Fluff Free Fundraising

From Access Philanthropy

____________________

June 2024

Big Changes at Saint Paul & Minnesota Foundation and Otto Bremer Trust. 

60+ New Philanthropy Jobs in Some Great Foundations

Melinda French Gates Quits the Gates Foundation

KIDS COUNT 2024 is Out

In this Issue:

• People in Philanthropy
• Grant announcements
• Fundraising news
• Surveys and Reports
• Fundraiser's Toolbox
• Jobs in Philanthropy
• Raise a Glass

Coming in September

MN Arts & Culture Funders

Book of profiles and workshop

The Access Philanthropy team is compiling a comprehensive and accessible list of the top 100+ resident and non-resident Arts, Culture, and Humanities grantmakers who award grants in Minnesota.

+Highlights will be presented in an online workshop, along with a Q & A.

Dates of the event and book availability coming soon

PEOPLE IN PHILANTHROPY

In our workshops and consultations, AP stresses the importance of developing relationships with foundation personnel, especially in your field of interest. Here are a bunch of new foundation folks you may want to contact.

Mitchell Price is the new Grants Manager at Arcus Foundation, the DC-based social change foundation focuses on Great Apes and LGBTQIA+ projects.

Kyle Erickson is the new Director of Rural Grantmaking at Blandin Foundation. Kyle’s

been with the foundation for ten years. The new position was created to: “connect,

fund and advocate for ideas and people to inspire resourcefulness and move rural places forward.” 

Sandy Ho will become executive director of the Borealis Foundation’s Disability & Philanthropy Forum this month. Most recently, Sandy was the program director of the Disability Inclusion Fund (DIF).

The Fund for Trans Generation announced Lucas Gauna (he/him) as the new Program Associate.

The William and Flora Hewlett Foundation has a new President Amber D. Miller. Inside Philanthropy wrote up Seven Things to Know About Amber Miller (behind a paywall). Also at the Hewlett Foundation: Hannah Garcia will join the foundation as a Program Officer in the Performing Arts Program.

Charles Fields is the new Executive Vice President of Programs at The James Irvine Foundation. San Francisco based Irvine, works throughout California.

Dr. Quintin Williams is now a Senior Program Officer at The Joyce Foundation. Dr. Williams has been a leadership development officer for the foundation and before that worked for Heartland Alliance.

Liliana Velázquez is the new Program Officer on the Local News initiative with the MacArthur Foundation. This initiative coordinates local news funding in several cities including Minneapolis.

McKnight Foundation announced a number of new appointments.

• Neeraj Mehta as Vice President of Programs. Neeraj was McKnight’s inaugural director of learning for six years. Throughout his career, he has focused his efforts at the intersection of organizing, community development, the arts, philanthropy, and research justice.
• Elizabeth McGeveran was promoted to a newly created vice president of investments role, after shepherding the Foundation's endowment for the past 10 years.
• In the Office of the President, Tamara Wallace has been promoted to governance liaison and executive assistant. 
• Tamika Gibson is the new Program & Grants Associate for the Vibrant & Equitable Communities program. She comes from Minnesota Land Trust where she was the Public Grants Manager.

Tim Thorpe, Minnesota’s connection to the Surnda Foundation and the Andrus family, recently joined the board at Minneapolis Heart Institute Foundation.

The nonprofit sector’s largest trade association, Independent Sector ran an interview with The Minnesota Council on Foundations President Susie Brown.

Women's Foundation of Minnesota’s new Senior Partnership & Events Officer is Lauren Kramer.

Need a sounding board for your development ideas? Need promising new ideas from the philanthropic sector? Need someone to think about the big picture or the day-to-day fundraising stuff? AP crew members offer 30-minute chats for free. Drop a note to 4info@accessphilanthropy.com to set up a time to chat. Email us!

GRANT ANNOUNCEMENTS

Opportunities

Here are a few grant opportunities that AP has come across which may have broad interest.

