Giving Compass' Take:

• This report outlines the results of the MacArthur Foundation’s International Connections Fund (ICF) Program that helps nonprofits advance their work by collaborating with peer organizations abroad.

• How can the findings presented here guide other international collaboration efforts? What gaps remain in this program? 

• Learn more about the power of collaboration. 

The International Connections Fund (ICF) was established by the John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation in 2008 with the goal of helping Chicago nonprofit organizations advance their work by collaborating with peer organizations abroad. While eligibility criteria for ICF grants have shifted over the program’s lifespan, this core mission has remained unchanged. From 2008 to 2018, the Foundation has seen the ICF program through 14 grant cycles, making 141 ICF grants totaling more than $5.8 million. The vast majority of these grants—133 in all, totaling $5.4 million—have been awarded to support arts & culture projects. These projects have enabled Chicago artists, arts & culture organizations, and audiences to participate in international exchanges with counterparts from 63 different countries on 6 continents.

This report provides findings from an external, independent evaluation of ICF conducted by NORC at the University of Chicago from September 2017 to January 2019. Ten years into the program, the evaluation was commissioned by the MacArthur Foundation to take stock of how the program has operated, learn what impacts it has made on ICF grantees and their collaborators and audiences, and consider how the program can best serve future grantees as ICF enters its second decade.

Over the 12 ICF grant rounds that took place between 2008 and 2016, 114 arts & culture grants were made to 91 different organizations. The number of grants awarded in each round has varied from just 4 grants in Rounds 3, 4, and 6 to 16 grants awarded in Round 12.

  • Individual awards. The maximum amount ICF grantees can request is $50,000, which has also been the most common amount awarded, accounting for 41% of all ICF awards.4 The remaining 59% of grantees have received anywhere from $7,000 to $48,000. The average amount awarded has been $39,307, with a slightly higher median award amount of $40,958.
  • Cumulative awards. The cumulative amount awarded to ICF arts & culture grantees across Rounds 1-12 is $4,475,000.The total dollar amount awarded per ICF grant round has generally increased over time, partly due to the fact that Rounds 1-3 all occurred in 2008, and Rounds 4-6 in 2009. The total amount awarded per year has remained fairly constant over time, averaging $559,375 across all years. The lowest annual amount funded was in Round 7 ($474,000), while the highest was in Round 12 ($735,000).

The great majority of grantees reported an overall positive experience with most dimensions of the ICF program (see Appendix C for full survey results). Most grantees felt that communication from MacArthur program staff was “very clear” during both the application (82%) and reporting (81%) processes. Only 13% of respondents reported that their organization might have missed out on other opportunities as a result of pursuing the ICF grant, and the great majority (85%) say that they are “very likely” to apply for another grant in the future. In fact, only 5% of grantees indicated that they might not seek additional ICF funding, a strong indicator that the program meets the needs of its grantees. And indeed, grantees voiced positive feelings toward the program on the survey and in interviews.

Is the ICF program working as intended?

As articulated in the program’s mission statement, the Foundation’s core objectives for the program are “to provide cultural organizations with opportunities to grow creatively, bring new experiences to Chicago and its neighborhoods, raise their profiles locally and nationally, and serve more diverse audiences.” To test this alignment, survey respondents were asked to assess the impacts that the ICF grant had on their organization. Of those respondents whose grants had ended (and thus were able to reflect on the grant’s outcomes), most reported multiple positive outcomes for their organization.

About three-quarters of respondents reported that the grant was “very helpful” in bringing new cultures or experiences to the organization's core Chicago audience (74%) and in presenting the organization's artistic or cultural offerings to new international audiences (78%) (Exhibit 7). And when expanding the analysis to include those who reported that the grant was at least “helpful” in achieving these goals, the percentages jump to 96% and 97%, respectively. Grantees expressed their gratitude for the opportunity to expose their artists and audiences to new cultures.