an entity that supports all funders in the Caribbean.

The participating funders reflected the diversity in scope and size of foundations active in the region. International foundations including the Commonwealth Foundation, UNESCO, the Panta Rhea Foundation and the Nebula Fund were joined by regional funds including the Caribbean Development Bank’s Creative Industries Investment Fund (CIIF) and national players including the Lasco Chin Foundation and American Friends of Jamaica. Several including the Clara Lionel Foundation from Barbados and United Way of Jamaica are new to the arts and culture sector. C15 Studios from Trinidad, a fund that invests in creative projects with commercial potential, represented non-philanthropic funders. 

The discussion centered on the shared challenges facing funders and potential synergies from collaboration and coordination. Among the challenges discussed were the absence of accurate, up to date data on funding needs and available funding sources; fragmentation of funding across sectors and geographic territories which make coordination difficult; challenges in measuring the impact of funds; and capacity constraints of grant recipients. The small teams within many of these institutions often struggle to offer the hands-on support that projects need. Chief among the concerns was economic uncertainty — particularly in major donor countries— which adds pressure to already limited resources.

Participants also expressed a strong interest in collaboration and shared solutions. There was support for building stronger partnerships, including co-funding, matching gifts and blended finance models as well as large-scale collaborative fundraising campaigns. Donors also called for more technical support—such as grant writing guidance and mentorship—for applicants. 

Several of the suggested initiatives are being explored through the CCF and CariPhil partnership, with the hope of using the arts and culture sector as a model for philanthropic collaboration in other areas. CCF is developing a funding database to improve access to information about grant opportunities and, in partnership with Caribbean InTransit, will be offering grant-writing support and mentorship to applicants to its call for proposals as well as to other funding calls. CCF is also launching a matching gifts program, with support from the Mellon Foundation. CariPhil is conducting a survey of Caribbean funders which will contribute much needed up-to-date data on the availability and timing of funds. CariPhil also maintains a database of funding to the Caribbean across all sectors.

CCF and CariPhil pledged to continue facilitating conversations between funders to align priorities, avoid overlap, and strengthen the sector. These conversations will continue via further online convenings leading up to the Caribbean Philanthropy Forum that CariPhil will host in Jamaica in October 2025. As a member of CariPhil, CCF supports the organization in rallying funders in the arts and culture sector. By joining CariPhil, funders will be able to access the collaborative initiatives being developed, sponsor events at the conference and connect with current and evolving grantmaking practices to the global philanthropy community.

For more information on the Caribbean Culture Fund and the Caribbean Philanthropic Alliance, email info@caribbeanculturefund.org and info@cariphilalliance.org.

Background:

The Caribbean Culture Fund (CCF) will provide comprehensive support for the arts of the Caribbean, by means of regular project grants and programs. Such support has not been consistently or inclusively available to creative producers in the Caribbean and this has been a major obstacle to the sustainability, reach, and impact of the cultural sector in the Caribbean itself and, to a lesser extent, in the Caribbean diaspora. The Caribbean Culture Fund seeks to address this gap, based on a sound understanding of the cultural and social dynamics of the Caribbean, and the needs and potential that exist in the fields of the visual arts, photography, film, music, dance, theatre, literature, the festival arts, and other cultural forms.

As envisaged, the fund is committed to supporting Caribbean cultural producers in their quest to create freely and innovatively, making the best possible use of the cultural, technological, and creative resources available to them. The initiative is also committed to fostering broad, inclusive public engagement with the arts of the Caribbean, and for these to have the sort of socially and culturally transformative impact that the arts can, and indeed need to have. While the fund’s primary focus will be on the contemporary, there will also be scope for the popular and the traditional. Priority attention will be paid to the needs that exist in the Caribbean region itself, because that is where the funding and program needs are the greatest, but also elsewhere in the Caribbean cultural sphere.The CCF intends to support projects across all genres, including:

• Visual Arts (all media, including photography and new and time-based media)
• Performing Arts (music, dance, theatre)
• Festival Arts
• Film (fiction and documentary, feature length and short)
• Interdisciplinary art forms (involving any of the above)
• Architecture and Design