1. The Boston Scientific Foundation will accept online grant applications twice annually during the designated timeframes noted below based on the specific focus area. Organizations may submit one application per region each calendar year: STEM Education Applications: January 15 - March 15; Health Applications through July 1.
2. Ciresi Walburn Foundation for Children invites applications to reduce educational inequities in Minnesota through July 12.  
3. The National Endowment for the Arts Our Town grant supports activities that integrate arts, culture, and design into local efforts that strengthen communities over the long term, open August 8-15. This is the very best opportunity for small towns and organizations to get NEA grants. 
4. NDN Collective’s Community Self-Determination grants offer Native American organizations significant, flexible, multi-year funding that may include the infusion of general operating support, power building, capital and holistic support for comprehensive initiatives and specific programs, due July 17.
5. Perigee Fund announced its first national Request for Proposals (RFP), “Building Together: Equitable Systems for Maternal, Infant, and Early Childhood Mental Health.” Brief Expressions of Interest, due July 26.
6. Petco Love grants facilitate animal sheltering and adoptions, June 1 – July 31. Incidentally, just a reminder Petco Foundation changed their name to Petco Love.
7. The Saint Paul & Minnesota Foundation's Building Community Capacity Grant includes funding for general operating support for the whole organization and capital support. The second grant round of the year is open through August 7.
8. Walmart Spark Good Local Grants, through July 15.
9. Western Digital supports programs in STEM education, hunger relief, and the environment in these geographical locations: Greater Bay Area, CA, Orange County, CA, Boulder County, CO, El Paso County, CO, Olmsted County, MN. Round 2 is due July15.
10. The Youth Climate Justice Fund provides core flexible funding to emerging youth climate justice groups, through July 1.

Announcements of grantees/ grant news:

Otto Bremer Trust’s has a “We Know Better” new grantmaking approach. The Otto Bremer Trust’s new grantmaking model uses a two-pronged approach:

Strategic Grants

A new process replaces the open application process. Strategic grants will be awarded to selected organizations and activities that align with the Otto Bremer Trust’s objectives and have demonstrated impact that will be sustained and enhanced through further investments from OBT.

The Foundation says it will identify and engage with organizations in two main ways:

• Leverage internal knowledge to identify strategic grant recipients using the Foundation's funding history, engagement with external stakeholders including intermediary partners, and research
• Organizations new to OBT can submit an organization introduction form through the website when it becomes available sometime in 2025. Prospective grantees must meet the eligibility criteria.

Community Responsive Fund grants through intermediaries.

In late 2023, OBT initiated a pilot project to work with intermediary partners, engaging them to identify and recommend grants to organizations addressing community needs in alignment with the OBT’s objectives. These intermediaries regrant from the Otto Bremer Trust Community Responsive Fund in areas aligned with OBT and approved by the trustees. The Foundation will continue to expand and explore grantmaking through this approach. Intermediaries will be selected through a closed process and announced in the fall of 2024.

The Saint Paul and Minnesota Foundation, F. R. Bigelow Foundation, and Mardag Foundation are exploring how, as grantmaking organizations, they can best disperse community resources to address current issues and better realize the goals of each organization.

This work will use a community-informed process, including a 10-person community council made up of representatives from local and statewide communities, to redesign the Saint Paul & Minnesota Foundation's Building Community Capacity grant program, and F. R. Bigelow Foundation and Mardag Foundation's twice-yearly grant programs.

The Foundation's second grant round of 2024 will continue as planned with no change to grant guidelines or process. July 15 through August 7.

The Saint Paul & Minnesota Foundation’s other grant programs are not part of this grant reimagining.

