Fluff Free Fundraising

From Access Philanthropy

____________________

March 2024

In this Issue:

• Webinar announcement
• 3M Foundation closes
• People in Philanthropy
• MacKenzie Scott's and other grant announcements
• More fundraising news
• Surveys and reports
• Fundraiser's Toolbox
• Jobs in Philanthropy
• Raise a Glass

SAVE THE DATE

When: May 14, 1:30 pm

What: Online Workshop: Introducing Your Organization to Funders

Many foundations, especially family foundations, do not have a formal application process and can seem out of reach. Join the Access Philanthropy team as we present:

• How to research these funders
• Writing an affective Letter of Introduction
• How to follow up after sending the letter

For: New fundraisers and those looking to connect with prospective foundations.

Registration will open March 25th. Watch for announcement.

“Going Out of Business” Announcement

3M Foundation (aka 3M Gives) Shuts Down. Future Grants Will Be Awarded Through 3M’s Corporate Giving Program. 

The 3M Foundation was established 70 years ago. It was one of the first corporate foundations in the U.S. and very well respected in the corporate community. For the last 30+ years, 3M corporation has awarded philanthropic grants through both its foundation and a related corporate giving program. 

Historically, the corporate giving program’s grants were more business influenced (STEM, colleges, employees), while the foundation was more focused on arts, human services, and community development. 

In 2021, the corporation shifted the foundation’s giving to also focus on STEM and related fields. At the same time, the foundation announced it was no longer accepting unsolicited requests for funding. Then, when the foundation filed its most recent 990 PF (2022), it reported that it was filing its final report, ending operations and turning over its last year’s funding ($11.4 million) to the St Paul and Minnesota Foundation.

#M's community website reports the company's most recent total giving (2022) for both programs was $31 million ($11 million from the foundation and about $20 million from the corporate giving program). No word on 2023 giving yet. Please note there are also in-kind donations and other types of giving. 

From now on, the corporation will award all its grants and scholarships only through the corporate giving program. We anticipate total 3M corporate giving will decrease in the near future and we wonder if the company may close its giving program for a while. That’s not surprising given the financial problems the corporation has been experiencing for the last few years.

The new 3M CEO, William Brown has experience with corporate giving programs (see the article below ) and may want to reorganize the company’s giving programs. We’ll let you know. 

PEOPLE IN PHILANTHROPY

In our workshops and consultations, AP stresses the importance of developing relationships with foundation personnel, especially in your field of interest. Here are a bunch of new foundation folks you may want to contact.

Two New Minnesota Corporate CEOs with Strong Corporate Giving Programs

3M’s CEO Mike Roman has stepped back. Taking his place is aerotech/defense CEO William Brown whose former company L3Harris Technologies has a few employees in Burnsville. The L3 Harris Foundation has awarded grants to two SW Metro Minneapolis groups focused on robotics and girls in STEM. 

(Also catch the article above about the demise of the 3M Foundation.)

Kraus-Anderson/Engelsma Family Foundation – Another great MN business leader is retiring: Bruce Engelsma, CEO of family-owned Kraus-Anderson multi-company. Bruce has also led the great Engelsma Family Foundation which is supported, in part by KA.  Although technically based in South Dakota, the Engelsma Family Foundation awarded nearly $1.1 million in Minnesota during 2020-2022. Peter Diessner (KA’s current COO, Gustie alum and former 360 Communities board member) replaces Bruce as CEO.

Open Society Foundations - Binaifer Nowrojee has been appointed the new president of the Open Society Foundations (OSF). Nowrojee has held a number of positions at OSF, currently serving as the vice president of Programs. Prior to coming to OSF, she served as legal counsel at Human Rights Watch. She succeeds Mark Malloch-Brown, who held the position for three years and led the organization through a sweeping reorganization. Inside Philanthropy has a bio on Ms. Nowrojee (behind a paywall).

JPB Foundation – Barbara Picower transitioned to President Emerita at the JPB Foundation, in February  as Deepak Bhargava took over as President. Ford Foundation’s Darren Walker gave her a good send off. 

