November 11, 2020
Well, that part of that part of the 2020 craziness is over, or almost over. Now, back to our regularly scheduled, but screwed up 2020 programming.
Imagine thinking that getting back into the middle of a pandemic is getting back to normal! Year end mailings, next year’s budget, funder reports, and, oh by the way, we have a pandemic. Yep.
Can You Make It to March 2021?
Many mid-sized and larger funders – both local and national are expecting some return to normal funding next Spring. Small family foundation say they never left “normal”, but larger funders:
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Some funders say their rapid response/interim programming and priorities are just that -- interim, place-keepers for something the board and staff will develop by Spring.
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Some funders say they really will have their Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion (DEI) act together and the new DEI principles and practices will be integrated into their past funding procedures and priorities.
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Others funders suspect pandemic funding may not be as urgent as it has been (vaccine-tinted glass wear?) and they will just naturally go back to 2020 Q1 funding practices.
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Finally, many admit their board members (and staff) are just plain tired of all the present madness and will be eager to reach back for some good old days’ philanthropy.
Getting back to some level of normal may be wishful thinking, but if even it’s only somewhat accurate, that means you have just 3-4 months to get back on funders’ radar.
Must Be Present to Win.
Our theme this is year is “You Must Be Present to Win (grants)”. We’ve been chatting with 10-12 funder each week about this “Present to Win” thing. Funders are insistent that you “must be present to them to win grants”. This is what they’re saying to our clients,
Show us you’re here!
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Talk/Write/Call us. We may act offended, but it’s the only way we will get to know you
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Let us know about your group is doing and how you’re handling today
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Tell us things that you know but we don’t
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Get to know us – our people, our priorities and how we do business
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Ask other people to share their respect for you with us
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Don’t ever disappear. Keep yourself in our field of sight
By The Way, Who Believes Getting Back To “Normal” Is So Great?
According to a very simple [1] survey of foundation dollars in Minnesota from 2016-2019,
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3% of MN foundation funds were specifically designated for women and girls
- 3% for people of African descent
- 0.4% for people of Asian descent
- 0.7% for people of Latin descent
- 0.2% for Indigenous communities
- 0.1% for veterans and military
- 0.2% for people who are homeless
- 0.4% for LGBTQI and families
- 3% for people with disabilities
- 0.2% for immigrants and refugees
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3%-7% for rural communities (no Foundation Directory data. Recent survey estimates from other sources)
Tough, but telling stats. So maybe Minnesota philanthropy should be reconfigured from the old “normal” to be more supportive of some of Minnesota’s most vulnerable and beloved people.
Follow-up on AP’s Annual National Funders Workshop
We presented our annual workshop on National Funders in Minnesota last week (Aww, did you miss it again?!) with the Minnesota Council of Nonprofits. Participants received the book, the PowerPoint presentation, two months free subscription to AP’s online National Funders database and virtual coffee.
You can talk to our Database Czar, Mary Anne Welsh about the materials and especially the databases. And you can talk to our Friend to All Living Things, Gail Morrison about 30+ minutes of chatting with AP staff, writers, consultants. The workshop went well. Great group participation!
Funders and People
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Kathleen Fluegel, President of the HRK Foundation, a member of the Saint Paul-Minnesota Community Foundation is retiring at the end of this year.
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Margaret A. Cargill Philanthropies hired Jason Cole as Program Director for their Environment program. Prior to MACP, Jason was Senior program officer at the Gordon & Betty Moore Foundation where he worked on their Andes-Amazon Initiative.
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Mortenson Foundation promoted Danyelle O’Hara expanded her role as Community Relationship Officer to include Strengthening Environmental Systems.
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Joyce Foundation (Chicago) has hired three new staff people
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Quintin Williams, who will oversee justice reform portfolio
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Mia Khimm, who will lead the foundation’s culture program
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Chibuzo Ezeigbo, who will oversee the college- and career-readiness portfolio
Quintin and Chibuzo will be important to Minnesota grantseekers.
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Arcus Foundation (DC) hired Glo Ross as coordinator for the U.S. Social Justice Program.
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JPMorgan Chase wants a MN Community Manager. JPMC is moving into the Metro, they want to know who you know. The job “develops deep relationships within the community… (and) key community influencers such as local advocates, policy and civic organizations”.
Small Family Foundation Deadlines
Small family foundations which have no paid staff usually don’t have deadlines either. However, many do their grantmaking toward the end of the year, when the family is together and their foundation’s fiscal year is ending.
The fiscal year ending is still a thing, but the family get together – not so much. So many of the smaller funders (without staff) are making their grant decisions earlier this year. Three of our favorites are holding their grant meetings on Zoom the weekend after Thanksgiving.
That means, if you want to make sure you get your request to small family funders, you may want to make sure the funder receives your letter or proposal BEFORE Thanksgiving, preferably earlier. Also, because the meeting is on Zoom, you need to make your request and your proposal/LOI much simpler than previous years.
Oh Yeah…
No news from Otto Bremer, yet.
If We Were Gathered Together
Acknowledging the importance of Kamala Harris’ historic victory, we could lift a glass to Shirley Chisholm (born 11/30), the first Black woman to win election to the U.S. Congress. Together, we could thank her for her strong and virtuous shoulders, upon which we now all stand.
[1] Don’t’ bet your doctor’s thesis on these numbers. Data is from the Foundation Directory, but…
