Mission driven. That’s what nonprofits and grantmakers are.
Nonprofits approach grantmakers and ask for support in pursuing their mission. Grantmakers also have missions, so can they ask nonprofits for support in achieving theirs?
I interviewed several corporate grantmakers for the spring issue of MCF’s Giving Forum. I asked them the question above.
Yes, they said. There is plenty that nonprofits can do to help strengthen the connection between grantmakers and the causes they fund and to support their efforts to use their limited resources effectively to make the greatest impact.
Among the suggestions: Effectively explain your mission, and focus on how the specific funder can help you meet your mission. “This helps us at ADC understand how we can respond to those needs and help build capacity while funding within our very narrow focus of math and science technology and technology for nonprofits,” says Bill Linder-Scholer, executive director of ADC Foundation. He goes on to say, “Those who use the Minnesota Common Grant Application and then don’t change it from the last time they used it to address the technology component fall short of what we need.”
To read what other funders say, check out the just-published Giving Forum, which focuses on corporate philanthropy.
- Chris Murakami Noonan, MCF Communications Associate