McKnight Foundation has welcomed Muneer Karcher-Ramos as Vibrant & Equitable Communities Program Director. He joins the foundation from the Office of Financial Empowerment at the City of Saint Paul, which he founded in 2019. He also served as staff and board member on several community groups including ARC MN, Headwaters Foundation, MnEEP, St Paul Promise Neighborhood, and Wilder Foundation. This is a critical program for McKnight and we believe Muneer is a great choice to replace Dave Nicholson. 

Headwaters Foundation for Justice’s new Director of Programs is Anitra Cottledge.  She comes with 20 years of experience in higher education, including 6 years as director of UM’s Women’s Center.

Margaret A. Cargill Philanthropies announced five new team members, including International Health Program Officer, Karen Fogg. Look in our Jobs section for more MACP program openings.

Pohlad Family Foundation announced it promoted Susan Bass Roberts to president after she served eight years as the foundation’s vice president/executive director. Prior to that, Susan was at Best Buy Foundation, the Atlanta Falcons, and The Limited Foundation (out of business clothing chain). Susan also sits on the board of Minnesota’s Constellation Fund.

Lots of Other Changes: If you have access to the April 19th edition of the Minneapolis St Paul Business Journal, they have an interesting article on The Power Shift 25, which lists 25 new CEOs in Minnesota nonprofits and for-profit corporations.

Need a sounding board for your development ideas? Need promising new ideas from the philanthropic sector? Need someone to think about the big picture or the day-to-day fundraising stuff? AP crew members offer 30-minute chats for free. Drop a note to 4info@accessphilanthropy.com to set up a time to chat. Email us!

GRANT ANNOUNCEMENTS

Opportunities

Here are a few grant opportunities that AP has come across which may have broad interest.

McKnight Foundation's Global Collaboration for Resilient Food Systems announced two open calls for funding: Agroecology as a Bold Climate Solution, and Agroecology as a Bold Climate Solution. Proposals are due by May 15.

Bank of America Charitable Foundation: Economic Mobility focused on needs of the community (affordable housing, small business, neighborhood revitalization). Applications accepted: 5/27/2024 – 6/21/2024

The Minnesota Department of Administration’s Office of Grants Management lists state grant opportunities and has a great State Grants Overview section.

Minnesota State Arts Board Arts Education Grant (deadline 3/22). While you’re on their website, check out several other state art grants programs.

Blue Cross Blue Shield of Minnesota Foundation announces Health Start, a new funding opportunity (deadline 3/28).

HB Fuller Company Foundation’s: Minnesota STEM and Youth Leadership grant applications are due March 31. $5000 to $10,000. Next deadline is August 31, 2024. Deadline for the company’s other grant program Racial Equity Fund grants is May 31, 2024

Boston Scientific Foundation’s Health Applications grant (5/1 - 7/1). After a few down years, BoSci increased its giving to $2.1 million in 2022, almost a million dollars more than the previous year. The MA based funder continues to prioritize Minnesota grants and focuses on health and STEM. 

This Linkedin Post from Victoria F, lists grant opportunities for activists and journalists working in human rights, advocacy, social justice, protection, women's or LGBTQ+ rights. Some have passed, but good to know they’re out there.

Mama Cash: One of our favorite international-based funders, the Netherlands’ feminist grantmaker's 2024 grantmaking window is now open.

See Me Fund is a social impact fund increasing access to capital for female entrepreneurs, promoting equity and opportunity in their community. They implement innovative and aggressive solutions and prioritize their mission over profit.

Announcements of grantees/ grant news:

When Access Philanthropy is grant prospecting for clients, we look at organizations grantmakers have funded in the past to spot those that look/sound like our client. Here are some grant lists that will help you determine whether this grantmaker is for you.

7 MN nonprofits get MacKenzie Scott Open Call million dollar grants!

The Chronicle of Philanthropy reports the billionaire philanthropist announced 361 winners — 279 that received $2 million and another 82 that got $1 million — that is 111 more organizations than expected. Among them are seven MN organizations: Dream of Wild, Build Wealth Minnesota, OutFront, Gender Justice, CAPI USA, Appetite For Change, and WellShare International (the latter three have been AP clients).

