Fortunately, here at Minnesota Council on Foundations we track all this information for our grantmaker members and the nonprofit community.

Today I’d like to talk about Giving Memo, our enewsletter for the nonprofit community. It’s one of the best ways to stay on top of all of this information, and best of all, if you’re subscribed, it’s delivered free every other week to your inbox. It’s kind of like the helpful staff member you didn’t know you had, ready at hand to provide you with need-to-know information about foundation and corporate giving in Minnesota, and much more.

Giving Memo Sums Up the Latest on Minnesota Grantmaking

The entire team here at MCF receives hundreds of emails, tracks dozens of news sources and scans more than a hundred Google Alerts to keep up to date on news from, for and about grantmakers in our state. We share those updates with you in the “Minnesota Grantmaker News & Notes” section of Giving Memo.

Giving Memo Updates You on People to Know

Have the staff members at one of your current or potential funders changed? MCF is often the first to know. Regardless of whether there’s an official press release, MCF collects information daily about staff and trustee changes. We  share these updates in the “People” section of Giving Memo.

Giving Memo Features New Grant Opportunities

Have the grant deadline or proposal criteria changed? What new opportunities are on the horizon? MCF maintains comprehensive databases of Minnesota grantmakers and grants. We share upcoming grant deadlines, grant updates and new grant opportunities in each edition of Giving Memo.

(And for even more detailed information, you can subscribe to Minnesota Grantmakers Online.)

Giving Memo Offers Even More

In addition to these features, Giving Memo frequently includes:

• Job postings from grantmakers and nonprofits
• Updates on the latest research on grantmaking by MCF and others
• Insights on effective fundraising
• Programs from MCF and our nonprofit allies that help you stay informed and improve your skills.

Giving Memo is Yours and It’s Free (but You Need to Sign Up*)

Clearly, Giving Memo is a pretty amazing resource. So, are you signed up to access this awesome new employee? If you’re not, you can sign up online now by filling out this short form. If you have friends or colleagues who would enjoy this resource, send them an email with this link.

- Cary Lenore Walski, MCF web communications associate

*Please note that MCF never shares or sells your information. That would be mean.

In its July 2010 Nonprofit Current Conditions Report, the Minnesota Council of Nonprofits (MCN) says that “Reduction in revenue was the defining effect of the recession for nonprofits.”

The report notes, however, that nonprofits conveyed a sense of “cautious optimism” about their economic stability for the first time since MCN began conducting the biannual survey of Minnesota nonprofits in 2008. Still, revenue challenges remain at the forefront.

According to the report, in the first half of 2010, 53 percent of nonprofits reported a decline in total revenues, which is 8 percent lower than December 2009 and the lowest this survey has ever reported.

Regarding foundation giving in particular, 53 percent of nonprofits reported a decline in revenue from foundations (compared to the first half of 2009). In comparison, 16 percent reported an increase, and 32 percent reported grants stayed the same.

What Makes Successful Grant Applications, According to Program Officers

All this being said, it’s more important than ever,  several program officers of Minnesota Council on Foundations (MCF) members advise, that nonprofits seeking foundation funding invest in learning how to do their homework and successfully preparing their grant applications.

Specifically, here is what staff at three family foundations recommend to nonprofits:

Fund development capacity is only as good as the organizational infrastructure in place to support the effort.

Use every possibility to have direct contact with foundation staff. The building of relationships is critical.

This is not an overnight process. Fund development requires time, building relationships and establishing trust.

Follow all foundation instructions, and remove funders from general mail solicitation requests.

The new reality has created a situation where outcomes are more important than ever, and those outcomes need to be directly aligned with the program goals.

The outcomes cannot simply be communicated through stories.  While foundations understand the importance of the emotional connection to stories when nonprofits are trying to raise money, in this economic time, grantmakers need to see data that shows the program is working on a broader level than one or two people’s lives.

In grant applications, communicate how the program is using evidence-based strategies.

In site visits, marry story with data; the data tells the funder the program is working for the majority of the participants and getting the desired results, which can then be illustrated through one personal story.

Focus attention on asking for money from foundations whose grant criteria match the mission of the nonprofit (without having to do too many writing gymnastics to make it work).

