Minnesota Council on Foundations Blog – Philanthropy Potluck

Overall charitable giving by individuals, foundations and corporate giving programs in Minnesota was $5.5 billion in 2007, according to MCF’s latest research on giving. Most of the growth in giving was driven by foundations and corporate giving programs in the state, which provided an additional 10 percent in charitable dollars in 2007 compared to 2006.

MCF just released Giving in Minnesota, our annual research report on philanthropy in the state, in conjunction with the Joint MCN/MCF Annual Conference, Transforming Our Work: From Challenging Times to Hopeful Futures.

With over 1,800 attendees representing the state’s non-profit and grantmaking communities, the conference provided an opportunity for me to stop calculating growth rates and start meeting practitioners – the people doing the hard work in this state to house homeless families, achieve racial justice, and respond to the economic downturn, among other (many other) things. I learned new tricks and met smart folks at the conference, and was happy to escape my windowless office and Excel spreadsheets for two days.

In the spirit of learning and sharing, I’d like to provide a few interesting facts from Giving in Minnesota, 2009 Edition. Our complete report provides much greater detail and context; our summary report hits all the highlights. The information below is based on an analysis of 27, 243 grants of $2,000 or more made by 100 of the largest grantmakers in Minnesota in 2007.

• Grant dollars increased for all subject areas except public affairs/society benefit.
• Education, human services, and public affairs/society benefit received the largest shares of Minnesota’s grant dollars, continuing a long-term trend.
• Although grantmaking to the environment/animals and international affairs is comparatively small, giving to both subject areas grew rapidly — by 17 percent — in 2007.
• Fifty-five percent of the state’s grant dollars went to organizations serving Minnesota.
• Among all geographic areas, giving to Greater Minnesota grew fastest.
• Minnesota grantmakers devote the largest share of their grant dollars to program support.
• Giving to general support dropped in 2007, as it has every year since 2004.

These facts just scratch the surface. MCF has a wealth of detailed information on trends in grantmaking available in Giving in Minnesota; our aim is to make that information accessible and relevant to non-profits, grantmakers, and all those in the public sector who need to understand how resources are allocated in Minnesota.

– Juliana Tillema, MCF research manager