Join MCF and the Minnesota Council of Nonprofits for Allied for Action: Bridging Differences for the Greater Good, November 1 & 2 at the Saint Paul RiverCentre. This two-day event will bring together nonprofit and philanthropic leaders intent on working together on behalf of a new Minnesota. Join us for mold-breaking plenaries, interactive breakouts and productive dialogues, where we all will learn how to harness the power of our differences and truly work together toward a greater good.

Visit the conference website for a sneak peek at what’s in store for you and 1,400 of your nonprofit and grantmaker colleagues, and then get registered! Keep checking back as we’ll soon be announcing speakers, breakout session details, exhibitors and more. And follow all the conference conversations from now through November on Twitter with the hashtag #allied4action.

We’ll see you there!

According to Cole Nussbaumer, people analytics manager at Google, we’ve taken the first step in presenting our data, not the last.

Nussbaumer believes Excel and other number-crunching programs have made it very easy to create very bad graphs.  She suggests we step back and answer some basic questions before we make a pie — like we do before we bake a pie.

Here’s a quick summary of the process she walked us through at a meeting of the Grants Managers Network last week. For much more, check her website at: www.storytellingwithdata.com.

Answer some questions.
These are the sorts of questions we ask before writing an article, but this step is often skipped when creating visuals.

• What story are you trying to tell with your data?
• Who is your audience? What do they need to know?

Determine the right type of graphic to tell your story.
Goal: Make it easy for your audience to understand the data.

• Bar charts are good for categorical data and are easy to read.
• Line graphs are good for plotting continuous data over time.
• Pie charts are difficult to interpret — use with care.

Eliminate clutter.

• Much of what your spreadsheet program adds to your chart should be stripped away by you, including everything that muddies your message. This might include, unnecessary color, 3D, grid lines, backgrounds, etc.
• Use Gestalt principles (color, size, intensity) to cut items with no informative value. What remains should help tell your story.

Draw attention where you want it.

• Use certain attributes (color, size) to direct your audience’s attention and provide a visual hierarchy of information.
• Don’t use color to make your chart colorful — use it draw the eye to important data.

Tell a visual story.

• Use text to give context, title, label and help you tell your story.
• Align text at the upper left of your chart, as that’s how we read.

Practice makes perfect.

• Seek feedback from colleagues, especially from those less familiar with the data.
• You will likely need to repeat these steps, several times, until you get a visual that truly tells your story.
• Realize that your spreadsheet program may make it difficult, but not impossible, to get this done.

- Susan Stehling, MCF communications associate

Photo cc AlyssssylA

Rachel Hart

One of the services MCF offers to grantmakers is supporting peer learning networks, including the Minnesota chapter of Emerging Practitioners in Philanthropy (EPIP). Rachel Hart, EPIP-Minnesota member and community affairs specialist at H.B. Fuller Company, joins us today to share insights from this network’s recent conversations.

As a young professional in philanthropy, keeping up with the more seasoned professionals in the local grantmaking scene can seem daunting. In typical Millennial fashion, many of us want to bypass the grunt work and establish ourselves as experts right away, but it’s important to remember respect and experience don’t come overnight.

There are numerous sure-fire ways to build experience such as joining professional associations, connecting with a mentor in the field, going on informational interviews and simply asking questions. Honing in on a few key ideas may help you focus your career building plan to seem more manageable. Here are some we identified at last month’s EPIP-Minnesota networking lunch:

• Find other young professionals. Connect with other fresh-faced professionals in the field as a way to learn from those who are at the same stage in their careers. They are a safe audience to say “I don’t know that yet” or to share a ‘light bulb’ moment that may seem obvious to others. Although the Twin Cities philanthropic community is refreshingly nurturing, finding a supportive group to learn and grow together makes the journey seem less lonely.
• Budget your career-building time and resources. Once you know how much time you’re willing to devote to enhancing your skills, it makes setting realistic goals more manageable. Whether it’s talking to your employer or looking at your personal time and finances, it’s important to understand your limits and potential.
• Have a network to hold you accountable. Anyone can set a goal, but it means nothing unless you actually follow through. Having accountability by sharing career goals with others makes them real and motivates you to work that much harder to reach them.

If you’re an emerging professional in the philanthropic community, just itching to build your experience and meet others in the same boat, consider connecting with the budding and welcoming members of EPIP-Minnesota. We are brimming with ideas, and are currently engaged in a series of discussions like this one based on Trista Harris and Rosetta Thurman’s book How to Become a Nonprofit Rockstar.

