Rural Development: Philanthropy’s Secret to Success

July 27, 2010

At Philanthropy Potluck we love featuring the outstanding work of our MCF members.  Here’s a recent West Central Blogger post written by Kim Embretson, West Central Initiative vice president of development.

How do you create success in rural communities? A small group of foundation leaders from all over the nation have been tackling this question. They have discovered that when you combine the features of economic development, community development and philanthropy you unlock the secret to success.

Often rural community leaders struggle alone trying to build the systems that will make their community successful. Eight years ago, four community foundations all working with rural economic development were brought together as part of an Aspen Institute learning community. They discovered a common thread of activities that influenced the success of rural communities. They decided to work together to help rural communities all over the nation.

West Central Initiative, The Nebraska Community Foundation, The Humboldt Area Foundation in California, The East Tennessee Foundation, The Black Belt Community Foundation, The Aspen Institute Community Strategies Group, The Center for Rural Strategies, and North Carolina Rural Economic Development Center have formed the Rural Development Philanthropy Collaboration steering committee. They have been able to compare years of experience working with successful rural communities to collect the most effective actions that lead to success.

The Rural Development Philanthropy is no longer a secret. Now the core documents are available for anyone interested in the success of their rural community at http://www.wcif.org/?page=Publications#RDP.  Learn how your rural community or region can benefit from combining economic development, community development and philanthropy.

Grant support from the Ford Foundation, California Endowment, Rockefeller Brothers Fund and the community foundations on the steering committee has helped underwrite the cost of meetings and materials to date.

Visit West Central Blogger for more regional community foundation news.


Capacity, Culture, Commitment and Comfort: Finding Public Policy Strategies That Fit Your Foundation

July 20, 2010

How much change can a foundation catalyze by simply – albeit generously – writing checks? Not as much as it could if it also engaged in public policy activities. In fact, public policy work should be viewed as an essential part of a foundation’s efforts, say several members of the Minnesota Council on Foundations.

In our Summer issue of Giving Forum, “Public Policy and Philanthropy: Many Roads Lead to the Same Destination – Change,” John Larsen, trustee and administrator of the John Larsen Foundation, says, “Ultimately, the work of our foundation is about creating real, systemic change, and that can only happen when we start talking to government. Whether you’re a small family foundation like us, or a very large foundation, we all need shifts in public policy in order to achieve really significant lasting social change.”

The challenge is that working to achieve shifts in public policy is often equated with lobbying. And the thought of walking up the steps of the Capitol or testifying before a legislative committee is more than many funders can fathom.

Lobbying, however, is not the sole avenue to influencing public decision making and advocating for causes. Although it is the most recognized public policy engagement tactic, it is only one of 18 distinct policy strategies that Julia Coffman outlines in “A User’s Guide to Advocacy Evaluation Planning,” published by the Harvard Family Research Project.

A “Framework of Public Policy Activities,” which we include in Giving Forum, also includes using electronic outreach and social media, coalition and network building, grassroots organizing, briefings and presentations, polling, pilot projects, research investigating issues and identifying solutions and policymaker education, among others – all of which can impact public decision making, which ultimately shapes policy development, approval and implementation.

A foundation can engage anywhere along the continuum, pursuing those activities that fit its capacity, culture, commitment and comfort levels. A public policy activity that feels right for one foundation may not fit another.

Many foundations choose a combination of strategies, leveraging their resources to: raise awareness of where the public stands on particular issues; bring together divergent points of view to first converse then collaborate; empower community members to advocate on their own behalf by providing technical assistance; increase the capacity of nonprofits to mobilize others; identify messages that resonate with policymakers and the public; determine what would happen if the status quo was allowed to prevail; aggregate what is known already about an issue and put that to work to further discussion; or identify possible solutions and best practices.

