Budget Deficit Looms Large at Legislative Briefing

February 9, 2010

View from inside MN Capitol rotunda.On February 5th, the Minnesota Council of Nonprofits (MCN) held a legislative briefing for the nonprofit community on the priorities for the 2010 legislative session.  All of the legislators acknowledged that 2010 would be another difficult year, particularly with a $1.2 billion budget deficit looming.  Majority and minority leaders from the Minnesota House and Senate, including House Majority Leader Tony Sertich, House Assistant Minority Leader Carol McFarlane, Senate Majority Leader Larry Pogemiller, Assistant Senate Majority Leader Tarryl Clark, and Senate Minority Leader David Senjem, answered three questions about their hopes and predictions for the session:

  1. What are the policy priorities of your caucus?
  2. How do you plan to tackle the state’s short term deficit and the anticipated budget shortfall?
  3. What do you want to accomplish this session?

Some key issues emerged as priorities for both sides of the political aisle:

  1. General Assistance Medical Care: All of the legislators brought up the importance of coming up with a plan for GAMC that is appropriate for medical providers and GAMC enrollees.  While there are disagreements on how to solve the problem, all of the legislators agreed that addressing this issue is a priority for this session.
  2. Bonding bill: The legislators anticipate the bonding bill will be presented to the governor for his approval within the first few weeks of session.  The minority leaders are wary of borrowing too much money to fund capital projects before the budget is balanced, while the majority leaders emphasized how investing in capital projects can boost job creation.
  3. Government redesign: The majority and minority leaders talked about the need to govern more effectively.  This includes looking into ways government agencies can collaborate for greater efficiency.
  4. Working together: The legislators stressed the importance of working together across party lines to address these issues.  They spoke of having problem-solving and civil discussions instead of polarizing arguments

While the issues of concern to the legislators were similar on both sides, the solutions for how to solve the budget shortfall were divided on party lines.  The minority leaders talked about energizing the business sector and job creation.  Representative McFarlane summed up their caucus priorities this way: “Jobs, jobs, jobs.”   They believe the focus for Minnesota’s future should be on making Minnesota an enticing environment for the business sector so that businesses see the state as a place they can grow and prosper.  They stressed the idea of revenue from job creation, not increased fees and taxes.

The majority leaders talked about taking a balanced approach to the fixing budget, not just focusing on cuts but also on revenue.  All of the majority leaders acknowledged that cuts needed to be made, but they talked about making cuts to make government more efficient, like reducing the number of out of state contracts and reducing out of state travels for elected officials, rather than cutting social services.  Senator Pogemiller stated that the legislature will begin by making cuts, and when people start to realize that the cuts will not be sufficient to balance the budget, the majority party will push for balancing the budget through revenue generation.

Marcia Avner, MCN’s Public Policy Director, brought up two ways for nonprofits to become involved in the discussion about Minnesota’s budget:

  1. Invest in Minnesota is a coalition of organizations that believe raising revenue is an important part of addressing Minnesota’s budget deficit.
  2. The Minnesota Participation Project encourages nonprofit organizations to become involved with the census, as the census results affect how much money the state receiving for federal programs.

Join the conversation: Many foundations understand the issues the legislature is facing this year, from making cuts in funding to re-examining the way they do their work.  What can government learn from foundations and nonprofits about addressing community issues on a reduced budget?  What can foundations and nonprofits teach government about efficiency, collaboration, and working across differences to solve problems?  In what ways have government, nonprofits, and foundations come together to work on pressing issues facing Minnesotans, and how might they come together again to address the budget deficit?

- Stephanie Jacobs, MCF member services manager

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Economic Crisis Yields Challenges and Opportunities for Grantmakers

January 26, 2010

A year ago, as the economic turmoil was unfurling, looming questions of “How bad?” and “How long?” were top of mind. As we enter a new economic reality, grantmakers acknowledge that we won’t be returning to business as usual; we have to do our work differently.

