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Fluff Free Fundraising
From Access Philanthropy
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MARCH 2022
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LOTS OF PHILANTHROPY JOBS, LOTS OF FUNDER NEWS, AND TWO SURVEYS ON SPECIAL DONOR COMMUNITIES
Sixty years ago, when student anti-war and civil rights movements were forming on U.S. college campuses, many student leaders of those movements were young folks who learned and refined their leadership skills in high school math clubs, cheerleading squads, chess clubs, film societies, school newspapers, student councils, and sports teams.

Folks like Freeman Hrabowski (math club), Tom Hayden (school newspaper), Bella Abzug (student council), and Reverend Martin Luther King, Jr (debate team) carried their high school leadership skills to their colleges, and then to the broader national and world stages.

Just as we support young folks emerging as community leaders in the professional world, we must support students who are assuming leadership at all levels of high school activity. Someday soon, they will be taking on larger community issues, such as education reform, racial equity, health, community development, and criminal justice. Let’s make sure they have self-confidence, plenty of skills, and all the resources they need.
In This Issue of Fluff Free Fundraising

Yes, it's a long one this time. In fact, your email be truncated. If that happens, be sure to select   "View the Entire Message" at the bottom.

  • Funding Notes: Grant Deadlines, Announcements, and Focus
  • Grantmakers Leadership Updates
  • Interesting Reading in Philanthropy
  • AP Survey Results
  • Fundraising Toolbox: Tips and Links
  • Survey Says… New Research on Donors of Color
  • AP Insights: Philanthropy In Flyover Land?
  • The Russia Ukraine Debacle and Philanthropy
  • Job Opportunities in Philanthropy
  • RAISE A GLASS!
JOB #1: Access Philanthropy Managing Director Position
Our friend Matt Ladhoff, who worked with the 3M Foundation and the Wallin Scholars before coming to AP as Managing Partner, has decided he really likes working with clients more than management. So Matt is returning to life as a Senior Advisor and AP will find another great manager who can train and innovate our fast-growing organization.

See the linked Job Description. We’re open to both full-time and part-time candidates. We strongly welcome applications and inquiries from candidates identifying as LGBTQ+, women, BIPOC community members, and people with disabilities. We also welcome retiring folks who want to continue meaningful work. 
This position offers a lot of opportunities and chances to stretch your organizational muscle. AP is a for-profit organization. We have 24 crew members, including writers, advisors, and researchers. We have 28 clients and eight pro bono/fiscally sponsored organizations. We’re eager to work with innovative, talented folks who are committed to serving our nonprofit clients.
Funding Notes
WCA, now a signature fund of the Minneapolis Foundation, is most concerned about supporting women over 18 years of age. Their next deadline is May 2, 2022, with a $10,000 to $30,000 grant range.
Northwest Area Foundation is shifting some of its resources to Grantmaking on Justice. Along with the increased focus on justice, the foundation is increasing and reaffirming its commitment to work more closely with its grantees, especially those working in the diversity, inclusion, and equity arenas.
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Together Women Rise (formerly Dining for Women) is a national, chapter-based organization of women’s giving circles, including one in Saint Paul. In addition to a name and branding change, the group has also hired a national Executive Director and refined its grantmaking focus. Despite the changes, Together Women Rise is still all about support for women & girls, working in the following areas:
  • Education and vocational training.
  • Improved women and girls’ health, including physical health, Emotional /Psychological Health, Maternal Health, Sexual/Reproductive Rights.
  • Economic empowerment.
  • Clean water, sanitation, and healthy environment.
  • Improved food security, regenerative agriculture, and nutrition.
  • Human trafficking: prevention, rescue, and reintegration.
  • Leadership training, and
  • Advocacy for policies that promote gender equality, peace, and security.
April 24th Letter of Inquiry deadline, $35,000 to $50,000. Local chapters also award grants.

Emerson Electric, which awards lots of small grants all over the Metro Area, recently pledged an additional $200 million in charitable giving over 10 years focused on education equity in St. Louis and other communities. According to a company official, this geographic focus includes the Twin Cities. 

Starbucks Foundation recently announced a major funding increase for its Origins funding program, which they hope will support one million women worldwide by 2030. The foundation is keeping its Neighborhood Grants program, which annually awards about $5 million to 2500 groups.
Connie and Steve (former Microsoft Exec and owner of LA Clippers) Ballmer of the Ballmer Group have upped their ante on gun violence with $18 million in anti-gun violence grants and a promise for more. The foundation focuses on national groups and local funding for Los Angeles, Detroit, and Washington State. They also have several new program officers.