Lue Her

As part of his Archibald Bush Leadership fellowship, Lue Her has had an opportunity to visit with and learn from fellow Hmong-Americans around the country. Not surprisingly, he has found that complex issues continue to plague Hmong-American communities.

But he has been surprised to see that few in the community realize that many of the challenges facing its members could be addressed if Hmong-Americans had their own philanthropic vehicle to leverage financial, intellectual and cultural assets — assets that Her believes exist within the Hmong-American community now.

Hmong-Americans have long participated in a variety of traditions and practices that presume donations of time, effort and money, but for many the concept of giving back through philanthropic channels remains foreign — possibly because they have not been invited to contribute.

To remedy this, he is embarking on an endeavor to create a new Hmong Community Foundation. Read more about what he envisions for the new foundation in the “Voices in Philanthropy” section in the spring issue of Giving Forum on community philanthropy.

- Susan Stehling, MCF communications associate

Seventy-six percent of Minnesota nonprofits saw an increase in demand in 2011 and 82 percent expect an increase in demand this year. (Nationwide, 85 percent of nonprofits saw increased demand in 2011 and 88 percent expect a demand increase in 2012.) At the same time, 67 percent of Minnesota nonprofits have 3 months or less of cash on hand, and 88 percent don’t expect their financial outlook to get any better in 2012.

Many Minnesota nonprofits also report they cannot have open dialogue with funders about a variety of topics, especially financial issues. While 50 percent reported they can have open dialogue about program expansion, only 26 percent said they could dialogue openly about facility needs, 23 percent for operating reserves. Just 11 percent felt able to discuss building reserves. Twenty-seven percent reported they could not have open dialogue with funders about any of the listed options.

Join the conversation: How can funders help nonprofits build their own financial safety net?

- Anne Bauers, MCF research manager

Image source: Nonprofit Finance Fund, State of the Sector Survey, 2012

Nominations are sought from nonprofit and foundation leaders, academics working in the field of nonprofit management, public policy leaders, financial advisors, and business leaders. A panel of judges with broad and deep experience in philanthropy and community service will select one winner who has generously given his or her time, talents and money for the betterment of communities in Minnesota.

Launched in 2010, the Engaged Philanthropist Award is designed to promote philanthropy in Minnesota and recognize innovative and effective philanthropists who are truly engaged in their communities. Past recipients include John Larsen, trustee of the John Larsen Foundation and original funder of Project 515, and Win Wallin, former Medtronic CEO and founder of Wallin Education Partners.

The award winner receives $2,500 to be given to a nonprofit organization of his or her choosing.

Deadline for submitting nominations is 5 p.m., May 18, 2012. Nomination forms are available here (pdf). Information contained in the nomination form will not be released without permission.

The winner will be announced the week of June 25, and an award ceremony will follow at the Engaged Philanthropy Conference (EPCON) on August 23.

Social Venture Partners Minnesota invests its partners’ charitable donations of time, money and expertise in social entrepreneurs who are looking for ways to solve complex social problems in the areas of early childhood development, academic achievement, access to post-secondary education, and developmental opportunities for youth.

The Minnesota Community Foundation has for over 60 years mobilized resources and acted as a catalyst to enrich lives and create vibrant communities where all people can find hope and opportunity in Minnesota.

• Paul Maeker for Questions from the Future of Minnesota, a kid-friendly format for intercultural and interfaith dialogue about the future of our state.
• Margaret Michaletz’s United by History, an idea to record the oral history of individuals who migrated to Steele County over the past 75 years.
• Fatuma Mohamed’s idea for the Hidden Pearls 7-Step Summer Challenge,  an initiative with a group of young, female, Minnesota Muslims to break stereotypes.
• Ellen Kennedy and Margo O’Dell for a “Tents of Witness: Genocide and Conflict” exhibit that would share the stories of thousands of refugees living in Minnesota.
• Jim Rettew’s Multicultural Barn Raisings, which would bring people of different faiths and backgrounds together to build up their communities.

Your Turn to Vote

The Minnesota Idea Open will launch statewide voting May 15. The top three vote-getters will be awarded $15,000 to help implement their ideas, while the two runners-up will each receive $5,000. Voting takes place online, by phone and at several select in-person locations, including a sneak peek voting session at the MayDay Parade on May 6.

Have a good look and pick out your favorites now, then stay tuned to www.mnideaopen.org for voting details!

Native Youth Leadership Alliance Fellow Amy Stiffarm

Today we welcome to the blog Susan Buckles of MCF member Northwest Area Foundation. She shares a glimpse of one of many programs to be featured at this year’s Grassroots & Groundwork conference.

