New August/September Programs

June 30, 2008

Calendar SpotlightWe’ve just posted some great upcoming programs for grantmakers to check out. The Summit for Corporate Philanthropy will kick off our August programming with a full-day of communication-driven, participatory workshops centered around best practices for telling the “stories” of corporate philanthropy. Corporate staff will not want to miss this one!

Another informative program focused on site visits will be held on August 13 as part of the Grants Managers Network. Site Visits: How Foundations Conduct Them and How Nonprofits Prepare will take you inside a nonprofit agency, Lifetrack Resources, so you can get both the grantmaker and grantseeker perspectives on this subject.

We have many more programs listed on our website. If you’re a member grantmaker of MCF and not receiving information about our programs, please visit our MCF Notes e-newsletter signup page so you can automatically receive calendar updates along with the latest Minnesota grantmaking news and information, updates on Council services and activities, new resources and tools, new job openings and much more.

- Lisa Johnson, MCF’s manager of professional development and e-learning

Comments Off | conference, corporate, mcf, programs | Permalink
Posted by Lisa Johnson

Bill Gates Makes Transition To Full-Time Philanthropy

June 27, 2008

Today is Bill Gates’ last day at Microsoft — and everybody is talking about it.

gatesfoundation.org)
Photo: gatesfoundation.org

He will now concentrate his time at the foundation he heads with his wife, Melinda. The Associated Press says that he won’t be managing the day-to-day details but “sitting down with government, business and nonprofit leaders to advocate for them to spend more money on world health, hunger and poverty.”

Two of the foundation’s key areas are global health and global development. A Seattle Times story says that he’s first going to China, where the foundation ”will move forward on several key health programs, including HIV/AIDS prevention and a new push to curb smoking — and try to tap China’s expertise to improve African agriculture.”

In 2006, billionaire Warren Buffett announced he is giving away most of his fortune to the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, which was already the biggest grantmaker by far and now has approximately $3 billion more to give away every year.

A columnist wrote in the Chronicle of Philanthropy that effectively giving away that much money won’t be easy:

Indeed, for many years, governments have been spending much more to achieve many of the same ambitious goals with little to show for their efforts. [...] Some problems, in other words, may be so intractable and complex that they cannot really be solved.

Join the conversation: How will this transition affect grantmaking at the world’s biggest foundation? Can the Gates Foundation, or philanthropy in general, solve such huge issues as eradicating malaria and AIDS, or eliminating poverty?

- Crystal Colby, MCF’s web communications associate

Comments Off | family foundations, in the news | Permalink
Posted by Crystal Colby

An Ethical Defense

June 26, 2008

It seems like everyone’s playing defense these days. This year’s political candidates. Author Scott McClellan. The p.r. professionals who have been drowned in McClellan’s wake. Even the reporters who are on the attack. Last Sunday on CBS Sunday Morning I got a kick out of seeing CBS Executive Vice President for Communications Gil Schwartz defending the ethics of the p.r. industry by taking a huge swipe at the journalists.

If you’ve been following the back-and-forth on California A.B.624 legislation, you know that philanthropists have been on the defense, too.

Now, you’ve heard it a million times, but it probably bears repeating: The best defense is a good offense. And whether you work in politics, communications, philanthropy or some other industry, a good offense is built on a strong foundation: Solid values. A clear mission. Ethics and principles.

Public relations professionals have the PRSA Code of Ethics (PDF). Journalists abide by their own code. Fundraisers in the nonprofit sector follow ethical standards, too. And members of the Minnesota Council on Foundations subscribe to our Principles for Grantmakers.

Join the conversation: By what ethics and values do you live and work? How has your organization codified its principles and practices to maintain and build public trust?

- Wendy Wehr, vice president of communications and information services

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Posted by Wendy Wehr

In the Media

June 26, 2008

Grantmakers respond to the Midwest floods:

Other local philanthropy stories from the past week:

  • Obituary for Eugene Sit
    Minneapolis Star Tribune: The immigrant from China became one of Minnesota’s best-known money managers and philanthropists.
  • Vision Quest
    East Central Minnesota Post Review: North Branch has been selected by the Initiative Foundation (out of Little Falls) to participate in their new Healthy Communities Partnership program. As part of that process, the city hosted the visioning event as a first step in setting community priorities for the future.
  • Entrepreneur campers try to hatch useful ideas
    Mankato Free Press: The highlight of the three-day entrepreneurs camp that kicked off Wednesday is the chance to develop and sell a product during tonight’s Mankato MoonDogs game. The program is made possible through a grant from the Southern Minnesota Initiative Foundation.
  • Early childhood education will fuel regional success
    SMIF president Tim Penny in the Red Wing Republican Eagle: “We believe that the strength of our region’s future workforce requires children who enter our school system ready to learn.”
  • Community center on 10-year plan
    Annandale Advocate: Since forming five years ago at an Annandale Area Community Team visioning session, the group has raised close to $6,000 thanks to a couple $1,500 grants from the Initiative Foundation of Little Falls, and a flower sales fundraiser, which takes place every spring.