Think long-term; building solid long-term relationships is more important than short-term fixes and obtaining immediate funding.

Nonprofits should not feel that they are supplicants.  Instead, they should present themselves as partners in the betterment of the community.

Say thank you after receiving a grant. It is astonishing how many organizations do not.  Use the time immediately following receipt of a grant to get to know a donor; this is a “safe” and happy time, and a great chance to just engage as partners in the work grantmakers and grantees are doing together. It is hard to feel a real partnership with an organization when the only time it contacts the foundation is when it wants money.

Learn More From Funders

To learn more directly from funders, attend one of MCF’s Grantseeking for Beginners one-day seminars. In addition to learning all the basics – from researching relevant funding sources to developing strong and effective grant applications, during a grantmaker panel discussion, get invaluable insight into the proposal review and decision-making process.

MCF’s next Grantseeking for Beginners is Thursday, Aug. 19, at the Minnesota Landscape Arboretum in Chaska. Sign up by Aug. 12 to save $30 off the registration fee.

Grantmaker panelists on Aug. 19 are:

• Marcia Fink, director, meeting basic needs impact area, Greater Twin Cities United Way
• Denise Mayotte, executive director, The Sheltering Arms Foundation
• Mike Newman, vice president, Travelers Foundation
• Joanne G. Walz, community philanthropy officer, The Minneapolis Foundation

The next seminar is Nov. 9 in St. Paul.

If you can’t make the seminar, but want to learn more about a resource that can help you do your grantseeking homework on funders and explore how to diversify your revenue sources, check out Minnesota Grantmakers Online, MCF’s searchable database of 1,400 funders and 100,000 grants.

You could also check out our previous blogs on “Funding Insight Directly from Funders” and “The Next Best Thing to Having Coffee with a Program Officer.”

- Chris Murakami Noonan, MCF communications associate

In fact, the study says that 58 percent exceeded the minimum distribution requirement by at least 5 percent of their average investment assets.

The larger payouts are continuing into 2010, the Foundation Source also notes, reporting in May that it was seeing a 15 percent increase in grantmaking among its clients.

“Ninety-nine percent of all family foundations are under $100 million,” says Foundation Source President Andrew Bangser. “These generous foundations represent more than half of all foundation giving in the US, nearly $16 billion in 2007. … The data shows that most family foundations have not limited their giving to the minimum amount required by the IRS. And small and midsize family foundations stepped up dramatically in this tough economy to assist a wide variety of people, organizations and causes.”

Foundation Source provides support services for more than 900 private foundations across the U.S. representing $4 billion in foundation assets.

To learn more about the study, view it online on the Foundation Source’s website, or read about it in the Chronicle of Philanthropy.

-Chris Murakami Noonan, MCF communications associate

In this new reality, Minnesota foundations and corporate giving programs are looking inward at their own operations and capacity, as well as outward at the communities they support, to expand their impact and turn a stiff-sounding, fuddy-duddy word like ‘philanthropy’ into a hotbed of creativity and change.

Our spring issue of Giving Forum highlights several Minnesota grantmakers engaging in innovative work.

“We view philanthropy as a community activity, rather than an individual one,” explains Trista Harris, executive director of Headwaters Foundation for Justice, a community foundation that relies on fundraising to secure resources to support its own grantmaking. Her organization has intensified its focus on donor organizing and engagement, identifying groups of people who want to make a difference and working to help them do that together.

“People connections are what sustain our major, long-time donors,” Harris says. With a small staff, Headwaters needs to be mindful of how it spends its time and energy. For instance, if its staff is making presentations standing up in front of a room of donors, is this the most effective way to help build community or is it just conveying information? “We need to figure out how we build relationships among people with similar interests and then how we enrich those relationships.”

Last fall, Headwaters invited donors and nonprofits to tour the Central Corridor Light Rail Transit Line. Harris explains that this was a tangible way to connect donors with organizations that were putting their contributions to work. Donors want to see their dollars in action moving ideas forward.

