Students in the certified nursing assistant training program at the International Institute of Minnesota, a grantee of The Jay and Rose Phillips Family Foundation of Minnesota, practice their hands-on skills.

Read the winter issue of Giving Forum – online and in your mail now – to learn more about what Minnesota grantmakers and their nonprofit partners are doing in the tough fight against poverty in our state.

Grantmakers play a variety of roles from meeting basic human needs, to creating systemic change around poverty’s root causes, to engaging the community in identifying and solving problems, to taking policy stands on matters affecting low-income residents. Whatever role foundations have chosen to play, they are working to create a brighter future for all Minnesotans.

Read this issue’s feature article to learn more about how The Jay and Rose Phillips Family Foundation of Minnesota is partnering to train individuals for jobs that pay a living wage and how Greater Twin Cities United Way is improving access to health care for those who need it most. And read about how the Northwest Area Foundation funded an initiative to drive payday lenders from Montana and how The Minneapolis Foundation is working to level the playing field for all residents of the city.

- Susan Stehling, MCF communications associate

Seventy percent of grantmakers anticipate that their funding priorities will remain constant in 2012, which is almost a 10-point increase over what they predicted for 2011.

MCF’s 2012 Outlook Report is based on an October/November 2011 survey of 100 foundations and corporate giving programs that represent 76 percent (or about $1 billion) of all Minnesota annual grantmaking.

Subject-Area Funding
For the first time in its annual Outlook survey, MCF asked grantmakers to estimate changes in giving to the specific subject areas they support. While most respondents plan no changes to 2012 subject-area giving, one third of education funders forecast giving more to education in 2012.

Arts, culture, and humanities is the only subject area to which more grantmakers said they expect to decrease rather than increase funding. Although the respondents represent a small part of the Outlook survey sample, this finding appears to be consistent with a trend toward less arts funding as reported in MCF’s latest Giving in Minnesota report.

Learn More
To learn more about what the report findings mean for Minnesota’s nonprofit and philanthropic communities, check out the full report online and register today for one or all four of the subject-specific webinars hosted by MCF.

Webinar topics and dates are:

• Education, January 18;
• Human Services, January 24;
• Health, February 1; and
• Arts, February 7.

At each webinar, in addition to a broad overview of 2012’s giving outlook, a panel of funders will dive more deeply into subject-specific funding and answer questions like the following:

• What are the current trends in funding for education, human services, health or arts?
• Will funding for the area be up or down in 2012?
• What should nonprofits be aware of as they prepare to seek funds in 2012?

We promise you’ll come away from them more knowledgeable and informed about 2012’s funding landscape in Minnesota!

Today we welcome the perspective of Jeff Peterson, Director of Innovation & Strategy at the General Mills Foundation. He shares here the philosophy behind General Mills Foundation initiatives like Join My Village.

I recently represented Join My Village at a women’s empowerment conference hosted by Womenetics. In what would turn out to be more than coincidental, I addressed this roomful of 300+ women’s activists on the same day that the latest Betty Crocker cookbook hit the stands.  And while most audience members were fashionably nonplussed by Betty’s 90-year run and the release of her 11th edition of “Big Red,” Betty’s legacy – and ongoing utility – may have provided the most actionable lesson for all in attendance.

I paid close attention to the tenor, tone, and topics addressed by my fellow panelists. Loads of empirical – and unexpectedly unemotional – evidence was shared on the proven benefits of empowering women in developed nations and investing in women of underdeveloped ones.  “It is so obvious,” said Astrid Pregal of Feminetics, Inc., “all of the data is there. We just need to start using it.”

Indeed, as access to data has evolved, so has the dialogue on women’s issues.  Yesterday’s Gloria Steinem is today’s Muhammad Yunus.

In addition to increasing our collective consciousness, these evolutions have also increased individual empathy, which is an inarguable measure of progress; when others learn to walk a mile in the sandals of a marginalized woman, the pump of action is surely primed. Yet none of the conference attendees were ready to declare, “Mission accomplished.” In fact, the identification of empirical cost-benefit analyses and the acknowledgement of heightened global awareness seem to be causing more anxiety for advocates today than they did for similar groups yesterday.  Why?

Perhaps because we’ve created too much empathy without enough ease.

New York Times columnist David Brooks recently wrote of the false sense of accomplishment that unaccompanied empathy can provide, stating, “These days empathy has become a shortcut. It has become a way to experience delicious moral emotions without confronting the weaknesses in our nature that prevent us from actually acting upon them.”