How each grantmaker chooses to work “differently” is as varied as the number of foundations and corporate giving programs. Peter C. Hutchinson, Bush Foundation president, recently wrote about the challenges facing his organization: “Like others, we are pulled in competing directions. We want to do the right thing, but there are many right things we could do…The question is: Which right things are right for us?”

In our winter issue of Giving Forum, we highlight several foundations and how they’ve chosen to address the challenge of finding and then focusing on what’s the “right thing” for them to do during these tough times:

The Bush Foundation is keeping its sights on longstanding aspirations and its Goals for a Decade. Explains C. Scott Cooper, director of engagement and communication: “We have decided that the role we need to be playing in this economy is not to react to new problems, but to stay focused on the issues that we think are important – which are the same issues that were important to us before the recession – and to be held accountable for outcomes.”

The W.K. Kellogg Foundation, in the midst of developing a strategic framework when the recession hit, stepped back to look for new answers. “Our big ‘a-ha’ came when we decided that – as we sat here in Battle Creek, Mich., where the bottom has repeatedly fallen out of the job market – we needed new answers to grow the economy and to bring into our workforce development perspective entrepreneurship skills and the mindset and tenacity that go with them,” recalls Anne Mosle, vice president for programs.

The Minneapolis Foundation partnered with its donors to establish a Crisis Assistance Fund to assist individuals and families with food, heat and housing, and it matched additional funding from donor-advised funds to support workforce development, education, housing and other human and social service agencies.

The McKnight Foundation is maintaining its long-term focus to fight catastrophic climate change, among other priorities. “There is often a tension between responding to changing times and remaining focused on long-term goals, addressing the most critical issues with appropriate resources, urgency and creativity,” acknowledges President Kate Wolford. Over the course of 2009, Wolford reports that the McKnight board “sharpened our strategic focus in several priority areas, including accelerating the shift to a low-carbon economy, improving third grade literacy in the metro area, and implementing place-based strategies to increase opportunities for low-income residents.”

Land O’Lakes Foundation, in the enviable position of experiencing added funding due to the company’s record growth, launched its Feeding Our Communities initiative. “We looked at who owns us – we’re a cooperative owned by farmers,” explains Lydia Botham, executive director. “And, we looked at rising needs: people who never had to go to a food shelf before who now just can’t make ends meet. We felt that more needed to be done to address hunger, especially in rural areas, where it is somewhat hidden, but just as great as it is in urban communities. Feeding Our Communities is taking our ongoing support of hunger issues to a much higher level, using our expertise and resources locally, nationally and globally.”

Foundations’ responses to the hardships created by the economic downturn are not limited to decisions on funding priorities and strategic plans. Like the nonprofits they support, many also face tough administrative and operational choices. The wellbeing of nonprofits is always top of mind, though. For example, at the McKnight Foundation, “When looking at administrative reductions, a key goal was to minimize any negative impact on grantees,” Wolford says.

Articles in Giving Forum also address funders’ perspectives on the state budget plight, the advent of federal stimulus dollars and where they believe all this turmoil is leading.

- Chris Murakami Noonan, MCF communications associate

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How to Award Millions? The Social Innovation Fund Wants Your Two Cents.

December 29, 2009

The government is looking for your thoughts on the criteria it will use to award millions of dollars to grantmaking organizations as a part of the Social Innovation Fund. The Corporation for National Community Service is looking for feedback by January 15 on its draft Notice of Funds Available (NOFA). The NOFA contains important provisions that outline the requirements to be considered eligible for the grant awards.

The agency plans to award five to seven grants, ranging from $5 to 10 million, during the 2010 fiscal year. These funds will be granted to what it has dubbed “intermediary grantmaking organizations” who are committed to evaluating the effectiveness of the grants they award. These organizations will, in turn, parcel out the funds in smaller amounts to nonprofits that embody the Social Innovation Fund’s definition of innovative programming.