• Bank of America Charitable Foundation reports it will be awarding no more grants to new grantees in Minnesota this year. No news on next year..
• Minnesota’s Constellation Fund's May 2024 grant round awarded 2 million dollars in grants to 10 nonprofits . Catch their annual impact report.
• Youthprise awarded $1,282,500 to 26 organizations serving African Immigrant youth across the state of Minnesota, in the first year of the African Immigrant Youth Career Development Grant Program.
• Weyerhaeuser Family Foundation announced it is currently engaged in a strategic planning process and has chosen to pause accepting new funding applications in 2024. The expect an announcement of the changes in December 2024.
• Echoing Green supplies seed funding to organizations via grants, loans, and investments. As part of a two-year pilot, its Signal Fund plans to make 20 investments in Echoing Green Fellowship recipients and provide them with $100,000 to $500,000 in catalytic capital during that period.
• The New England Foundation for the Arts (NEFA) announced the 12 recipients of the National Theater Project Creation and Touring awards as well as the 12 recipients of Artist Development awards, totaling nearly $1.3 million in support to the field. While no Minnesota organizations made the final, St. Paul’s Wonderlust Productions received a $10,000 “semi-finalist” grant.
• The Climate and Clean Energy Equity Fund invests in the leadership of community-organizing groups in diverse communities (Black, Indigenous, Latinx, APPI and other communities) that advance equitable climate action and clean energy solutions.

• Fourth Generation Fund of the Minneapolis Foundation is a giving circle hosted at the Minneapolis Foundation established in 2010. They recently awarded $90,000 to six local organizations.
• The Minneapolis Climate Action and Racial Equity Fund of the Minneapolis Foundation announced $300,000 in grants went to nine local organizations doing innovative work on climate change. The fund is a partnership between the City of Minneapolis, the McKnight Foundation, and the Minneapolis Foundation.
• Southern Minnesota Initiative Foundation recently awarded 19,040 children’s books to 53 organizations through its Early Literacy Grant Program. 
• The Unity Fund of the Duluth Superior Area Community Foundation awarded six nonprofits grants to build, strengthen and create opportunities for advancement in African Heritage communities.
• Duluth’s Northland Foundation has awarded more than half a million dollars through its Quarterly Grant program, as well as nine special opportunity grants to help child care programs start up, sustain operations, and expand access to child care in the region
• Rochester Area Foundation recently awarded $110,000 Better Communities Grants to eleven community nonprofit organizations.
• State of Minnesota grant opportunities portal allows grant seekers to search for grant opportunities by state agency or by subject area.
• Dollar General Literacy Foundation announced the recipients of their Adult and Family Literacy grants.

FUNDRAISING NEWS

Annie E. Casey’s Incredibly Valuable Kids Count Data Book 2024 is out

If your work has anything to do with the status of children’s health, wellbeing, education, racial equity, child care, family status and economic well being, this is THE book for you. Kids Count Data Book is broken down by state and county, this is the best fundraiser and grantmaker tool in the industry. AND IT’S FREE.

Robert Wood Johnson increases impact investment in health fields

From the Chronicle of Philanthropy: Over the next three years, Robert Wood Johnson Foundation plans to more than double the money it dedicates to impact investing by providing $325 million in equity investments, debt financing, and loan guarantees to a range of projects. This activity is meant to preserve homeownership, improve the quality of life in New Jersey, provide communities with safe drinking water, and attract commercial investors to community development projects around the country.

Open Society’s REAL Role in Elections

Lots of people believe the Open Society Foundation and its founder George Soros control elections and voting. Here’s their story on election support strategies 

Can Your Funder Improve Their Grantmaking Procedures?

Recent posts from the National Center for Family Philanthropy offer tips and advice on ways foundations can improve the experience for prospective grantees:

• Miki Akimoto, the Center’s Chief Impact Officer offers suggestions on when it makes sense to have an open application process and the many ways to align your process with the principles of effective family philanthropy. 
• David Weitnauer and Rachel Sprecher, from the R. Howard Dobbs, Jr. Foundation, detail how the foundation recently piloted monthly Open Information Sessions for anyone interested in learning about it and its funding priorities—increasing transparency and saving grantees time. 
• Suki O'Kane, from the Walter & Elise Haas Fund, writes about compensating the time spent by grant applicants.
• Peter Marks, executive director of The L.B. Research and Education Foundation thinks there is a better, more accountable way to write declination letters and provides a template for others to follow.

