The all-volunteer Mockingbird Foundation has announced a special series of grants to organizations that submitted inquiries for our 28th Round of competitive funding. We pulled all requests for $2K or less, ushered them through an expedited due diligence review, and are now announcing 25 grants totaling $35,980, in advance of Round 28.

We’re still playing with the name, but the gist is this: Identify dozens of small requests, that could make a big difference, and fund them quickly! These newest grants support the following programs at schools, community centers, and non-profit organizations in 21 states:

With this announcement, Mockingbird has now made more than 600 grants nationwide. We’ll hit 650 before the summer’s over, and 700 is in our sights, thanks to the generous support of Phish fans. We hope that you will consider making a tax-deductible donation through the Foundation’s website at www.mbird.org so that we can continue to increase the percentage of applicants whom we are ultimately able to fund.

The Mockingbird Foundation is an all-volunteer 501(c)3 nonprofit organization supporting music education for children. A leading grantmaker in music education for children, the Foundation has now made 606 grants in all 50 states, totaling more than $2.1M. Funds for grants are generated through donations from a loyal base of fans, as well as through books, recordings, artwork, merchandise, and special events, including the upcoming Eighth Annual Runaway Open golf tournament in Denver. Mockingbird is also the leading provider of historical information about Phish and its music, having cultivated intellectual property through phish.net (and three associated books, so far) since 1994. The Foundation was created and has been operated entirely by volunteer fans of the band, without any salaries or paid staff, since its inception in 1996.