National philanthropy stories from the last week:

Comments Off | in the news | Permalink
Posted by MCF Webmaster

GoodSearch Gives for You

June 25, 2008

GoodSearchI was recently on the Dodge Nature Center website looking at their event calendar and saw that they had a link to something called GoodSearch. Since I’m always searching for something (and aren’t we all on some level), I thought I’d click on it and see what it was all about.

It turns out that you can now give to charity just by searching the Internet! How does it work? You go to their site, pick a charity, install their search bar, and then Yahoo (the parent company of GoodSearch) will donate a penny for every valid search you perform. So if you’re interested in a relatively passive way to donate (someone else’s money) to a good cause, this just might be the answer you’ve been “searching” for!

- Lisa Johnson, MCF’s manager of professional development and e-learning

2 Comments | individual giving, technology | Permalink
Posted by Lisa Johnson

A.B.624 Legislation Withdrawn

June 25, 2008

The Chronicle of Philanthropy reports that California senator Joe Coto has agreed to withdraw his legislation that would have required foundations to collect ethnic and gender data related to their governance and grantmaking practices:

The California legislation, known as AB 624, would have required foundations with more than $250-million in assets to disclose the racial and gender composition of their boards and staffs and the number of grants and percentage of dollars going to groups led by and helping members of African-American, Asian-American, Hispanics, and other minority groups — as well as those helping gays, lesbians, bisexual, and transgender people.

[...]

It was strongly opposed by many grant makers nationwide, who argued that it interfered with the traditional right of foundations to make giving decisions without government pressure and that reporting requirements were not the best way to bring more diversity to philanthropy.

In exchange, according to the San Jose Mercury News, 10 foundations “agreed to boost funding in the coming years for minority-led, grass-roots groups that serve minority and low-income groups in California. The idea is to the bolster the groups’ staff and infrastructure so they can better compete for grants.”

Comments Off | diversity, government, in the news | Permalink
Posted by MCF Webmaster

Kiva’s Impact on Philanthropy

June 24, 2008

KivaOver the weekend there was an article in the Star Tribune about Kiva. Kiva was recognized as one of TIME’s 50 Best Websites of 2008, and as The Only Nonprofit That Matters by Fortune.

Kiva is “the first person-to-person micro-lending website” that allows individuals to make loans to entrepreneurs in developing countries. Lenders can browse the website and choose an entrepreneur they wish to fund and the money is then distributed by Kiva’s microfinance partners to the entrepreneur. When the duration of the loan has expired, the entreperneur then returns the funds to the lender. The lender can then re-lend the money, donate it to Kiva to cover expenses or withdraw the funds.

In the story in the Strib, they illustrated an example of a Kiva convert, Todd Andersen. Andersen described his previous brushes with philanthropy as “disciplined but not overly generous.” His wife turned him onto the site, and after his initial skepticism he has made loans totaling $1,350 in a little over a month.

Join the conversation: In 2005 (the most recent year for which data is available) individuals in Minnesota gave $4.1 billion to charity, according to MCF’s Giving in Minnesota, 2007 Edition. What impact will sites like Kiva have on philanthropy in the state? Will more people make loans through Kiva and other similar sites rather than donating to causes in their own communities? Or will traditional philanthropy hold the place in society that it always has? Are there lessons to be learned from Kiva about how to support entrepreneurs in our own communities?

- Megan Sullivan, MCF’s communications associate

Comments Off | in the news, individual giving, technology | Permalink
Posted by Megan Sullivan

Amery Community Foundation Merges with St. Croix Valley Community Foundation

June 23, 2008

St. Croix Valley Community FoundationThe St. Croix Valley Community Foundation and the Amery Community Foundation have announced a merger. “We are very, very pleased to welcome the Amery Community Foundation into our family of affiliated foundations,” says Jane Hetland Stevenson, president of the St. Croix Valley Community Foundation.

The Amery Community Foundation was established in 1984 and has assets of more than $500,000. Many of these assets go to scholarships to students from the Amery area. “The board members in Amery considered long and hard about merging our operations,” said Ray Siggins, president of the Amery Foundation board. “We felt that by joining with a larger and professionally staffed foundation we would be able to do even more for the greater Amery area than we have in the past.”

The St. Croix Valley Community Foundation was established in 1995; as of May 2008, the foundation had assets of approximately $16 million. The foundation is active in grantmaking in five counties that border the St. Croix River (three in Wisconsin and two in Minnesota). It works locally in communities in the valley through its affiliates, which include the Hudson Community Fund, the River Falls Community Fund, the Dresser Community Fund, the Chisago Lakes Area Community Foundation, and now the Amery Community Foundation.

Comments Off | community foundations, in the news | Permalink
Posted by MCF Webmaster

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