In addition to understanding The Presser Foundation’s history and why it focuses on music philanthropy, recognizing the Foundation’s values and the role that they play in how the Foundation acts and works is key. The values, as well as the Foundation’s commitment to social justice, are embedded within current work and are vital to future work.
First, the values. In my career so far, I’ve seen firsthand how organizations that embed and integrate their values into the way they operate prove to be more responsive to organizations, as well as more aware of community needs and willing to respond to them. The Presser Foundation has three values that undergird its efforts:
- Passion for music.
- Music is our purpose. We are committed to supporting the future of music and its excellence.
- Integrity in every endeavor.
- We hold ourselves accountable to the highest standards to earn trust in all we do.
- Respect at all times.
- We acknowledge the value and dignity of the people we serve and with whom we work. We are open to new ideas and embrace the diversity of our music community.
Simple, right? Passion, integrity, respect. These values guide The Presser Foundation in all that we do.
Passion for music explains why the Foundation focuses its attention on music philanthropy. Theodore Presser spent his life dedicated to music and the music profession. A second-generation immigrant on his father’s side, Mr. Presser worked his way up in the U.S. and created a career in music education and news. His passion was music. His life’s work was music. So, his philanthropy, then and now, is dedicated to music.
On the second value of integrity: the Foundation and its stakeholders hold ourselves accountable to the highest standards in order to earn trust. A former supervisor told me that “change happens at the speed of trust.” To earn an organization’s trust and a community’s trust, we must be accountable to the organizations and community partners we work with, while also maintaining Mr. Presser’s wishes. We strive to be excellent and to serve others to the best of our ability.
The third value focuses on respect and new ideas. While The Presser Foundation focuses on music and has since its inception, it does not limit itself to certain genres of music. The Foundation is open to new ideas and the diversity of the music community. Whether it’s the Sruti: The India Music & Dance Society, Philadelphia or Singing City Choir, World Café Live or the Philadelphia Gay Men’s Chorus, music is beautiful in its diversity and how different kinds and forms reach people on various levels.
The Foundation is also open to new ideas. In recent years, more of its grantmaking has shifted to providing unrestricted operating support for music organizations. Organizations can apply for multiple different grants. Part of the enhanced communications efforts are linked to the Foundation’s desire to be more transparent and open about what it does. The staff and Board have experimented and tried new things and will continue to do so in order to be more transparent, responsive, helpful, and open to current and potential partners. A foundation is nothing without the partners who conduct and implement the on-the-ground community-based work.
One effort that we’ve started and are eager to continue is our Next Movement Idea Forum series. Each series focuses on a relevant topic and invites music organizations to a (virtual) convening. The August 2020 series focused on COVID-19 and how music organizations have adapted to changes, and innovated to create and share their programming. In September 2021, a panel of nonprofit partners shared their journeys in centering racial equity within their organizations. The Foundation is actively planning future Next Movement events based on feedback from participating organizations and looks forward to learning and sharing lessons from these series.
There are also two words in Presser’s values statement that describe what the staff and Board at the Foundation do and how we act – “responsible stewards.” We are not the donors of this money. We are not the gatekeepers of it. We strive to be responsible stewards of Mr. Presser’s money. Another colleague in the field told me that staff are not the Foundation, but just temporary stewards of its funds. I find that to be quite true – The Presser Foundation was established in perpetuity. No matter how long I stay, I will only be a staff member here for a short amount of time. The money is not mine, and I will not be here forever. I am a temporary steward. In my viewpoint, that’s an important message for all foundation staff members to understand.
And finally, what is last but not certainly is not and should never be least – The Presser Foundation’s commitment to social justice. The Foundation took steps to thoughtfully develop a statement on Diversity, Equity, Inclusion, Access, Anti-Racism, & Anti-Bigotry following a yearlong equity cohort (sponsored by the Philanthropy Network of Greater Philadelphia) in 2019. This statement was solidified in 2020 following the murder of George Floyd.
“The Presser Foundation provides philanthropic support for music and music education, in keeping with the Will of its founder, Theodore Presser. We work to fund the musical arts in their many dimensions and manifestations, while striving to serve a broad and diverse community of musicians, educators, and music lovers.
“The Presser Foundation is committed to diversity, equity, inclusion, pro-active anti-racism and anti-bigotry in all areas of music. We reject racism and bigotry in all their manifestations and seek to promote diversity, equity, inclusion, and access in our processes, practices, and decisions.
“Knowing that the power of music transcends words and speaks directly to the human experience, we understand how vitally important it is to renounce social and cultural injustices, to fight for social justice, and to work vigorously for a more humane and inclusive future. Music provides one of the strongest and most fertile platforms for accomplishing this mission, and we encourage everyone, including our partners, their audiences, and their beneficiaries, to join us in this essential effort.”
I’ll simply add that the Foundation takes this commitment seriously and has developed (with a great deal of input) specific goals and objectives, and a timeline to accomplish them, on a wide variety of measures related to social justice. The Foundation is not perfect, but we are unwavering in our efforts to learn more and to do more in order to make the world more equitable, more inclusive, and more just.
Those are the values and the reason the staff, board of trustees, and committee members are committed to this work. We are determined to embed the values of the Foundation into everything we do, and do our best to carry out this work in ways that embrace all.