The Bush Foundation has added a new metric to their internal performance scorecard, measuring how quickly they respond to applicants. 

Otto Bremer Trust awarded more than 1,000 organizations over $105 million in grants and program-related investments in 2023, the highest giving amount to date. Now that the whole removal of former Otto Bremer Trust trustee Brian Lipschultz case is resolved, OBT will have more time and energy to return to its great grantmaking programs. Best to you all. 

WCA Foundation: A division of the Minneapolis Foundation, WCA only makes grants for women and girls’ programs. Recently, they awarded $474,000 in funding to 18 organizations. 

McKnight Foundation maintains a database of its grantees on its website and announces when recent quarterly grants have been added to the database of McKnight Grantees. So far only grants awarded for the last five years through 2023 are on the database.

Minnesota’s Legacy and Trust Funds: As you know, the State of Minnesota has a small tax program that supports arts and cultural heritage, outdoor heritage, clean water, parks and trails, and environment/natural resources. Here’s the database of the 27,000 grants awarded for these interests since 2010(searchable by region).

The Northside Funders Group (including several major Metro funders, including Mortenson, Wells Fargo, GHR, Phillips Family, Old National) awarded 12 grants through youth-led grantmaking on Minneapolis’ Northside.

Borealis Philanthropy’s Emerging LGBTQ leaders of Color Fund awards over $2 million to LGBTQ-BIPOC-led organizations

Headwaters Foundation for Justice: announced recipients of the Wellspring Fund, which supports multi-year projects and campaigns within BIPOC-led organizations actively working towards strengthening the ecosystem of social justice movements in Minnesota.

JPB Foundation, a Picower family foundation, announced that it is committing nearly $500 million in 2024 spending, with up to $100 million in new grants aimed at reaching organizations advancing social and economic justice. The foundation and the Pritzkers are becoming one of the most influential social justice funders in America. A grant from JPB means a lot to others. 

The Minnesota Arts and Cultural Heritage Fund announced its 2024-25 grants. Check out this list: Many are the largest and established arts groups, but you might be surprised to find lots of organizations just like yours on the list. 

The Women's Foundation of MN announced $70,000 in Community Response Fund grants to seven organizations.

FUNDRAISING NEWS

IRS data glitch causes problems for nonprofits

From Candid.com:

A widespread glitch in nonprofit data from the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) has caused problems for organizations whose finances appear to be misreported in 2022 tax filings, the Chronicle of Philanthropy reports.

The glitch was caught by an organization viewing its 2022 tax filings on ProPublica, a news site that posts nonprofit tax filings. An unknown number of organization’s 2022 tax forms have both 2022 and 2021 imprinted on them. Organizations such ProPublica and Candid, which post nonprofit tax forms, have been left to untangle an unknown amount of outdated or incorrect 990 forms. The IRS glitch could threaten an organization's chances of landing grants or donations.

This isn’t impacting the images of Forms 990 that appear on Tax Exempt Organization Search (TEOS) on irs.gov. However, nonprofits should check their 990s on the ProPublica and Candid sites. If nonprofits discover an error in their filing, they can upload their 990 form with Candid here, or contact the organization’s customer service department.

Otto Bremer Trustee Court Case Resolved

The Minnesota Supreme Court upheld the Attorney General’s ruling that Otto Bremer Trust’s Brian Lipshultz should be removed as a trustee because “he engaged in a pattern of serious breaches of fiduciary duty, including self-dealing, excessive compensation and spending, creating a hostile work environment, and shifting the focus of the Trust from charitable to financial purposes.” This case has been going on since August 2020, disrupting banking operations, grantmaking operations, staffing, and especially the trustees’ ability to manage the Trust.

