The Safety Net Fund is a non-profit designed to help support artists in the Bay Area during the COVID-19 crisis. As the world around us descends into bedlam, we turn towards each other to find hope, support, and community.
We prioritize artists that typically make their living offline at events & retail establishments that have been cancelled or closed due to coronavirus. This includes performing artists, musicians, visual artists, event producers, and other types of creators.
This fund will offer grants to artists, with no expectation of repayment, to help provide direct monetary support through this crisis. This money is offered with the intent of helping artists survive and continue to create despite the maelstrom. The maximum grant is $500 per person per month, and the number of grants per month is dependent upon the funds raised.
Grants will be offered on a needs-basis with the following criteria:
- The grantee must reside in the Bay Area (See attached list of eligible zip codes)
- The grantee must provide proof of artistic endeavor within the last 6 months
- The grantee must not be eligible for unemployment
- The grantee must have less than $1000 of income within the last 30 days
- Grants will be evaluated in the order received.
The fund is made possible through a fiscal sponsorship from the California Intersection for the Arts (The Intersection). The Intersection has agreed to support this project with accounting, governance, and compliance with the minimum administrative fees possible (7%). The fund will employ the minimum number of claims administrators necessary to manage incoming claims. All other funds will be disbursed to eligible applicants. The fund will provide a transparency report yearly.
Edit: For corporate matching please use submit the receipt from the flipcause campaign to your corporate matching department through benevity (or equivalent tool) or make a donation directly in benevity using the following criteria:
Organization: Intersection for the Arts
EIN: 94–1593216
Sponsored Org or Sub Org: Safety Net Fund
Times are hard. The only way that communities survive is by working to support one another together. We urge anyone whose income is not heavily impacted by coronavirus precautions, such as full-time employees working from home or anyone with sizable savings, to consider donating to the fund to support those whose income has been obliterated by necessary social distancing efforts. When we can all gather again, we’ll be thankful to still have these artists providing culture to the Bay.
Thank you for your time and attention.
Wishing Good Health,
The Safety Fund
Thank you to everyone who helped bring this together. Thank you to Leslie Fine, Christopher Bisignani, Michael Morgenstern, Josh Constine, Scarlet La Mar, and Inga Goldbard for editorial review.