# Gifts & Grants > *Gifts & Grants* involve attracting, securing, aligning, and retaining contributed resources (also called *fundraising* or *development*). A [[What's a Nonprofit Arts Organization?|nonprofit arts organization]] is (in theory) driven by mission rather than by money (although it still needs money along the way). While commercial arts and entertainment rises and falls on its ability to generate profit or economic return, nonprofit arts organizations exist to offer goods and services that won't or can't cover their full costs from direct consumers. > Read [Field Notes related to the Gifts & Grants function](https://notes.artsmanaged.org/t/gifts-grants). Certainly, many nonprofit arts organizations generate earned income – from [[Sales]] of tickets, access, or objects, but also from program revenue, rental income, licensing, royalties, and beyond. But they are organized as nonprofits because, across all of their offerings, they cannot or choose not to earn back their full cost of operation from those they serve. They therefore rely on contributed income to cover the balance of their costs. Nonprofit arts organizations are collections of people who want to deliver something larger, different, more complex, more technically demanding, more diverse, or more specialized than the commercial market will bear. Contributed income comes in many forms, but the primary archetypes are "gifts" and "grants." - **Gifts** include money or other forms of financial value provided without expectation of return or reciprocation. The donor and the recipient have a shared purpose, mission, or affinity, but the donor is forgoing control of their money when they contribute to the organization (in theory). - **Grants** include money or other forms of financial value provided with an expectation of reciprocation. The donor expects the recipient to achieve something defined and specific with the resources provided. In reality, neither gifts nor grants exist in the "pure" form described above. Many donors have some outcome expectations for their gifts. Many grant-making organizations also want to provide resources without a lot of strings attached. But the tactics, strategies, and skills required are often different between gifts and grants. The Gifts & Grants function includes a bundle of [[attention-perception-action]] streams that find, foster, secure, apply, and steward contributed income. --- ## Sources - National Council of Nonprofits. “Fundraising,” January 1, 2019. [https://www.councilofnonprofits.org/tools-resources/fundraising](https://www.councilofnonprofits.org/tools-resources/fundraising). - University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences. “Is It a Gift or a Grant?” Accessed December 28, 2022. [https://orsp.uams.edu/faqs/is-it-a-gift-or-a-grant/](https://orsp.uams.edu/faqs/is-it-a-gift-or-a-grant/). ## Tags (click to view related pages) #functions #functions/gifts_grants #seedling