These MCF members have each chosen distinct strategies to impact public decision making that fit their capacity, culture, commitment and comfort level. Read more about their work in our just-published Giving Forum:

Lead article:

Southern Minnesota Initiative Foundation: An outgrowth of its grantmaking and programmatic activities, community dialogues and business loan work, SMIF’s public policy activities, including building coalition and networks and partnering with the media to draw attention to the issues and how public policy could impact the success the foundation seeks.

The Minneapolis Foundation: As part of the School Readiness Funders Coalition, a group of funders with diverse strengths and abilities in advocacy work, The Minneapolis Foundation brings to the group its ability to lobby and testify at legislative hearings to advocate for the coalitions “Agenda to Achieve Learning Readiness by 2020.”

John Larsen Foundation: When awarding grants supporting work toward LGBT equality, the foundation  considers if educating policymakers is an end goal of the nonprofit’s work and if the organization has a research plan and a track record of communicating those findings to policymakers.

Indian Land Tenure Foundation: Striving to ensure that lands within the original boundaries of reservations is acquired, owned and managed by Indians, the foundation views education about land issues a priority, as well as identification then pursuit of strategies for achieving legal reform.

Women’s Foundation of Minnesota: The explosion of social media has created a new landscape for the foundation to leverage its expertise to educate, engage and broaden its reach to shift attitudes, behaviors and institutions that limit equality for women and girls.

Voices of Philanthropy articles:

Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation: Identifying partners best qualified to successfully implement strategies and measuring what’s important to guide future initiatives drive the foundation’s advocacy work.

Initiative Foundation: Based on the belief that local people are the key to strengthening communities, the foundation increases civic engagement by providing training, technical assistance, resource referral and grants to help citizen-based teams develop and carry out strategic plans.

While these efforts are diverse, the common thread amongst them is the recognition by these foundations that strategically developing goals to influence public decision making and intentionally engaging in public policy activities and advocacy work can move systems change forward.

- Chris Murakami Noonan, MCF communications associate


Northwest Minnesota Foundation Grant Targets Tobacco, Exercise and Nutrition

May 25, 2010

Improving the health of an entire region is not an easy undertaking, nor does it happen overnight.  But supported by a grant from the Northwest Minnesota Foundation, several communities in northwest Minnesota are working together to make healthy living an easier choice.

The $25,000 grant was awarded to Polk County Public Health for the Northwest Minnesota Health Improvement Project.

According to the Crookston Times:

The NMF Community Connections grant will supplement the work of three community health boards – Polk County Public Health, Quin Community Health Services and Norman/Mahnomen Public Health – that together applied and received funding for the Statewide Health Improvement Program (SHIP) designed by the Minnesota Department of Health to help communities address tobacco use, physical inactivity and poor nutrition.

The Community Connection Program funding will be used to build new coalitions, strengthen networks and change organizational practices and policies in eight Minnesota counties – Kittson, Mahnomen, Marshall, Norman, Pennington, Polk, Red Lake and Roseau. Overall, the project aims to institute long-term, sustainable changes addressing obesity and tobacco prevention in school, worksite, healthcare and community settings.

In the Crookston Times, Sheri Altepeter, NMF grant coordinator, explained that the groups are working together to make the healthy choice the easy choice.   “This means having access to physical activity, nutritious foods and avoiding exposure to tobacco,” she said.  “It will take time and effort to decrease costly chronic health conditions associated with obesity, inactivity and tobacco use.  The Statewide Health Improvement Program will result in longer and healthier lives and lower health care costs.”

This post is based on the Crookston Times article, “NMF awards PC Public Health $25,000 grant,” posted on May 14, 2010.

Visit the NMF website nwmf.org for more information about its grants and programs.

Our summer issue of Giving Forum will highlight other public-private partnership initiatives led by Minnesota grantmakers. Please use the “Comment” field to share your ideas!

- Chris Murakami Noonan, MCF communications associate



Civic Engagement Lives: Duluth-Superior Rallies for Google Fiber

March 31, 2010

Webmaster’s Note: Today we invited MCF member Holly C. Sampson, president of the Duluth Superior Area Community Foundation, to share how her foundation engaged in a community-wide effort to woo Google.