Brooks attributes this chasm to a weakened moral state, but I have a more pedestrian hypothesis: we have empathy, but we also have errands. For while I, the father of four daughters, eagerly embraces the spiritual and socioeconomic connections between my 12-year old Alice and another 12-year old Alice halfway around the world, I’m only responsible for getting one to volleyball practice. I have empathy; I need ease.

Which brings us back to Betty’s Big Red cookbook and its relevance to last week’s room of non-culinary change makers. Over the last 90 years Betty Crocker has done less to convince the world that a home-cooked meal prepared with love is a good thing and much more to help us act on that universal – yet often unrealized - conviction.

Similarly, Join My Village is designed to do less to develop new approaches to alleviate poverty through the empowerment of women, and more to invite action in its shared theory for change.

This empathy-to-action ethos should sound familiar to fans and followers of General Mills, as it also underlies the success of Box Tops for Education and Save Lids to Save Lives. These initiatives actively engaging millions of consumer citizens in seemingly intractable social conditions through increased measures of ease, not just empathy.

Or, as Betty might say, 2 parts ease to 1 part empathy.

Photo cc Boogies with Fish

I’m thrilled to see that Minnesota Helps – North Minneapolis Recovery Fund will be awarded the “Outstanding Contribution to Philanthropy” award. It’s a well-deserved honor that comes just six months after a tornado slammed into the north side of our city. Thus far, the fund has provided $1,337,160 to assist the residents of North Minneapolis.

Shortly after the tornado hit, local foundations and the Greater Twin Cities United Way joined together to create the fund to quickly assist those directly impacted by the storm.

The effort has been led by the following partners, almost all of them members of MCF (marked with an asterisk).

• The Minneapolis Foundation*
• Greater Twin Cities United Way*
• GiveMN.org
• Best Buy Corporation*
• Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Minnesota Foundation*
• CenturyTel, Inc.
• Comcast*
• Cummins Foundation
• Faegre & Benson Foundation*
• George Family Foundation*
• The Grotto Foundation*
• James R. Thorpe Foundation*
• Land O’Lakes, Inc.*
• Lunds and Byerly’s
• McKnight Foundation*
• North Star Fund
• Park Nicollet Foundation*
• Pohlad Family Foundation
• The Saint Paul Foundation*
• TCF Foundation*
• US Bank – Private Client & Trust Services*
• Wells Fargo Foundation*

Many of these partners made large donations and also matched contributions from city residents and others who answered the call for assistance. GiveMN.org waived credit card fees on donations, so 100% of every donation went to help those in need.

Thanks to all of the funding partners and to those who contributed to the fund. We all make Minnesota a better place to live.

Funds Still Available
And, funds are still available for nonprofits, faith based organizations and public entities providing support and financial assistance to those most affected by this disaster. Learn more about how to apply for funds.

-Susan Stehling, communications associate

Corporations have wide ranging programmatic and geographic interests when it comes to funding the arts, but there are some emerging trends we can see in corporate funding in Minnesota:

1. Corporate Community Connections: Corporate funders primarily fund in communities in which they are headquartered or have operations.  Minnesota is very fortunate to have several Fortune 500 companies based in the state.  Corporate funders see a direction connection between the strength of their companies and the health and vitality of the communities in which they are based, which means strong, vibrant arts and culture opportunities.
2. Engaging Employees:  Cultural offerings can be a powerful recruitment and retention tool for companies to attract employees to a particular community.  Corporations also involve employees through grant review committees, giving campaigns, and volunteer activities, which builds the employees’ knowledge and understanding of the nonprofit organizations in the area.  Some provide incentives for board service or to attend cultural events, designed to help employees feel more connected to their communities and the corporation’s funding priorities.
3. Arts and Education: As many corporate funders have increased their funding and interest in education, some look for a connection between arts and education in grant proposals.  There is strong evidence of the connection between arts and success in school, so when arts and education are combined, it’s a win-win from the funder’s point of view.
4. Making Arts Accessible:  Corporate funders also are interested in increasing the accessibility of arts to low-income and diverse communities. Many do so by funding free days at local museums, purchasing tickets for students and other groups to see concerts and theater, and funding programs that explicitly bring cultural events to communities that may not otherwise be exposed to the arts.
5. Changing Priorities: While there is still a strong commitment among Minnesota’s corporations to the arts, as is the case with any type of funder, something may change that can adjust a company’s funding priorities.  As funding commitments in other areas of work have grown, the guidelines for arts grants have become more focused, either geographically or programmatically, in order for the corporation to continue to have an impact, even with fewer funds.

