Our Impact

A message from our founder,
Seth Novatt

We thank you for taking the time to learn more about the Adolf Busch Award. Now in its sixth year, we are proud to have recognized a diverse group of organizations whose work ranges from teaching music to former child soldiers to teaching incarcerated youth skills relating to music production. Additionally, several of our recipients have taken unique and effective approaches to combating inner city inequality.

There are some common themes to our disparate group of recipients that we believe reflect the inspiration of Adolf Busch. There is an often difficult to define sense of courage; operating within a formidable environment, working with an especially challenging or challenged group of people, or simply trying something that hasn’t been done before.

As I mentioned above, several organizations – who address the inequities faced by disenfranchised groups of people, whether they be economically challenged, or of refugee status – have approached these issues with real creativity. All have clearly defined ideas or metrics of success that they can point to, and all have engaged their communities in ways that make the programs “bigger” than they might actually be.

We are especially gratified that several of our recipients have been further recognized in significant ways by other donor organizations. Of late, Intempo received a $100,000 gift recognizing their work in Stamford, Connecticut, and Play on Philly was just awarded $1 million from MacKenzie Scott for their work in Philadelphia.

The decision process is always a very difficult one. Every organization that applies does critically important work. To ensure that your application is as compelling as it can be, I encourage you to read through the different sections of this website and carefully consider how your work aligns with our defined values.

Thank you once again for considering an application, and thank you for your commitment to a better world.

Sincerely,

Seth Novatt