The complete Notice of Funds Available can be read on the Corporation for National Community Service’s website. Feedback may be submitted online by sending an email to SIFinput@cns.gov.

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Looking for some inspiration and some tools to think and act anew?

November 30, 2009

Themed “Transforming Our Work: From Challenging Times to Hopeful Futures,” the Joint Conference of the Minnesota Council of Nonprofits and the Minnesota Council on Foundations, held Nov. 5 and 6 in St. Paul, featured nearly 50 breakouts, more than 100 speakers, a Nonprofit Mission and Excellence Awards presentation, a CEO/Trustee Dinner, and several plenary sessions.

Now, resources from many of these sessions are available online.

Minnesota Sen. Amy Klobuchar, unable to leave D.C. because of the health care debate, sent her keynote remarks via video. Below, she discusses how these unprecedented times for our country are a call to think and act anew – to meet the challenges head on – to examine every opportunity to bring together government, the private sector, nonprofits and communities to build a better future. She also highlights recent developments in D.C., as well as new initiatives in Minnesota. (Close-captioning for this video will be available in the coming weeks.)

Conference presentations and handouts from many of the breakouts are posted online and accessible on the conference website’s Download Center.

Despite the down economy, the 2009 Joint Conference of the Minnesota Council of Nonprofits and the Minnesota Council on Foundations drew a record 1,700 attendees. MCN and MCF partner to present a joint conference every three years.

- Chris Murakami Noonan, MCF communications associate

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Connecting the Dots: The Core of Public/Private/Philanthropic Partnerships

November 10, 2009

“The way we worked before, whatever worked before is changing, transforming. Are we prepared, proactive?” That was the over-arching question from last week’s Joint Conference of the Minnesota Council of Nonprofits and the Minnesota Council on Foundations.

"Now is the era of partnerships." Grantmakers are uniquely positioned to connect the dots between public, private and philanthropic organizations.

Right in line with our conference theme, “Transforming Our Work: From Challenging Times to Hopeful Futures,” Steve Gunderson, president and CEO of the Council on Foundations, shared his thoughts on transformations in philanthropy.

Foundations are moving toward mobilizing resources and making strategic philanthropic investments. The reality is, after the federal stimulus money is gone, resources will not be available to return to the way we worked before. “How will we respond?” Gunderson asks. “Now is the era of partnerships.”

Gunderson cites education as an example. In the past, the public, private and philanthropic sectors worked separately in their own way to tackle their priorities. In this new time of partnering, these sectors are playing not just side by side but together.

Philanthropy’s role can be to create innovation – to connect the dots – to connect funding resources with those who need it. Gunderson outlines the four Cs key to public/private philanthropic partnerships:

  • Connections: Nonprofit delivery systems and the philanthropic sectors need to be connected with the public sector. This needs to occur on the federal level, and just as importantly, on the state and local levels. Regional associations and local governments must be involved too.
  • Communication: Sharing, opening and broadening communication that is two-way is important to partnership success and future efforts.
  • Capacity-building: What role can philanthropy play in equipping nonprofits and government?
  • Convenings: Bringing diverse groups in each community together to define strategies and move forward is key. Nonprofits who are on the ground, know the needs of their communities and provide delivery systems to meet those needs must also take responsibility for bringing the many players together.

Join the conversation: What’s your take on this new era of public/private/philanthropic partnerships? What can and should be the role of each sector? What’s a great case study or partnership example?

– Chris Murakami Noonan, MCF communications associate

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Senator Amy Klobuchar to Deliver Keynote Address at the MCN/MCF Joint Annual Conference

October 22, 2009

MCN and MCF are proud to announce that Senator Amy Klobuchar will deliver the keynote address at this year’s MCN/MCF Joint Annual Conference.  Sen. Klobuchar will share her thoughts regarding President Obama’s desire to strengthen and grow public and philanthropic partnerships. The Senator will discuss opportunities for nonprofits and grantmakers to work together and share her observations on the impact of stimulus funds, the current health care debate, and what the legislative priorities might be in 2010.