Corporations care about the communities in which they are based, and actively play a role in making those communities engaging and thriving places to live for everyone, not just their employees.  And the arts play a big role in that.

Join the conversation: How do you contribute to the arts in Minnesota?

-Stephanie Jacobs, MCF director of member services

Greater Twin Cities United Way Tops Community/Public List
Revising its methodology this year, MCF added public charity grantmakers that make competitive grants to the annual rankings. Included for the first time, Greater Twin Cities United Way ranked fourth overall and first on the list of Community/Public Foundations and Public Charity Grantmakers by grants paid in 2010.

“Including the United Way creates a more inclusive picture of giving in Minnesota,” says Bill King, MCF President. “United Ways and other public charities that give competitive grants, like community foundations, receive individual and corporate contributions and make gifts to nonprofits from the funds.”

The top five Minnesota grantmakers by grants paid in 2010 are: Target Foundation and Corporation ($131.2 million); The McKnight Foundation ($96.7 million); General Mills Foundation and Corporation ($87.7 million); Greater Twin Cities United Way ($65.7 million); and Cargill and The Cargill Foundation ($61.1 million).

Of the 50 top grantmakers by grants paid in 2010, 45 also appeared on the 2009 list. Overall, grant dollars from these 45 decreased 2 percent in 2010 from 2009, but the amount given to Minnesota-based organizations increased by 1 percent. Overall assets for the 45 increased 5 percent.

“Cash giving by Minnesota’s top 50 grantmakers still totals more than $1 billion,” says King. “And the slight increase in dollars staying within our state demonstrates the stability of philanthropic support for Minnesota nonprofits.”

“Looking ahead we’re encouraged by the improvement in top grantmakers’ asset values,” he continues. “This bodes well for grantmaking levels in 2011 and beyond, as grantmakers tend to base grants paid on multi-year averages of past asset levels.”

MCF’s annual rankings are based on the amount of cash grants paid by funders with fiscal years ending June 1, 2010, through May 31, 2011. In order to ensure that grantmakers are compared consistently, in-kind or other noncash contributions are not included.

Corporations Give More than Cash
For corporate giving programs, noncash contributions such as in-kind donations of products, services or volunteer time can be a substantial part of their overall community support. Again this year, MCF invited large corporate grantmakers to self-report information about in-kind donations and other noncash contributions. This information is assembled in the Noncash Charitable Contributions by Minnesota Corporate Grantmakers list.

- Susan Stehling, communications associate

Photo cc Teosaurio

The event will recognize 12 local winners of the prestigious Jefferson Awards for Public Service.

Among the 12 are the following MCF members who will be recognized for their notable corporate volunteer efforts:

• Allianz Life Insurance Co. of North America
• Medtronic Inc.
• Securian Financial Group Inc.

Also at the event, in the spirit of community giving, the Business Journal will collect old cell phones for the nonprofit, Cell Phones for Soldiers.

For more information or to RSVP, see the Business Journal’s website.

- Susan Stehling, communications associate

Valerie Halverson Pace, center

If you don’t think philanthropy in Minnesota and the Ukraine have much in common, think again.

On October 20-21, I attended MCF’s conference in St. Paul, The Evolution of Corporate Philanthropy: Building Value and Creating Change, where discussion revolved around truly integrating corporate citizenship and philanthropy within a company’s business strategy.

The previous week in Mykolajiv, Ukraine, the Ukrainian Philanthropists Forum, in conjunction with the Center for Social Programs RUSAL, East Europe Foundation, held Ukraine’s first international conference on corporate volunteering.

Both groups heard from Valerie Halverson Pace, west region manager, Corporate Citizenship, at IBM in Rochester, Minnesota, and an MCF member. She spoke of the change that she’s seen in the past 15 years at IBM, a company cited here and halfway around the world for doing things right and pushing the boundaries of corporate citizenship.

According to Pace, IBM is working across business units in 170 countries on pressing issues including the environment, economic development, education, health, literacy, language and culture.

IBM is applying their technology and the talent of their employees to solve problems, rather than simply making cash donations. They provide leadership and insist on excellence. And, whether it’s using voice recognition technology to help children learn to read or cloud computing to make disaster relief tools instantly available to recovery workers, they collaborate with qualified partners and fully expect to effect widespread positive change.

IBM’s efforts include: the Smarter Cities Challenge, a competitive grant program awarding $50 million worth of IBM expertise over three years to 100 cities around the globe; Service Jam and more.