Mackenzie’s List. Ms. Scott continues to surprise and delight. If you haven’t heard, read about her $13.5 million gift to Twin Cities Habitat for Humanity and visit her blog, which includes a comprehensive list of her grants.

Related: Los Angeles based LAPA Fundraising offers these insights to “applying” for Ms. Scott’s funding, including her giving trends.
Leadership Updates
Ms. Foundation for Women has announced its new Vice President for Grantmaking and Capacity Building, Ellen Liu.
 
AP welcomes Senior Program Officer Kathryn (Katie) Wehr to the McKnight Foundation’s Vibrant & Equitable Communities Program.

Sauer Family Foundation welcomes Sheri Hixon as a Program Officer for Building Strong Family Relationships: Prevention and Intervention in Child Welfare.

The California-based Christensen Foundation recently hired Carla Fredericks as its new CEO. Ms. Fredericks is an enrolled citizen of the Mandan, Hidatsa and Arikara Nation of North Dakota, and one of the first Indigenous women to lead a major foundation. Two other women who paved the way are the most recent CEOs of Minnesota’s Blandin Foundation – Kathy Annette and Tulear Palmer.  
Articles of Note

Ciresi Walburn Foundation recently published an online booklet on closing Minnesota’s academic opportunity and achievement gaps – We Know What Works, Why Don’t We Take Action?


Inside Philanthropy, one of AP’s favorite philanthropy publications, has been doing some great analysis of the funding landscape. But they’ve also had a couple of interesting “top funder” lists, such as:

Grassroots LGBTQ+ Funders:

  1. Astraea Lesbian Foundation for Justice
  2. Groundswell Fund
  3. Horizons Foundation
  4. Third Wave Fund, and a favorite of ours
  5. Arcus Foundation

A weekly series on the status of American philanthropy in different giving areas, such as Theater. Interesting trends, news, and leading funders.
 

The Chronicle of Philanthropy recently released its survey of the top 50 donors for 2021. Some interesting takeaways on the list from The Hill:

  • Giving to racial justice and racial equity organizations was down compared to 2020 levels. This was also the case for other “front burner” issues like misinformation in the media and political division.

  • Nearly 86 percent of donations went to colleges and universities, hospitals, foundations, and donor-advised funds.


A new Conference Board survey says 94% of corporate funders say they will either increase or maintain their current level of charitable giving. This figure doesn’t include the growing amount of giving/investing in community development and corporate sponsorships. Corporations are still our favorite go-to for increased giving to Minnesota nonprofits.


TERM LIMITS FOR FOUNDATION PROGRAM OFFICERS?

A recently retired Hewlett Foundation staffer makes the argument for why there should be term limits for foundation program staff. Hewlett keeps staff positions to eight years and Daniel Stid agrees wholeheartedly. Read his piece in Philanthropy Daily.

If you’re a foundation looking for a great user-friendly website template, go no further than Minneapolis’ Pohlad Family Foundation. We applaud the Foundation’s efforts to make things simple for users.
AP SURVEY RESULTS
Who among our readers has virtual volunteer opportunities?

In the last Fluff Free Fundraising letter, we asked you to tell us about your virtual volunteer opportunities.

For years, Grantseekers told grantmakers that the only way they’d receive a grant was if a corporate employee was on their board of directors. However, that's changed since the pandemic and more nonprofits are creating virtual volunteer opportunities for their employees: Mentors, fundraising, connecting with isolated constituents, and even teaching classes or workshops.

Here at AP, we wanted to learn more about this engagement model, so we asked you, and here's what we learned:
Do you have Virtual Volunteers?
28
50%
35.7%
14.3%
Responses
Yes, we have them
No, but we'd like to
They wouldn't be appropriate for our organization
A few of you emailed to tell us more:
   
"..We've had virtual tax preparation services for Hennepin County residents with low incomes"

" ... Our teams of students make a video and send them to our volunteers to be reviewed for awards.... We are also having "in person" events but employers don't want to encourage volunteering in large events."

"... We have virtual board members"

"... We had a grant writing assistant for a year who was quite useful.
Nonprofit Storytelling – BrookGlobal, a for-profit fundraising support group, has a great website section on the importance of nonprofit storytelling and the types of stories nonprofits need. Worth a read.

Nonprofit Tech for Good offers a free online seminar April 12, How to Host a Successful Hybrid Fundraising Event. Nonprofit Tech for Good webinars are well-received by our clients and crew.

Another Nonprofit Tech for Good Offering -- 10 Online Fundraising Best Practices for Nonprofits. This is the fifth in the series of Best Practices for Nonprofits. 

The Racial Equity Resource Directory, recently published by the Wilder Foundation and the Bush Foundation, is a searchable directory of racial equity programs and training providers that can help your organization combat racism and increase cultural competence. 