JPB Foundation Announces a Shift to Advance Social Movements

After JPB Foundation announced the appointment of Deepak Bhargava as the new president, the foundation also announced its own mission shift to advance social movements. In an opinion piece (4 Essential Shifts Foundations Can Make to Advance Social Movements) in the Chronicle of Philanthropy, they also encouraged other foundations to follow their lead in what they share, in the spirit of John Lewis:

• Place our focus on building power for those historically denied it.
• Invest in organizing and social movements.
• Avoid "issue silos" - they cite a few JPB grantees they say foster intersectional visions.
• Invest in strengthening the infrastructure of today’s movements.

What Is Going On In Racial Equity and Justice in K-12 Education Philanthropy?

A recent spate of news articles and events have centered around the education philanthropy sector. Here’s a run down from Schott Foundation for Public Education, Inside Philanthropy, and Grantmakers for Education.

Schott Foundation for Public Education

Schott worked with Candid to examine K-12 education philanthropy’s grantmaking priorities. Their report and analysis shows both racial equity and racial justice in K-12 education remain drastically underfunded by the K-12 philanthropic sector.  Some key takeaways:

• While public statements from funders show that K-12 education philanthropists understand the need for serious action to tackle structural racism in schools, funding priorities suggest the opposite.
• K-12 education philanthropy’s scant investment in racial justice dropped sharply compared to 2018-2020. The $62 million recorded in 2019-2021—just 0.3% of grantmaking—pales in comparison to the still-meager $105 million (0.7%) in 2018-2020.
• Geographically, K-12 racial equity and justice grants are not properly flowing where students of color are found. Equity and Justice grant recipients are disproportionately concentrated in the Northeast, despite the fact that almost half of all K-12 students, and the majority of all students of color, are enrolled in the South.

Inside Philanthropy 

IP took a look at K-12 grantmaking changes at major K-12 funders and how these changes are impacting grantees. Other shifts among big ED funders:

• In 2022, the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation announced plans to spend more than $1.1 billion over the following four years to improve math education in the U.S. This means that Gates will no longer be funding other ED areas, such as supporting educators, promoting teacher diversity,  and advancing whole child education.
• The Chan Zuckerberg Initiative, one of the country’s largest ED funders, announced that it was laying off staff, cutting its education program, and focusing on education tech tools.
• The Eli and Edythe Broad Foundation announced that since the death of Eli Broad, the foundation has been undergoing a long-term operations/goals review including education.
• Meanwhile, The Ballmer Group is increasing its ED giving. From 2019 to 2023, the foundation provided over $1 billion for increasing education equity, much of that for K-12, including charter schools and community schools, educator diversity and preparation, early education, and college readiness.

Grantmakers for Education (EdFunders)

EdFunders surveyed its 300 members in 2023 for the “Trends in Education Philanthropy: Benchmarking 2023,”  and found that: 

• 57% of those surveyed said their education budgets were going to remain about the same over the next fiscal year
• 28% anticipated an increase
• 14% anticipated a decrease
• However,  GFE’s executive director, Nicole Rodriguez Leach, said: 
• Many of the funders appear to be going through “strategic refreshes'' at the moment, either broadening their funding to take a more intersectional approach, or talking about education in the context of other social determinants of health, wealth inequality, mental health, AI, food insecurity, or affordable housing.
• Other education funders have moved more exclusively into related areas such as early childhood education, where funding is on the rise, and higher education, which enjoys a large and consistent lineup of financial backers.

Got something to share regarding Crappy Grantmaking Practices (CGP)?

One of our favorite philanthropy critics Vu Le who operates the NONPROFITAF.COM blog wants to start calling out foundations publicly and by name who engage in practices that waste nonprofits’ time and energy. 

He offers a few ways to join this movement

1. Look through the examples that define a crappy practice, such as making nonprofits translate their budget into a funder’s budget format, and making a grantee write a quarterly report for a $2500 grant.
2. Fill out the survey (you can be anonymous).
3. Follow the Linkedin group Crappy Funding Practices, where he’ll post the results. In a recent post, he calls out Medtronic and its three funding arms for hiding its grant criteria inside a lengthy online form.

Philanthropy Surveys and Reports



How Do Smaller Foundations Operate?