The majority of people in many Native American communities are 18 years old or younger, which presents a prime opportunity to capture the energies and ingenuity of up-and-coming leaders. The Native American Youth Leadership Alliance (NYLA) has designed a dynamic fellowship program to tap this potential and help build a new generation of change agents capable of mobilizing communities for deep and lasting impact.

NYLA Fellows include people like Johnny Buck, a student at Northwest Indian College focusing on Environmental Studies.  His vision is to apply what he’s learned in the Fellowship to revitalize tribal language and culture in his home village and ultimately to benefit all Tribal Nations. Similarly, Amy Stiffarm, a student at Salish Kootenai College in Montana, is studying to be a naturopathic physician. Her vision is to improve Native health through prevention.

Founded in 2009, NYLA is building a movement of empowered young leaders capable of inspiring positive development in their communities. The NYLA Fellowship provides inter-generational and collaborative leadership training for young leaders to apply their visions.

This program, one of the very few of its kind serving Native American communities, will be among many presenters at Grassroots & Groundwork: Working Together to Reduce Poverty and Build Prosperity, sponsored by Northwest Area Foundation.

Held June 6 – 8, Grassroots & Groundwork is a national conference designed to showcase both tested and emerging models and tools being used to help low-income populations get out and stay out of poverty. To learn more and register, visit www.grassrootsandgroundwork.org.

Minnesota’s children are on a winning streak. Three major federal grant awards will provide a combined $88 million over the next five years to improve our state’s early learning systems. Governor Dayton is showing a new level of commitment to our youngest citizens by creating a Children’s Cabinet and an Office of Early Learning.

At the meeting today, participants:

• discussed how to best take advantage of the momentum created by these milestones,
• reflected on how audiences’ perceptions of early learning have evolved and
• began development of new strategic messages to move their work forward.

If we are to create a second Minnesota Miracle, there is certainly much work to do, but there was some agreement on next steps at today’s session.

WHO: Most agreed that there are important audiences that must hear the message, from the governor, to legislators, to legislative candidates to the general public (voters, parents, caregivers and seniors).

In addition, there must be champions in the business, education and funding communities. Representatives from these audiences and beyond were present today.

WHAT: Again — there was consensus on the high points.

• All agreed that messaging must start with the science of brain development: child development — particularly from birth to age five — is a foundation for a prosperous and sustainable society.
• The next step involves making a strong business case for why we must do the work now: today’s children are tomorrow’s workforce, and Minnesota must compete in the global marketplace to remain relevant.
• The cost of doing nothing is far greater than the cost of investing in effective early learning for all of our children.

HOW: This was the toughest question put to today’s group — there were many ideas, but perhaps less agreement on which should rise to the top. Here was some of what I heard:

• Identify the assets and connections in the room and determine how they can best be put to work.
• Create a unified message with a unified and specific call to action.
• Put energy into convincing civic leaders — who will then bring the general public along.
• Get parents to take this cause on as their own and demand effective early learning experiences for their children.
• Motivate our leaders to make this a priority and come to view it as a part of their legacy.

What do you think it will take for our state to create a second Minnesota Miracle? Do you think it’s a goal worth aiming for?

- Susan Stehling, MCF communications associate

But MCF’s Giving in Minnesota research indicates that arts grant dollars have decreased 19 percent from 2004 levels. (Decreases between 2005 and 2008 were due in part to the conclusion of capital campaigns by several major arts organizations. But the drop in 2009 giving was primarily driven by decreases in giving to arts, culture and humanities by many funders.) And Americans for the Arts notes in the National Arts Index (PDF) that nationwide, giving by individuals, foundations and corporations declined 21 percent between 2007 and 2008.

Given the importance of the arts to life in Minnesota, and the challenges of procuring arts funding in our post-recession environment, building arts audiences is critically important. The Wallace Foundation recently released Building Arts Organizations that Build Audiences (PDF) to explore how it can be done. Their top tips:

• Understand audiences and figure out strategies to “meet them where they are.”
• Involve the whole organization in audience development.
• Create a culture that embraces experimentation and learning.

John Holden, an associate at the British think tank Demos, notes that today is a time when audiences want in varying degrees to “enjoy, talk and do.” The evolving environment challenges arts organizations to make smart and cost-effective decisions about strategies to attract and retain audiences, sustaining practices that work and modifying or dropping those that don’t. It also challenges organizations to change themselves in ways that encourage risk-taking, innovation and learning.

Join the Conversation: How do you build audiences for your arts organization? What techniques have been effective? What has been less successful?

-Anne Bauers, MCF research manager

Photo cc Michael Ging