Kevin Walker, president and CEO of Northwest Area Foundation, believes that shaping public policy has the biggest leverage potential for philanthropy. “My exhortation to our sector as a whole is that we all have a responsibility to think about public policy, not just good programs on the ground,” he says. “I hope all funders ask themselves, ‘Given the issues we care about, what are the public policy dimensions, do we have an opinion about those dimensions, and are there organizations that we ought to strengthen because we think their perspective needs to be heard?”

As Northwest Area Foundation focuses on better public policy approaches to addressing poverty, it is looking to build community leadership and strengthen the capacity of advocacy organizations that can frame and push forward an agenda that helps low-income families make ends meet.

The Hugh J. Andersen Foundation family members are conscientiously and strategically working to involve younger generations in their work. The enthusiasm and commitment of the next generation is integral to the family foundation’s future.

Sarah Andersen, board president, acknowledges some of the challenges family foundations will face as they bridge generations. Perhaps the main issue is how the generations define community. “My generation defines it more geographically – where we live. Supporting the neighborhood food shelf may be important to us. The next generation is much more global. What’s important them may be on another continent,” she says.

In addition, as more family members move to other communities, “How do we as a foundation that currently defines itself geographically, focusing on the St. Croix Valley and St. Paul areas – and that emphasizes that we support ‘community’ – address the challenge of only having one or two trustees living in the area where the foundation makes its grants?” Andersen asks.

Addressing these challenges will require innovative approaches by family foundations.

Our spring issue of Giving Forum also spotlights the innovative, energizing work of Aveda Corporation, Sunrise Community Banks, HRK Foundation, Best Buy, West Central Initiative, Mark and Charlie’s Gay Lesbian Fund for Moral Values, and Minnesota Community Foundation and .The Saint Paul Foundation.

Also in the issue, Susan Taylor Batten, president and CEO of the Association of Black Foundation Executives, challenges the philanthropic field to advocate and innovate for diversity, inclusivity and equity to foster leadership reflective of the communities it serves.

To read more about how Minnesota foundations are reinventing their giving by engaging a broader range of people and organizations, increasing the participation of those currently involved, and searching for more impactful investments in community, visit mcf.org to read the spring issue of Giving Forum.

- Chris Murakami Noonan, MCF communications associate

The free report, entitled How Do Web-based Tools Fit in Your Communications Strategy?, can be downloaded from the GrantCraft website after registering.

The report breaks down the popularity of certain tools, and it includes a wealth of one-liner anecdotes about how grantmakers have used online technology to connect more effectively. According to the report, four of the most popular ways of using web-based tools to connect with stakeholders is through online surveys (55%), followed by online videos (34%), social networking (32%) and webinars (28%).

The report cautions that, although online technologies can be well-suited for engaging those in rural communities, grantmakers should keep in mind bandwidth issues that may limit access to online media, especially video and webinars.

Finally, keep accessibility issues in mind when considering online communications. Some groups don’t have access to the internet at all.  And persons with disabilities and others are often under-served when sites are not made accessible with new adaptive technologies.

If you’re investigating web-based tools for your organization, check out GrantCraft’s  “What’s a Wiki Anyway?” page.  It has a list of different tools and services grantmakers reported using in the survey, and links to learn more.

Join the Conversation: At the MCF ComMotion Network meeting, members discussed how they’re using social media and other technologies to engage their stakeholders. If you’re a grantmaker, what new technologies have proven useful to you? If you’re a nonprofit, what’s been your experience with grantmakers using new communications tools to evaluate grants or to communicate with you? Please share your thoughts by commenting on this post.

- Cary Lenore Walski, MCF web communications associate

Grantseekers report that differing grantmaker requirements for financial information represents one of the most challenging and cost-intensive components of grant seeking. The first guide, Grant Budgets and Financial Reporting pdf, provides recommendations for grantmakers to decrease the financial reporting requirements for nonprofits.

The second report, Online Applications and Reporting pdf, provides insight on technological and procedural best practices for maximizing the efficiency of a grantmaker’s online application technology. A supplemental report that assesses seven different vendors on the criteria identified in the report will be published later this month.

To learn more about Project Streamline and to sign up to receive notification of future resources like these, visit projectstreamline.org.

How is this new reality affecting funding and grantseeking? How can nonprofits access insight directly from those who review grant applications and make funding decisions?