Turns out MCF and the Ukrainian Philanthropists Forum are both members of WINGS, a global network of 145 grantmaker associations. And Bill King, MCF president and a WINGS board member, is responsible for facilitating the Ukraine-Minnesota philanthropy connection.

It’s a great example of one way that MCF is working to promote and strengthen philanthropy in Minnesota and far beyond the borders of our state.

- Susan Stehling, communications associate

The day’s first speaker, Chris Pinney, project lead for the national Council on Foundations Corporate Philanthropy 2012 initiative, started things off with a few startling facts:

• Of the 100 largest economies in the world, 51% are corporations and only 49% are countries.
• 40% of all current U.S. federal workers will retire in the next few years.
• Governments can no longer fill all of the gaps; government debt is high worldwide, business is often more trusted than government, and social issues are becoming more of a shared responsibility.

And, then he asked a question: “What’s the impact of corporate philanthropy in Minnesota?”

The room was filled with community affairs and foundation leaders from Target, Best Buy, IBM, Medtronic, Ameriprise Financial, General Mills, Wells Fargo and elsewhere, but the room was silent. No one had an answer.

Every foundation and giving program knows what they fund, some can measure the outcomes of their own giving, but no one offered any ideas on the sum total of their efforts – past, present or future – or mentioned a good (or consistently used) way to measure results.

Pinney didn’t have an answer either, but he believes corporate philanthropy must evolve from being about the money to being about “managing the money to achieve results.”

He says corporate grantmakers must lead corporate philanthropy until it is truly and completely integrated with the business strategy.

He gave good examples of businesses that are further along than most in these efforts, including IBM, Cisco and Starbucks. See slides 33, 34 and 35 of Pinney’s presentation for examples of how they are creating and incorporating shared value into their giving and business models.

Stay tuned, I plan to blog about other interesting ideas discussed at the conference. And, if you were there, please add your own views.

- Susan Stehling, communications associate

photo cc suttonhoo

A few weeks ago I had the privilege of sitting in on a member-initiated briefing on youth mentoring, co-sponsored by the Travelers Foundation and the Carlson Family Foundation.

Coming into the program, I already solidly believed in the importance of the subject matter, as I can recall more occasions than I can count on two hands when a teacher or tutor has made the difference between passing and failing. Even now, in my college years, I am extremely grateful to have math tutors available to help me get through my microeconomics and finance classes­. For me, the one-on-one encouragement, attention and accountability remain crucial.­

So how do we pinpoint what makes a mentorship experience effective?

The resounding reason for attending the program given by most of the grantmakers was the desire to learn more about a new online program assessment tool called the Quality Mentoring Assessment Path, or QMAP. QMAP is presented by the Mentoring Partnership of Minnesota (MPM) and based on the latest policies, practices, experience and research for youth mentoring.

During the program, grantmakers were shown a video demonstration of how QMAP works, along with next steps available after an assessment is completed. One of these steps includes a follow-up visit from an MPM staff member to help design an individualized improvement program and provide additional resources.

These steps help answer the big question provoked by undergoing the QMAP assessment: “Based on results, what is the plan for improvement of your mentoring program?”

Why Assessment Is So Important

As powerfully put by Saint Paul Public School Foundation’s Karen Woodward, “Literacy is life or death.”

In today’s competitive age of information and technology, in order for kids to have the best chance at success, tutoring and mentoring have proven time and again to be key components. Involvement in these helps students socially, emotionally, psychologically, as well as academically. The research has shown it, youth can attest to it.

So, why the big push for quality now? Laura LaCroix-Dalluhn from Youth Community Connections explained: “Just bringing kids together and giving them a safe place to study is not enough.” Not all tutoring and mentoring experiences are created equal and can actually do more harm than good if they are not of quality. But different ideas of what constitutes “quality” pose a challenge, which is where the QMAP assessment system comes into play. The initiative to shift the field to more accountable quality using tools such as QMAP is meeting a serious need.

Use of the QMAP system may further inspire both volunteers and grantmakers to invest their support in programs they know are dedicated to a higher quality standard.

Graham Hartley of MIGIZI Communications elaborated on a metaphor Woodward used during the discussion to explain that high quality will have several looks: 

 “It’s a fruit salad of organizations, not a fruit smoothie. Programs participating in the QMAP process do not lose their individual flavor.”

In other words, each program that actively participates in the QMAP process will not lose its uniqueness and become a cookie cutter version of every other program, but rather enhance its way of practice, so that parents and students can depend on its quality.

 Image CC Sam Pac

-McKenzie Mackintosh, MCF Communications Intern