If you're searching for The Actors Fund, you're in the right place. It's still here, under a new name. In May 2022, The Actors Fund became the Entertainment Community Fund, a name that better reflects who it serves.
Here's what the Entertainment Community Fund does, who it helps, and why it matters so much to people who work in theatre.
The Entertainment Community Fund is a national nonprofit human services organization for people who work in performing arts and entertainment. That includes film, theater, television, music, opera, radio, and dance, both onstage and behind the scenes.
A life in the arts often means freelance work, uneven income, and gaps in health coverage. The Fund provides a safety net built around those realities.
For decades, the organization had served far more than actors: stagehands, musicians, dancers, designers, crew, and many others. In 2022, 140 years after its founding, it adopted the name Entertainment Community Fund to make clear that its services are for everyone in the business. The mission stayed the same.
The Fund was founded in New York on June 8, 1882, by theatre producer Albert Marshman Palmer, with a push from Harrison Grey Fiske, editor of the New York Dramatic Mirror. One of its earliest jobs was paying for funerals, at a time when performers were often refused burial in consecrated ground. Over the next century it grew into a full human services organization.
Services are available nationwide. The Entertainment Community Fund website has details on eligibility and how to get help.
Closely. Broadway Cares/Equity Fights AIDS is the single largest funder of the Fund's safety net, so part of every red bucket donation ends up supporting it. Read our guide to Broadway Cares.
You can donate directly through the Entertainment Community Fund website. If you work in the industry, one of the most useful things you can do is learn what's available before you need it.
The Entertainment Community Fund takes care of the people who make entertainment. Broadway for Democracy focuses on a different need: helping that same community, and its fans, take part in civic life. We're nonpartisan, and we never tell anyone how to vote. For theatre workers who tour or work unusual hours, we put together a voting guide for theatre workers. Explore the rest of the field in our guide to Broadway nonprofits.
Yes. The Actors Fund changed its name to the Entertainment Community Fund in May 2022.
No. The Fund serves people across performing arts and entertainment, including crew, musicians, dancers, and other behind-the-scenes workers.
No. It's headquartered in New York but serves people nationwide.
The Fund is a 501(c)(3) charitable organization, so donations are generally tax-deductible.
Want to help the theatre community show up for democracy? Donate to Broadway for Democracy.