Drawing on its connections with grantmakers who account for nearly $900 million in grants each year in Minnesota, the Minnesota Council on Foundations has encapsulated grantmaker knowledge and insight into its Grantseeking for Beginners seminars to help nonprofits learn what makes a proposal rise to the top, get noticed and get funded in an era of intense competition for extremely tight resources.

A group of corporate grantmakers and family, private and community foundations recently shared these nuggets of advice for grantseekers:

• “Those who are able to convey their message the best will win out in a tighter grant reality.  Poorly written applications will not get noticed, and grant funders may no longer be as accessible to work with groups to help them improve their application.”
• “I would encourage collaboration and research to avoid duplication.  In a tighter funding reality, grantmakers will be looking closely at the amount of collaboration between organizations and seek to ensure that there is as little duplication of efforts as possible in the grants that they award.”
• “Don’t assume ‘same as last year’ when it comes to a foundation’s contact information, focus or funding guidelines. Many foundations have made internal changes, tightened budgets and changed processes.”
• “Prepare and educate yourselves on the funder. Visit websites first; don’t call with questions on information that can be found online.  Use that information to your benefit to show you have educated yourself. Organizations need to do homework.”

If you’d like to learn more directly from funders, attend one of MCF’s Grantseeking for Beginners one-day seminars – we’re offering four this year, including some in greater Minnesota.

First up is 9 a.m. to 3:30 p.m. Wednesday, March 3 in St. Paul. Sign up by February 25 to save $30 off the registration fee.

At this session, learn all the basics – from researching relevant funding sources to developing strong and effective grant applications. See the proposal review and decision-making process from grantmakers’ points of view during a grantmaker panel discussion featuring:

• Emma Mogendorff, Senior Community Relations Specialist, Thrivent Financial for Lutherans
• Patrick Troska, Senior Program Officer, The Jay and Rose Phillips Family Foundation
• David Nicholson, Program Director, Headwaters Foundation for Justice

If you can’t make the seminar, but want to learn more about a resource that can help you do your grantseeking homework on funders, check out Minnesota Grantmakers Online, MCF’s searchable database of funders and grants.

Over the next three years, the foundation will focus on three primary factors that address the root causes of poverty:

• Employment – helping people secure employment and attain living-wage jobs
• Education – improving education and training for tomorrow’s workforce
• Housing – ensuring access to safe and affordable housing

“We’re concerned about the increasing numbers of people struggling to care for themselves and their families in these tough economic times,” said Amy Crawford, executive director of the foundation. “We’re interested in investing in efforts that help people in poverty acquire the tools they need to succeed and create more stability in their lives, which can ultimately lead to healthier communities.

She added, “This approach carries on our founders’ mission to address the unmet human and social needs of individuals, families, and communities that have the least access to resources.”

The new strategic direction reflects the foundation trustees’ desire to have greater impact on the most pressing local issues, as well as to strengthen the family members’ grantmaking in their home communities.

Earlier this week, the trustees approved the highest payout percentage in the organization’s history to direct as much support as possible to community needs. This will enable the foundation to commit a significant portion of its grantmaking budget to exit grants for select grantee organizations that do not fit the new funding focus.

In addition, the foundation will continue to honor the legacy of its founders by supporting several long-time grantees that are combating discrimination and advancing equality for all.

New grant guidelines and application deadlines will be announced in December.

The Jay and Rose Phillips Family Foundation is a private foundation that continues the family tradition of sharing resources for the public good while exercising leadership and flexibility in responding to emerging community needs. Since 1992, the foundation has invested in more than 700 nonprofit organizations, helping those with the least access to resources reach their potential and lead healthier, more productive lives. For more information, visit http://www.phillipsfnd.org/.

Application deadlines vary. For more information, consult the press releases listed here:

• Initiative Foundation
• Northland Foundation
• Northwest Minnesota Foundation
• Southern Minnesota Initiative Foundation
• Southwest Initiative Foundation
• West Central Initiative

While the theme was noticeably less bleak at the 2010 briefing, held Jan. 29, 2010, than it was at the 2009 program, panelists cautioned that times are still tough and will remain so for the foreseeable future. No one, though, is throwing up their hands at a loss for what to do.

