Deutsch Foundation Grants

The Robert W. Deutsch Foundation focuses on enhancing the quality of life in Baltimore through innovative grants that support creative individuals and projects. By engaging with local young creatives and understanding their needs, the foundation aims to foster a thriving creative economy. Its initiatives include funding community-driven projects and addressing racial inequality, ensuring that marginalized voices are amplified. The foundation's approach is characterized by flexibility, responsiveness, and a commitment to building sustainable paths for emerging talent in the region.

Asking the Right Questions
The Deutsch Foundation realized that Baltimore attracts amazing young creatives. Whether working in tech, science, social justice, or the arts, the whole city’s creative economy is fueled by these individuals coming and wanting to stay. The problem? Their contributions were not being recognized and their needs were not being supported. They talked with these young creatives, asking them three questions: Why are you here? What do you need to be more successful? What would make you leave? They learned what attracts, retains, and the barriers that push them out. One big takeaway was the need for quality places to work, create, perform, and showcase what they do.
Developing The Creative Economy
Creatives are often pushed out of communities once the area becomes exciting to developers. The only way to counter that is to buy, develop, and sustain facilities, but foundations don’t do that. We decided to incubate and launch BARCO, a nonprofit arts real estate development corporation. For every dollar the Deutsch Foundation puts in, BARCO raises or secures two or three, dedicated to developing the creative economy. The Deutsch Foundation sees Baltimore’s cultural sector as a creative ecosystem where the whole is greater than the sum of the parts. Collaboration, influence, and access allow people to come together and grow together, whether through community spaces, creative hubs, art education, public art, or more. The overall goal in funding smaller organizations and projects is to attract and retain emerging talent, for artists and activists to have jobs, and for organizations to grow and hire staff. The longer term impact is to revitalize Baltimore as a thriving, healthy, and growing creative community.
Investing Early and Taking A Hands-On Approach
The Robert W. Deutsch Foundation operates differently than many other philanthropic organizations. Most of our grants go for general operating support and capacity building. It’s hardest for organizations to raise money to keep the lights on as opposed to an exciting special project. We try to place as few barriers as possible in front of grantees. Additionally, many foundations will not fund newer organizations until they have several years of financials. In this context, the Deutsch Foundation decided to essentially become “Angel Investors,” and create greater access to early stage funding, technical assistance, networking opportunities, and to intellectual, financial, and collaborative resources. The Deutsch Foundation stays closely engaged with the people we support, from the earliest stages to the point when they attract funding from other sources.
Addressing Racial Inequality
At the Deutsch Foundation, we bring a lens of racial equity—an understanding and acknowledgement of historical and ongoing racial inequities and a commitment to actions challenging those inequities—to our grant making, priority setting process, programming, and strategic planning.
Build pathways to increase access to financial and human capital among organizations and communities most affected by inequities, and to amplify those voices;Foster ongoing dialogue through deep partnerships with anti-racist and anti-oppression practitioners to explore key concepts including cultural, structural, and institutional racism, white privelage, and racial equity, especially with regard to context of place.
Focusing on Baltimore
The Deutsch Foundation is hyper-local. The Deutsch Foundation sees its role as providing seed funding to create and sustain human capital—helping the inspiring change-makers here do what they do best.
Priority Areas
Arts, Culture, MediaCommunity DevelopmentEducation, Youth DevelopmentTechnology, Science, Digital EquitySocial Justice

Eligibility

By law, we can only make grants to 501(c)(3) organizations.Make sure you meet our basic eligibility:Are you or your organization based in the Baltimore region?Does your work serve the community and take place in the Baltimore region?

Ineligibility

We rarely fund institutions or well established organizations. We do not fund projects outside of the Baltimore region.At this time, we cannot fund individuals, except for those working through a qualified fiscal sponsor.