The IBMA Foundation helps individuals, organizations, foundations, and corporations work together in supporting the future of bluegrass music. In a nation and a world that is divided in so many ways, music can unite and heal us. Explore this website and learn about the interesting and important ways the IBMA Foundation is working to make a difference, with people just like you. Through grant-making, philanthropy and planned giving, we can make the world a better place by sharing bluegrass with future generations. Come join us!
ENTER to win a custom-made banjo from Pisgah Banjo Company and benefit the Arnold Shultz Fund (through Dec. 31, 2025) CLICK HERE.
The Pisgah Banjo Company is proud to sponsor an annual raffle in support of the IBMA Foundation’s Arnold Shultz Fund, which provides opportunities for people of color pursuing careers and passions in bluegrass, traditional, and old-time music. “As a banjo manufacturer deeply rooted in these traditions, we recognize the profound contributions of Arnold Shultz and other musicians of color whose legacies have too often gone unacknowledged,” said Pisgah Banjo Company founder Patrick Sawyer. “Supporting this fund is part of our ongoing commitment to equity, inclusion, and the dismantling of systemic barriers within the musical community.”
Tickets are just $20, and the raffle will continue until midnight December 31, 2025 (Eastern Time) at this link. You may buy as many tickets as you like. The prize instrument is a one-of-a-kind custom 12” spalted maple Tubaphone banjo with a 12” rim, a highly figured spalted maple neck and rum, a dappled persimmon fretboard, and a thumb rest and S-scoop for comfortable frailing.
Since 2012 Pisgah Banjo Company has raised $120,840 to support the Arnold Shultz Fund. “This year we’re aiming to raise an additional $50,000,” Sawyer said, “all of which will go directly to uplifting and empowering the next generation of bi-racial and people of color artists in these genres. Every ticket helps support the Arnold Shultz Fund’s mission of expanding participation in bluegrass and old-time music. Enter to win and support the cause!”
CONGRATULATIONS to the 2025-26 IBMA Foundation college scholarships recipients pictured above. Read more HERE.
The first BISCUITS FOR BLUEGRASS breakfast fundraiser and silent auction hosted by the IBMA Foundation at World of Bluegrass in Chattanooga, Tennessee September 20 was a great success! More than $22,000 was raised for the Foundation in ticket sales, donations, sponsorships, and silent auction bids. More info here. (photos to the left of the Katy Daley sponsored table at B4BG 2025 (L-R: Rick Faris, Jana Mougin, Cindy Baucom, Mona Salyer, Kathy Mullins, Dudley Connell, Sally Love, Suzanne and Dan Hays), and part of the roving jam session following the meal–including Becky Buller, Dudley Connell, Pete Wernick, and Deanie Richardson. (photos by Sam Blumenthal and Nancy Cardwell)
CONGRATULATIONS to the 2025 Rosenberg Bluegrass Scholar Award recipient, Nathaniel Mitchell, at Delaware University, pictured below on the left. Read more about Nathaniel HERE and, read his award-winning article HERE.
IBMA FOUNDATION ANNOUNCES JOB OPENING
The IBMA Foundation has announced a job opening for executive director beginning July 1, 2026. The mission of the IBMA Foundation is to build a brighter future for bluegrass music. The Foundation accomplishes this through fundraising, grantmaking, awarding college scholarships, and actively supporting bluegrass-music-related activities in the areas of education, arts and culture, literary and academic programs, and history preservation. Read more about the job opening HERE. Apply for the job at the top right tab of this homepage.
I feel fortunate to have grown up in a time and place where people were so supportive of those playing bluegrass music. Band members and fans became great friends. The IBMA Foundation is helping develop that same kind of music community now and for the future. The Foundation helps connect resources to programs and activities that involve our next generation of musicians. I am glad to partner with the Foundation by being a board member, donor and supporter! The IBMA Foundation is a great place to make a difference.
I know first-hand what great work the IBMA Foundation does because I was a board member for a number of years. There’s not an organization anywhere that makes a bigger investment in the future of bluegrass music by supporting educational programs.
I’ve been playing bluegrass since I discovered the San Diego Bluegrass Club as a 12-year-old. These days I wear several hats: co-founder of Compass Records, producer and, of course, banjo player. When I was learning to play, there were so many people who went out of their way to help me, from my biggest musical heroes to countless parking lot pickers. The “play it forward” spirit of our community is one of its great treasures and it is a privilege for me to be able to help up-and-coming players. Building community is key to the future of bluegrass music. What better way to do that than to support those who will play the music forward, through the 21st century and beyond?
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Anyone willing to share information with friends and colleagues about IBMA Foundation-hosted scholarships, grants, and programs is WELCOME to sign up as a “Friend of the Foundation” and use the logo above. Fill out the form below to request a free brochure, sticker, and magnet.
Please display the Friend of the Foundation logo on your websites, social media pages, marketing messages, liner notes, and fliers.
The Friends of the Foundation group is open to all individuals, companies, and organizations interested in helping bluegrass music grow, sharing it with future generations and new audiences around the world. CLICK HERE to read about ways you could help as a Friend of the Foundation.
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The IBMA Foundation
1183 University Drive #105-215
Burlington, NC 27215
615.260.4807