Following the Senator’s remarks, Tim Delaney, president and CEO of the National Council of  Nonprofits, and Steve Gunderson, president and CEO of the Council on Foundations, will offer their observations and comments regarding the state of our sector in these challenging economic times. Our time together will end with Karen Kelley-Ariwoola, vice president of community philanthropy at The Minneapolis Foundation, moderating a discussion with the audience.

Visit transformingourwork.org to read about Senator Klobuchar’s background and to learn more about the Transforming Our Work: From Challenging Times to Hopeful Futures Conference happening November 5 & 6 at the Saint Paul RiverCentre.

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Can $212 Million Make Waves in a $7.6+ Billion Ocean?

July 17, 2009

New Issue of MCF’s Giving Forum Features Minnesota Grantmakers’ Contributions to Education

Children at Three Rivers Head Start participate in The Saint Paul Foundation’s Words Work! initiative. Read more about this initiative and others in Giving Forum.

Children in The Saint Paul Foundation’s Words Work! initiative. Read more about this initiative and others in Giving Forum.

Expenditures for elementary and secondary education in Minnesota topped $7.6 billion in 2006-07, according to the Report Card on American Education: A State-by-State Analysis by the American Legislative Exchange Council (whose source is the U.S. Department of Education, National Center for Education Statistics; Digest of Educational Statistics, 2007).

The $212 million in grants that went toward education in Minnesota in 2006 is not a small chunk of change (source: Giving in Minnesota, 2008 Edition, a report of the Minnesota Council on Foundations).  However, when comparing $212 million to $7.6+ billion,* one does wonder what kind of impact grant dollars can make when it’s “out-billioned” several times over.

Unfazed by the funding differential, Minnesota grantmakers are asking, “What if every student in Minnesota had the opportunity to realize his or her educational goals?”

Achievement, opportunity and access gaps abound, and the road ahead looks daunting. But, through initiatives big and small, long-term and short-term, these grantmakers are investing in changing the trajectory of student success by building on the body of research, promoting effective practices that impact academic outcomes, engaging and empowering stakeholders, influencing policies, and leveraging resources.

We talked to funders about why they fund what they fund and how it’s creating opportunities to innovate, change and sustain in education.  What they had to say is featured in our summer issue of Giving Forum, a publication of MCF.

Their initiatives are making sure children don’t enter school already behind, preventing students from falling further behind, and preparing students for post-secondary education. They’re investing in those closest to the student – parents, teachers and liaisons. They’re leading efforts to expand the meaning of “education” beyond the K-12 classroom to include perseverance in college, out-of-school time, early childhood mental health, opportunities for immigrants, and home visits for first-time parents in rural Minnesota.  And they’re laying the foundation to create change through public policy engagement.

This issue of Giving Forum also includes a commentary on how Minnesota funders can impact educational effectiveness, data on education giving trends in Minnesota, a look at Minnesota’s two top education funders – Target and General Mills, and a compilation of education resources.

The investment by Minnesota grantmakers is helping each and every Minnesota student in ways that not even $7.6+ billion can.

- Chris Murakami Noonan, MCF communications associate

*While the $212 million in grants includes support of higher education, student services and other related education areas, I didn’t research total public-sector spending on early childhood or post-secondary education or all the other areas that feed into education, so this is not a true apples-to-apples comparison, and thus the “+” that accompanies the 7.6. If I was a research expert and this was a blog on research, this apple-to-orange thing might bother me more, but I’m sure you’ll roll with my numbers as I try to illustrate a point.

Other Posts Related to Education: New McKnight Focus: Literacy by the Third Grade, Making It Real, Even on My Day Off, A Data Nugget is Worth 1,000 Words

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