The MGN Foundation is the non-profit philanthropic arm of MyGigNet. Interested philanthropists and grants organizations will be able to confidently donate to the wide array of worthy causes within the MGN universe. The Foundation has a Patron system where a donor can sponsor an individual musician or group of musicians, donating monies for recording, living expenses, instrument acquisition, health care costs, or to commission a work from a particular composer.

For example, Joe Patron wants to donate $10,000 to the Foundation. He is then Profiled for how exactly he would like to see that money spent from a panapoly of options. In Joe's case, he decided to donate a sum for 10 guitar lessons for three 10-15 year olds in his town; a sum toward fuel expenses on his favorite jazz trio's next tour; and a sum to sponsor two blues artists at the annual blues festival in his local area. In this way, patrons are able to see the immediate and tangible results of their giving. Within Joe's Profile, should he request it, update reports and briefings are fed to the Profile, and should he request it, introductions can be made to individual recipients, or he may wish to remain anonymous.

Other patrons or grantors can also simply donate to the Foundation's General Fund. This fund is made available to the needs of artists within the MGN system as a sort of safety net. For example, a new, young alt rock band out of Tulsa goes into a studio to record their songs. They run out of paid hours at the studio before finishing their last song. They can apply to the Foundation for the hours to complete the recording. A distribution algorithm is used by the Foundation to determine the maximum amounts to be spent on what types of things. This algorithm's priority is the creation of music, therefore those circumstances that would most impede the creation of music would get the most attention. Therefore, such things as recording grants, musical instrument purchases, educational endeavors, would take precedence over gas money for a tour, or to buy a video camera.

The Foundation also oversees sponsorships from commercial vendors who may wish to donate some of the inventory they sell for promotional, goodwill or tax reasons.

Artists themselves, once they go pro and are creating an income, are encouraged to donate a small percentage of their earnings to the Foundation for the general good. All donations into the system in this way are strictly accounted for in the artist's back office, and when spent, they are notified as to what it was spent on. The artist can also direct how their donations are to be spent in the same way a patron can.

MGN Foundation offers research grant writing wizards and submissions based out of the MGN Grants & Fellowships Database (see Music Education - Research). Because MGN is already attracting philanthropic donations for other types of MGN services, it will be possible to become a grant source. Philanthropists who actively participate in MGN have Profiles, so they can track exactly where their donations are going and what they are accomplishing. The advantage of making grants within an end-to-end system like MGN is that research monies spent in one area, can have immediate and direct effects on other areas within the MGN system. This is significant for not only the invention patent possibilities, but for being able to test psycho-social hypotheses in a complete, closed system (see Research).

The entire bottom-line mission for the MGN Foundation is that lack of money should never be the reason music is not created.

SUGGEST RESOURCE FOR THIS PAGE