Joining Harris as panelists this year were: David Etzwiler, executive director, Medtronic Foundation; Kevin Walker, president and CEO, Northwest Area Foundation; and Kate Wolford, president, The McKnight Foundation. These four foundation leaders shared how their organizations are faring in these still-turbulent times, their predictions for 2010 and strategies for the road ahead.

Headwaters Foundation was founded to create systems change rather than charity. Harris portrayed its efforts as “going up to the roof to fix the leak rather than putting a bucket under it to catch the drips.” These times of great basic needs have been particularly hard for organizations doing systems-change work. She called for foundation boards to have a balanced “portfolio” that includes not only grantmaking with clear, known outcomes, but to stretch their organizations by taking some risks. “If we can’t take risks and we don’t want failure, we’re going to be in the same place. … Sometimes grants fail or don’t turn out the way anyone planned, but we’ve learned something. Going back to only those things that are predictable and comfortable is not the way to go, because that hasn’t been enough to get us where we need to be.” She concluded her comments with hope, saying, “Anytime the economy tanks the way it has, we’re reminded that ‘those people over there with their issues’ can be any one of us.’ This situation we’re in right now will move us toward a much better state and country.”

At Medtronic, leadership is increasingly asking the hard questions and responding to the hard questions being asked of them. Etzwiler said these include: “What’s changing? Are we just looking to get the bucket in the right place or are we getting up and fixing the roof?” In addressing these, Medtronic is expanding its view of philanthropy to include corporate social responsibility and a three-pronged approach: community responsibility to support needs such as those addressed by United Way, Minnesota Food Share and others; relationship building that is engaging Medtronic employees and leveraging the immense skill base that those employees can bring to communities; and shared values, which is involving some risk-taking on the part of the company in areas where, as Etzwiler explained, “The company believes we not only have a responsibility to play a role in a solution, but lead toward a solution.” He gave the example of sudden cardiac arrest. “We’re going to put ourselves out there and tell you what we think change is going to look like over the next few years in a few communities where we think we can have great impact. To the extent we miss those endpoints, we’re going to let you know and tell you why.” He concluded, “We’re much better off now than we were a year ago. … We have no choice but to think that, with radical, well-thought out thinking and innovation, we can have a positive impact on the current situation.”

Wolford of The McKnight Foundation shared how her organization has had to weigh the dramatic roller-coaster ride of the stock market, its effect on assets, the incredible needs being felt now with a mandate that the foundation exist in perpetuity. Even with tight resources, Wolford said it is important to McKnight that it continue to support existing efforts and strategies, but not close itself off from new organizations and new ideas. In these lean times, McKnight is increasingly exploring opportunities to leverage resources in ways that have broader impact and work across silos. It’s important that we all assess “what are we best positioned to do to make a difference not only with immediate impact but in the long term?” Wolford explained. She concluded by saying that, “This year will be tough, because of the state budget situation and the elections, but we need to think about moving pieces forward. This may not be so much about money as about ways of doing things and positioning for the years ahead. We need to try to instill new ideas and use strong, reliable data to guide decisions. … Foundations also have a responsibility to contribute to the civic debate.”

Walker of the Northwest Area Foundation outlined the factors contributing to his organization’s current reduction in giving. “Flat is not the new normal for us,” he said. The foundation is maintaining its focus on reducing poverty and creating sustainable prosperity by leveraging its funding. Walker defines this as “making sure our dollar pushes other dollars in a direction in pursuit of our mission.” Their approach includes developing leaders, engaging in public policy and catalyzing important conversations. The foundation is also exploring ways to put larger chunks of its funding base to work via program-related and mission-related investments. Walker agreed with the other panelists that each foundation needs to have a funding portfolio that includes both safe bets and efforts that require higher risk tolerance, but he cautioned, “There are dumb risks and there are smart risks. I support foundations taking well-informed, smart risks that other sectors aren’t going to be able to take. That’s our privilege and our responsibility.” He concluded by saying, “Hopelessness should never become an American trait. There will be setback as we try and figure our way out of this trough, but with each passing year, the outlook will get brighter.”

- Chris Murakami Noonan, MCF communications associate