Have a Say in Directing $40 Million for Environmental Justice Programs

The Minneapolis Foundation wants your input on the environment. The Great Lakes Thriving Communities Grantmaking Partnership announced a call for applications from environmental justice leaders interested in serving on a 10-member Regional Community Advisory Committee. “We seek representatives of tribal, rural, and urban communities to provide oversight and guidance in distributing $40 million in grants through the EPA’s Environmental Justice Thriving Communities Grantmaking Program.”

Making Bemidji More Accessible for Those with Disabilities

The Initiative Foundation and the Northwest Minnesota Foundation are working to establish Lead for Inclusion, a new social enterprise in the Bemidji area that exists to co-create accessible and welcoming communities for people with intellectual and developmental disabilities through inclusive youth development.

If You’re in the Neighborhood…

Many of Africa's leading philanthropy and NGO roleplayers will convene various events from June to December 2024 in different parts of the continent.

What to Know about Philanthropy in Asia

Arabella Advisors, one of the largest and most progressive fundraising and grantmaking consultants in the United States recently published an interview with Madhavika (Maddy) Bajoria, Partnerships Director for AVPN, Asia’s #1 social investment network. Bajoria talked about fast growing Asian philanthropy (for example: Total private giving recently reached $13 billion in India and $21 billion In China)

2023 Donor-Advised Fund Report

Nonprofit Pro’s latest survey found grants to charities increased 9% in 2022, hitting a new record high. They also found: "Despite speculation that wealthy people are amassing money in donor-advised funds, the figures coming from four largest DAF organizations don’t support that narrative. At Fidelity Charitable, 88% of account holders recommended at least one grant in 2023 and about 75% of dollars contributed to DAFs, on average, are granted within five years."

• In a related article, the writer lists five ways to improve your DAF strategy. 

The Demographic Composition of the U.S. Nonprofit Sector

(In Terms Of Race/Ethnicity, Gender, Sexual Orientation, And Disability Status?)

Here are some of the highlights from Candid’s report on The state of diversity in the U.S. nonprofit sector

• Sector leadership does not reflect the diversity of the nonprofit sector
• BIPOC women leaders are overrepresented at small organizations
• Majority BIPOC-led nonprofits have smaller revenues
• Data on ‘sensitive’ identities is limited

Why Gender Matters in Funding

Bridgespan’s Illuminating Impact: Why Gender Matters for Funders in Any Issue Area explores how considering women, girls, and gender-expansive people in funding can accelerate progress in any issue area and shares five ways funders can apply a gender lens to their work.

• Understand your starting point. Do you know how outcomes vary by gender in your work? 
• Analyze gender in your issue area. How gender intersects with your issue area may not be obvious.
• Design a portfolio that addresses gender in your issue area. Based on your analysis, who and what will you fund differently? 
• Invest in women’s leadership.
• Evolve your organization to support your gender aspirations.

New Poll Shows Support for Charity Reform Across the Political Spectrum

According to an Ipsos poll of just more than 1,000 Americans, commissioned by Inequality.org in cooperation with The Giving Review, most Americans are unaware of details about philanthropy. But, when presented with some key facts about it, they think the rules should be changed.

The two sponsoring organizations–which say they rarely agree on anything–do agree: There is something very wrong with the current state of charitable giving and the incentives our tax system provides to donors. They both wanted to know what Americans thought about. The poll results were recently published in Americans’ Understanding and Opinions about Charitable Foundations and Donor-Advised Funds. They found that both left- and right-leaning Americans agree with them. Some key takeaways: 

• 83% think that large charitable donations should be reported due to their possible influence.
• 83% are not supportive of wealthy donors being subsidized for their donations to create private legacy foundations.
• 71% believe Congress should raise the annual payout rate for private foundations and require the same for DAFs (from 5% - 10%).
• The population is split on the issue of anonymous donations (as long as the concern of influence is not an issue as summarized in the first point, above).

