Tomorrow is the 7th annual “Give to the Max” day in Minnesota, where generous citizens will donate to their favorite charities across the state. But not all charities are created equally, and some have the benefit of receiving taxpayer-funded grants.
One example is the “”One Voice Mixed Chorus” which is funded by multiple taxpayer-funded sources as well as private donations. The group is the nation’s “largest lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, and straight” chorus “creating social change” and performs original concerts across the state like the upcoming, “A Midnight Queer,” at the Ordway Theater in St. Paul,
The performance is described as “not your mother’s holiday concert! Poet and transgender oral historian, Andrea Jenkins leads us on a journey of coming home queer with music from winter holiday traditions across the globe, including including Chanukah, Kwanzaa, Pagan Solstice, Diwali, New Year’s and Christmas.”
One Voice is funded by Minnesota’s Clean Water and Legacy Fund Amendment, The Minnesota State Art’s Board, and by “appropriations from the Minnesota State Legislature with money from the state’s general fund” according to the organization’s website. They’ve also received grants from the United Arts Fund, or Compas. 28% or $219, 129 of Compas’s 2014 budget came from government grants per Charity Navigator. One Voice received just under $100,000 in Minnesota taxpayer-funded grants in 2012 and 2013 alone. The amount for 2014 was not available.
Minnesota ranks #1 in the nation for State Arts Agency spending at $6.29 per capita per the National Assembly or State Arts Agencies. Alpha News will be taking a look at other arts organizations and events funded by your tax dollars.