This past month marked an exciting time for our community. Google announced that it would bring ultra high-speed internet to at least one U.S. community prior to year’s end. The announcement sent more than 600 communities nationwide into a flurry of activity to persuade Google their region was best suited for this project. Duluth-Superior was no exception.

Within a few days of the announcement that the Twin Ports would vie for the effort, Duluth Mayor Don Ness plunged into Lake Superior to show Google we meant business. He also asked our residents to rally together online and in person. And guess what? The community responded.

By week’s end the Facebook page surpassed 15,000 fans. Multiple events took place within the community. People uploaded videos and photos, and they shared their excitement about what this project could mean for the region.

At the Duluth Superior Area Community Foundation, we quickly got involved. We really felt the Google Fiber Initiative was consistent with our Community Leadership efforts to build a creative economy and our Attracting and Retaining Young Adults Initiative. Our response included writing an editorial voicing our support and sponsoring one of the contests showcasing entrepreneurship in our community. We’re also in the process of uploading a video that applauds the community-wide effort to bring in Google Fiber.

This process has really reminded us of how exciting it is to be part of a grassroots movement that could enhance our overall community. The excitement was contagious – statewide and nationally.

Governor Pawlenty proclaimed March 26 “Google Twin Ports Day.” U.S. Senator Al Franken voiced his support in a comedy sketch. And of the 600-plus communities vying for Google, Duluth’s Mayor Don Ness was chosen to accompany the mayor of Sarasota, Florida, on CNN’s morning show to discuss why our community should be chosen.

While we won’t know for months if Duluth-Superior will receive Google Fiber, I think the one thing we do know is that civic engagement is alive and well in the Twin Ports!

- Holly C. Sampson, president, Duluth Superior Area Community Foundation



Bringing to Life the Buzzword “Leverage”

February 15, 2010

Over the past year, as I’ve been writing for various publications of the Minnesota Council on Foundations and reading extensively on philanthropy, the word that’s rising to the top more and more is “leverage.”

Dictionary.com defines the word several ways, but the most relevant to philanthropy are:

  • The power or ability to act or to influence people, events, decisions, etc.; sway.
  • The use of a small initial investment, credit or borrowed funds to gain a very high return in relation to one’s investment, to control a much larger investment, or to reduce one’s own liability for any loss.

Kevin Walker, president and CEO of Northwest Area Foundation, has described “leverage” the most vividly. At MCF’s 2010 Outlook Program for Minnesota Grantmakers and Nonprofits on Jan. 29, as part of the panel discussion, he said leveraging is “making sure our dollar pushes other dollars in a direction in pursuit of our mission.”

As part of my research for our spring issue of Giving Forum, which will focus on innovation in philanthropy, I am reading the annual reports of several MCF members. The 2009 report of West Central Initiative (WCI) was filled with stories of how it is leveraging its funding in the nine counties and 83 communities the foundation serves in west central Minnesota.

Among the highlights:

  • WCI’s Community Organizing and Visioning Grant was joined with a variety of public and private funding to energize stewards in Bemidji, Alexandria and Fergus Falls to create “destiny statements” envisioning the future of their communities and measurable goals to achieve.
  • WCI is acting as fiscal host, grant writer and coordinator of the Early Childhood Dental Network, which has grown into a regional effort to combat a deficiency in access to oral health care.
  • Gap financing – such as that provided to local entrepreneurs, including TFC Poultry in Ashby – is supporting job creation and business establishment and expansion in rural Minnesota.
  • WCI used its expertise to help community organizers map out a fundraising effort and create the Pelican Rapids School Fund to raise and administer funds when the school levy referendum failed and the school district faced dire cutbacks.

These are energizing, motivating and inspirational ways WCI is bringing to life the concept of “leveraging” – using its resources to push other resources as WCI pursues its mission in greater Minnesota.

– Chris Murakami Noonan, MCF communications associate