Please also visit our Resources page for information on potential funding sources and information on the reasons why Music Education is a moral imperative. The Advocacy Toolkit at the right-hand side of this webpage has many helpful resources and links to support your program.
Before contacting any organization with a request for instruments, be sure to make a list of what you actually want for your program, and clarify your description of the program (marching band? orchestral program? rock/pop/hip hop? beginner recorders, ukuleles, or drum line? etc). The more specific the request, the more favorably it will be considered. Please don’t make a general or vague request “for instruments” because different types of programs obviously have very different needs.
At a local level, check retailers or instrument repair shops or even universities with music education programs in your own community. Also, music stores that offer instrument rentals might have used instruments available to donate.
National resources are listed below:
Hungry for Music
The Spirit of Harmony has been working closely with Hungry for Music for many years. Hungry for Music collects and distributes instruments including brass, woodwinds, strings, electric keyboards, drums and other percussion, as well as amps and accessories. Whether you have an instrument that you would like to donate or are a music teacher with a talented and committed student who can not afford their own instrument, Hungry for Music is an excellent resource! Here is their Request Form.
Guitar Center Foundation
The Guitar Center Music Foundation is an independent 501c3 organization dedicated to the healing, transformative power of music. Through instrument grants and donations, they help ensure schools and music education programs get the resources they need to keep music alive and accessible. Please visit their website for application information.
Fender Play Foundation
One of the world’s most respected guitar manufacturers, Fender, also hosts a foundation dedicated to providing musical instruments for music education programs in communities as well as in schools. For more information, please visit: http://www.fenderplayfoundation.org/
VH-1’s Save the Music
Donating millions of dollars worth of musical instruments each year, VH-1’s Save the Music Foundation is one of the most well-known philanthropic funds for music education. For more information, please visit: www.vh1savethemusic.org.
Guitars and Ukes in the Classroom
Offering in-person and online instruction as well as instruments, Guitars and Ukes in the Classroom works with school districts and individual schools and organizations to strengthen their music education programs. Please click here to find out more.
D’Addario Foundation
The D’Addario Foundation is a unique non-profit grant-making organization providing monetary and product support to high-quality sustainable music instruction programs on the frontline to improve access to music education. They support programs that bring music back into communities and schools and get kids playing as early and as frequently as possible. The D’Addario Foundation believes in the transformative power of music and that mentoring and building communities through music can positively affect social change. To apply: http://www.daddariofoundation.org/
Mr. Holland’s Opus Foundation
The Mr. Holland’s Opus Foundation keeps music alive in our schools by donating musical instruments to under-funded music programs, and vital support services to school districts nationwide, giving economically-disadvantaged youth access to the many benefits of music education, leading them to success in school, and inspiring creativity and expression through playing music. To apply: https://www.mhopus.org/
Manilow Music Project
The Manilow Music Project empowers underfunded school music programs to provide quality music education. By donating instruments and equipment and providing scholarships nationwide, they give disadvantaged young people the opportunity to experience community, passion, and creativity through the gift of music. To apply: www.manilowmusicproject.org
Pianos for Education
This organization assists institutions and organizations that lack the financial resources to acquire and maintain adequate inventories of quality pianos for their music-education curriculums. They also accept applications from private piano teachers and studios in need of piano loans for their students’ studies. All of their loan programs include regular service and maintenance throughout the term of the loan. Click here for the application.
Acoustics for a Change
Collectibles With Causes
This organization accepts all types of valuable donations from around the country and redistributes items to programs in need. Their collections include musical instruments.
Gift of Music Foundation
The Gift of Music Foundation is dedicated to creating greater accessibility to music programs, instruments, teachers, and the overall benefits of music education. For more information, please visit their website.
Instrumental Angels
This charity that receives musical instruments, accessories, music and monetary donations from people around the globe and donates them to children in need and veterans. Please click here for more information.
Other Ideas…
Airports, taxi companies, public transit lines, libraries, and other institutions may have programs that donate items left on their premises, and a surprising number of those items might be musical instruments. For example, Unclaimed Baggage is a national store that sells and donates items abandoned at airports. You’ll never know unless you check! And don’t forget to check Facebook groups that are involved in any kind of music, or local sites such as CraigsList or TrashNothing.