Josh Groban's Philanthropic Journey Started With a Jumbo Cardboard Check
Josh Groban, the Grammy-winning recording artist, actor, and perennially nice person, became involved in philanthropy the same way a lot of young stars do.
“Friends would ask me to play at fundraisers, and I’d say yes and then talk about it at my concerts,” he says on a recent call from a recording studio in Los Angeles. It was an engaging if scattershot way to support causes he liked and to make use of a growing fan base. Many performers stick with this approach, but Groban shifted course after a concert in Los Angeles in 2004, when a group of people walked up to the stage holding one of those jumbo cardboard checks state lotteries present to winners. The check was for $50,000, and the group was made up of hardcore fans who had sold their Groban memorabilia (autographs, concert T-shirts) to raise the money.
“They asked me to use it to start my own charity,” Groban says. “I was gobsmacked by their generosity, but also a little terrified by the responsibility.” He created the Josh Groban Foundation, which raised and matched donations from his fans, distributing the funds to charitable organizations. “The money went to great causes, but some of the groups we donated to are huge, and we were definitely small potatoes.”
Groban changed philanthropic paths again after he testified in front of Congress in 2009, along with Wynton Marsalis and Linda Ronstadt, about funding for arts education. “It was important to me, because I had a really hard time in school until I transferred to Los Angeles County High School for the Arts,” he says. “It has this incredibly supportive and immersive music program, and after I took part in it my grades went up and things got better.” In 2011, Groban changed the name of his organization to Find Your Light Foundation and started focusing on supporting and advocating for nonprofit arts programs. It has since raised $6.75 million and distributed it to more than 275 groups, including Young Musicians Choral Orchestra in Berkeley, California, and Little Kids Rock in Tampa, Florida.
In February Groban is launching a series of three concerts at Radio City Music Hall in New York City (February 14, April 18, and June 20; the shows will feature guest artists and special segments). One dollar from each ticket sold will go to the foundation. And in May he’ll host Find Your Light Foundation’s fifth annual gala, also in New York City. Last year the event featured performances by Sarah McLachlan and Ben Folds and raised $1.4 million.
The foundation works with programs in Africa as well as around the United States and Canada, so there are logistical challenges—but the geographic diversity suits Groban. “We travel all the time, and whenever we have a concert near one of the groups, we take an extra day and pull up in the tour bus.”
This story appears in the February 2020 issue of Town & Country.
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