Exponent Philanthropy, the association of smaller (mostly family) funders, has released a new edition of the Foundation Operations and Management Report, with useful data on Small Family Foundations: statistics on grantmaking, boards and governance, investments, and administration—including salary and benefits. If you are not a member, the report costs $415, but the summary may give you all the information you want.

Institute for Voluntary Action Research recently published a report titled, “Time to end the dominance of short-term grants:  The evidence for multi-year funding.”

Altrata’s Ultra High Net Worth Philanthropy Report 2024

Altrata is a national wealth research organization with 5 different tools, including WealthEngine, that AP uses for wealth screening. Each year Altrata publishes a report on Ultra High Net Worth Philanthropy (UHNW).

Take-Aways from the 2024 UHNW Philanthropy report:

• The ultra wealthy gave a total of $190bn to philanthropic causes in 2022, almost 25% more than in 2018. These individuals, who each have a net worth of $30m or more, account for a prominent and growing share of all individual giving, at almost 38%. 
• The world’s 3,200 billionaires accounted for 8% of all individual giving. There are significant gains to be made by organizations that can tailor their prospecting and engagement strategies to this demographic.
• The ultra wealthy in North America were the source of almost half of all global UHNW donations, giving a total sum of $91billion. UHNW giving in Asia accounted for 13% global share. Although Asia is the world’s second-largest ultra wealth region, its non-profit sector is less developed (but expanding rapidly).
• Donors with a very high affinity for philanthropic giving are different from regular UHNW philanthropists. We find that wealthy women are more likely to have a high affinity for giving. 
• Aside from sports, the top interests of UHNW philanthropists vary considerably among those who give to certain causes. Aviation and technology are the main passions of UHNW donors who give to educational causes. Travel is the major interest to those who give to the arts and culture.
• Almost one in five of all UHNW individuals has a private foundation. This share increases to almost 30% among those UHNW folks with a net worth of over $100m, underlining the growing number and importance of private charitable foundations.
• UHNW individuals with private foundations are generally older, have a slightly higher female representation, and are more likely to have solely inherited their wealth than the average UHNW individual.

Alliance for Early Success highlights the state investments advocates and their in-state partners successfully pursued to improve outcomes for young children and their families in: 50-State Early Childhood Policy Progress and Landscape Report

The Center for Disaster Philanthropy released its tenth annual Measuring the State of Disaster Philanthropy research. Note that the definition of “disaster” is evolving.

A few key findings:

• The report found that of the $157 billion total philanthropic giving in 2021, $3 billion, or 2%, was disaster-related.
• In the U.S., efforts that explicitly served children and youth received 19% funding, followed by 17% for ethnic and racial groups.
• Among issue areas that intersect with disasters, health and human services received the most philanthropic funding, followed by education.
• 2021 giving of the Candid’s Foundation 1000 outpaced 2012-2019.

CCS Fundraising’s 2024 Philanthropy Pulse Report

CCS Fundraising is one of the largest fundraising consulting firms in the United States. They do an annual report on the state of fundraising.

Here are the key findings for 2024:

• Fundraising revenue grew across the board in FY22. However, organizations with larger fundraising budgets saw better revenue performance than that of their peers.
• With donor retention a top challenge, only 48% of organizations reported retaining over half their new donors in the previous 12 months.
• Only about one-third of organizations increased fundraising staff in 2023, but 68% have increased staff pay.
• While fundraiser comfort in using data has increased over the past 3 years, most organizations are not yet leveraging AI technology.

Corporate Social Responsibility Power Players Survey

PoliticsNY spoke to forty 2024 Power Players in Corporate Social Responsibility (both for-profit and nonprofit) about how they define corporate social responsibility and their goals for the coming year. There are a few folks you may want to approach some day, such as CR people from Citi, Wells Fargo, IBM, Pepsico, Prudential, and MetLife. Good to know their language and goals. 

The Chronicle of Philanthropy says there are: "10 Ways to Boost Fundraising and Attract More Big Gifts This Year." It's behind a paywall but we've listed them here.