Donor-Advised Funds On the Rise

According to Candid/Foundation Directory, 2023 grantmaking remained stable. Check out the report.

The Value of Volunteer Time

Independent Sector, with the Do Good Institute at the University of Maryland, announced that the estimate for the value of a volunteer hour in 2023 was $33.49, a 5.3% increase from 2022. They also have a list for states. MN is higher than the average at $36.31, up from $34.47 in 2022.

How To Effectively Narrow Down Your List of Prospects

Instrumentl has published "Intro to the Ultimate Guide to Prioritizing Prospects in 7 Easy Steps"

In brief:

Step #1: Determine Your Need for What to Prioritize

Step #2: Build Out Your Prospect List

Step #3: Figure Out the Best System For Your Needs

Step #4: Develop Your Most Important Criteria

Step #5: Assign Your Weights

Step #6: Input Your Values

Step #7: Make Your System Automated and Replicable

Direct Response Copywriting Approaches That Drive Some Nonprofits Crazy

From an opinion piece on NonProfit Pro

1. Good Copy Is Simple: The people in nonprofits who review and approve fundraising may think it’s too informal, but plain talk — simple, direct and conversational — is what engages donors. 
2. Good Copy Is Repetitive: “You say the same thing over and over'' is a common reaction to fundraising copy. But it gets people to remember, and if they're just skimming, they won't miss it.
3. Good Copy Is Dramatic: To break through the clutter, copy has to have drama. But then it’s called “over the top” and “too dramatic.” It’s a misguided criticism, and to prove it, just watch TV.

JOBS IN PHILANTHROPY

This is a free job board that AP puts together. Our interest is getting good Minnesota nonprofit folks into good local and national foundation jobs.

Great Job Boards from Other Organizations: Minnesota Council On Foundations, Funders For LGBTQ, Emerging Practitioners In Philanthropy, Peak Grantmaking, Pollen, Philanthropy Job Board Hub, Foundation List, and Association of Black Foundation Executives 