Blue Avocado is a national nonprofit management and fundraising journal. They often publish interesting articles on fundraising and grantseeking work. From a recent article asking if your choosing the right grants: “Grants are an important source of funds for nonprofits, but some may come with strings attached that can create more headaches than positives for your organization. A strategic approach can help you be sure you’re applying for the grants that best meet your needs.”

About JustFund

• They use a donor-created common application form that’s honored by 173 funders nationwide.
• They also offer users support in understanding questions and filling out the common application.
• They offer free, monthly Applicant Training Sessions (such as April 18, and May 16)

JOBS IN PHILANTHROPY

This is a free job board that AP puts together. Our interest is getting good Minnesota nonprofit folks into good local and national foundation jobs.

• Fred C. Katherine B. Andersen Foundation (MN) is conducting a search for its first President. The 65-year-old foundation provides resources to nonprofit organizations primarily serving the St. Croix Valley geographic region of Minnesota and Wisconsin.
• Borealis Philanthropy (MN) has a number of job openings including two Fund Program Directors.
• The Constellation Fund (MN) is seeking an individual with expertise in employment or housing for the role of Program Officer.
• Margaret A. Cargill Philanthropies (MN) is hiring Program Officers for Disaster Relief & Recovery and the Arts.
• Environmental Grantmakers Association (NY preferred) is hiring an Engagement & Events Coordinator
• Ford Foundation (NY) is hiring a Program Officer for the Andean Region.
• Initiative Foundation (Little Falls, MN) is conducting a search for VP of Economic Opportunity to provide strategic leadership of the Foundation’s Entrepreneurship and Business Finance programs.
• Lever for Change (Chicago) an affiliate of the MacArthur Foundation that connects billionaires to causes (i.e. Yield Giving Open Call), has openings for three associate positions and an Awards Manager.
• The MacArthur Foundation (Chicago) is looking to fill a new position: Cross-Foundation Program Officer, to apply their expertise across multiple subject areas to develop and implement grantmaking strategies.
• Maryland Philanthropy Network (MD) publishes job openings in the social sector, in MD, including this one from The Annie E. Casey Foundation (MD) for a Senior Associate, Employment, Education and Training.
• Minnesota Council on Foundations (MN) is looking for a grants and communications specialist  to maintain its grants systems, technologies and communications, and lend support to internal and external marketing.
• Northwest Area Foundation (MN) is hiring two Program Officers.
• The Open Society Foundation (NY) has six positions open, including Director of Diversity Equity Inclusion and Culture (NY), and Program Director, global south. This position can be based in Amman, Dakar, Nairobi, Johannesburg, Bogota, Rio de Janeiro, or Mexico City.
• Proteus Fund (REMOTE - NY), a premier social justice funder, is hiring a Program Officer for the RISE Together Fund.
• The Rockefeller Foundation (NY) has several openings, including Director of Communications, Policy & Advocacy for the Food Initiative, and Food is Medicine Program Manager.

Other Philanthropic sector Job Boards:

• Minnesota Council On Foundations
• Emerging Practitioners In Philanthropy
• Funders for LGBTQ
• Peak Grantmaking
• Pollen
• Philanthropy Job Board Hub 

In honor of Women’s History month, please raise a glass to Sarah Burger Stearns. She founded Minnesota’s first suffrage organization: the Rochester Woman Suffrage Association, in her home city. In 1881, she was elected the first president of the Minnesota Woman Suffrage Association (MWSA). 

Turns out, a lot of Minnesota’s early suffragist leaders were from Greater Minnesota. Besides Sarah Burger Stearns (Rochester and Duluth), Minnesota suffragists included Sarah Ball Comstock, of Moorhead, Mary Jackman Colburn of Champlin, Gratia Countryman of Hastings, and Mary Graves of Washington County. The MWSA itself was formed in Hastings. Thanks to Turning Point Suffragist Memorial for the great list of Minnesota Suffragists.

SO, WHAT EXACTLY DOES ACCESS PHILANTHROPY

DO FOR A LIVING? 

THANKS FOR SPENDING TIME WITH US.

Need some ideas, someone to talk to about fundraising, or just a fabulous listener/chatter?

4info@accessphilanthropy.com