• Chicago-based Paul M. Angell Family Foundation is looking for a new Executive Director
• BNP Paribas (Jersey City) is hiring a Vice President – Head of Philanthropy and Social Impact Communications
• Eli and Edythe Broad Foundation (LA, CA) is hiring a Program Officer, Civic Partnerships
• Margaret A. Cargill Philanthropies is hiring a Manager, Human Resources Partner and Senior Human Resources Partner Job Board link
• Center for Disaster Philanthropy (Remote) is hiring a VP, Brand & Storytelling 
• Chan Zuckerberg Initiative (Redwood City, CA ) is hiring a Grants Management Associate, Science
• Liz Claiborne & Art Ortenberg Foundation (New York, NY) seeks a Program Assistant for global grantmaking portfolio focused on community-based conservation projects
• Nathan Cummings Foundation (NY) is searching for a number of communications professionals including a fully remote Communications Manager
• Democracy Fund (DC) is hiring a Just & Inclusive Society Associate
• Environmental Grantmakers Association is hiring for the Strategic Partnership Director
• Ford Foundation (NY) is seeking a Program Officer to join the Technology and Society program team.
• Foundation for Child Development is searching for a Vice President of Finance and Administration
• Funders Concerned About AIDS (remote) is looking for a Research Associate and Senior Program Manager Job board link
• Gates Foundation (Seattle) is hiring a Program Officer, US Economic Mobility, Employer Engagement
• Global Greengrants Fund (UK) is hiring a Finance and Grants Officer
• GMA Foundations (Boston, MA ) is seeking a full-time Foundation Assistant to coordinate all administrative duties associated with their assigned clients’ foundations
• Groundswell Fund  (Remote) is looking for a Chief Operating Officer
• William and Flora Hewlett Foundation (Menlo Park, CA) Strategy Officer for their Effective Philanthropy Group
• Hispanics in Philanthropy (remote) is hiring a Deputy Director, Organizational Giving
• Initiative Foundation (Little Falls, MN/Hybrid) seeks a Community Philanthropy Manager
• Intentional Philanthropy (DC or NY) has a paid Fellowship that combines philanthropic consulting with professional development opportunities.
• The Joyce Foundation (Chicago, Illinois (Hybrid) is hiring a Program Officer – Great Lakes & Drinking Water
• JPB Foundation (JPB) seeks nominations and applications for the position of Senior Program Officer, Movement Infrastructure & Explorations
• W.K. Kellogg Foundation (MI) is searching for a Communications Officer, a Director of International Programs, and a VP of Strategy
• Kresge Foundation (Troy, MI) is hiring a Senior Program Officer and Program Team Assistant –for their Arts & Culture Program Job board link
• Leeway Foundation (PA) is seeking an Executive Director
• Liberty Hill Foundation (LA, CA) has a number of Program Director/Manager positions open
• Mastercard Foundation is hiring Program Managers in Kenya and Nigeria
• Ms Foundation for Women (NY/Hybrid) is hiring Program Officer, Grantmaking and Capacity Building
• M.J. Murdock Charitable Trust (Vancouver, WA) is looking for a Program Coordinator for their Grants & Programs Team
• NDN Collective (Rapid City, SD) has a number of open positions including Program Officers and a Climate Justice Region 5 Coordinator
• Newman’s Own Foundation (Westport, CT/Hybrid) is looking for a Communications and Marketing Manager
• Polk Bros. Foundation (Chicago/ Hybrid) is hiring two Program Assistants
• Schmidt Family Foundation (CA) (one of the Google families) is hiring a Program Associate or Manager, Minerals + Materials
• Stonewall Community Foundation (NY) is conducting a search for an Executive Director
• Stuart Foundation (San Francisco) seeks a Vice President, Finance and Administration
• Victoria Foundation (Newark, NJ) seeks candidates for a two-year Fellowship position
• Wagner Foundation (Cambridge, MA) is hiring a Program Officer, International Partnerships
• Wilburforce Foundation (Seattle) is hiring a Program Officer, Alaska and British Columbia

Louise Erdrich turned 70 years old this month. She’s a member of the Turtle Mountain

Band of Chippewa Indians (Ojibwe). And she’s an internationally renowned author of indigenous- focused poetry, novels, and children’s book. My daughter and I loved the "Birchbark House" series (even more than Roald Dahl’s wild fantasies!).

Louise’s very first book, "Love Medicine" won all kinds of awards, but personally, I like "LaRose", "The Night Watchman", "The Sentence", and "The Last Report of the Miracle at Little No Horse" even more. But Louise is more than a great novelist, she was one of the first women admitted to Dartmouth College. She’s an award winning poet ("Jacklight"). She has lectured at several universities. She has mentored hundreds of young writers, and her many awards include the Pulitzer Prize, Library of Congress, National Book Critics and PEN/Saul Bellow awards. Her influence on Native writers was responsible for the nickname, “Mother of the Native Renaissance.”

Next time you’re with friends discussing great writers, Raise a Glass to Louise’s seventieth birthday.

And if you’re in the neighborhood you might want to visit Louise’s bookstore Birchbark Books , a great place for games, books and Native arts. Our three Ojibwe foster granddaughters (3, 5, and 6 years old), can’t get enough of the stuff, the people, and the welcoming atmosphere.

SO, WHAT EXACTLY DOES ACCESS PHILANTHROPY

DO FOR A LIVING? 

THANKS FOR SPENDING TIME WITH US.

Need some ideas, someone to talk to about fundraising, or just a fabulous listener/chatter?

4info@accessphilanthropy.com