How to Hire More Fundraisers of Color – The Chronicle of Philanthropy recently posted a how-to piece on hiring more fundraisers of color. An important read. 
THIRTY MINUTES FREE WITH ACCESS PHILANTHROPY CREW MEMBERS

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
SURVEY SAYS…DONORS OF COLOR
AP’s researcher Laura Wilson took a looked at the research Donors of Color Network recently released: Philanthropy Always Sounds Like Someone Else: A Portrait of High Net Worth Donors of Color, and summarized the results for us:

Donors of color are an expanding and historically underrepresented group of philanthropists whose potential remains largely untapped among nonprofit organizations representing all types of racial and ethnic groups.

Because of institutional barriers and cultural traditions, these donors tend to hold differing perspectives and priorities that can be a driving force across philanthropic sectors, especially in advancing systemic equity.

The Donors of Color Network was recently established, with the mission to create a formalized and impactful network of donors of color. They collaborated with The Vaid Group and Radiant Strategies to publish a report this year based on interviews with 113 donors of color to better understand their backgrounds and motivations. Some key takeaways include:

  • Nearly all of the interviewees experienced racial or ethnic bias.
  • More than 80% built their wealth themselves, with many attributing their success to their community mentors.
  • Most donors felt a strong connection to philanthropy, through family, culture, or religion.
  • Nearly 80% gave money back to their families, naming such giving as a personal priority.
  • Many donors wanted their donations to contribute to long-lasting, systemic reform with particular focus on education, community building, and impact investing.
  • Many donors also sought to promote diverse representation and visibility in philanthropy.
  • Though membership in formal philanthropic networks isn’t common, membership in civic, professional, and other organizations is.
  • Lack of diversity within organizations is a major negative factor for donors considering gifts.

The co-authors of the report, Ashindi Maxton, Urvashi Vaid, and Hali Lee, told The Chronicle of Philanthropy ways that established nonprofits and foundations can capitalize on the potential impact of donors of color:

  • Pay attention to their donor base demographics.
  • Check their biases.
  • Intentionally hire fundraisers of color
  • Take time to sit down with current and potential donors to understand underlying motivations and build stronger relationships.

These steps can ultimately aid in diversifying philanthropic representation, while recognizing and utilizing the unique ability of donors of color to power systemic, institutional change.

Going further into the subject, Laura delved into Women Give 2022: Racial Justice, Gender and Generosity., a recently published report by IUPUI’s Lilly Family School of Philanthropy.

HOW DOES GENDER AFFECT GIVING TO RACIAL JUSTICE CAUSES?
Support vs Actual Giving

This report examines how gender and demographic factors affected giving to racial justice causes in 2020, such as Black Lives Matter, Say Her Name, and others.

It is the first study exploring attitudes towards the 2020 racial justice movement through a gender lens – examining who is giving, how much, and how that relates to various demographic variables. Among other things, the report finds that:

  • Significant portions of the general population (42%) and nearly half of single women (48.2%) supported the 2020 racial justice protests.
  • A much smaller portion of the population (14.2%) actually donated money in support of racial justice. Black, LGBTQ+, and younger households demonstrated greater levels of support for protests and were more likely to give money to racial justice organizations.
  • Around 1 in 4 households (23.5%) supported racial justice in some form in 2020, including both financial and non-financial measures of generosity. Single women were more likely than single men to take action by donating to political candidates who support their views on racial equity issues.
PHILANTHROPY IN FLYOVER LAND?

AP is constantly on a quest to convince funders who only fund on the East and West coasts (aka bicoastal funders) that there really is a Minnesota, and we have more than lakes and the Mayo Clinic. Once they find Minnesota, many funders are open to giving, but not always consistent in their support for local groups.

An example:
Bank of America (a MN banker!) recently honored five leaders creating change for communities of color. All five are great leaders doing great things. But we wonder why all five are based only on the East or West Coast – no heroes between Atlanta and Fresno?

On the other hand, the Annie E. Casey Foundation recently awarded its twelfth class of Children and Family Fellows, who will use their 21-month fellowship to work
“within their agencies, organizations and communities toward specific, measurable improvements for large numbers of young people and families.”

Seven of the 15 fellows live somewhere between Ohio and New Mexico. Fellows include Minnesota’s Kimberly Stubblefield
Assistant Deputy Director, Corrections, Ramsey County, Minnesota (Congratulations, Kimberly!)
So does flyover country really have great human service people, but few inclusion heroes?
Maybe we’re cynical, but this stuff drives us to keep pushing MN people and groups to the forefront of national philanthropy. Right now, AP has six clients moving into the national funding arena. We couldn’t be happier to support their work and their national ambition.
THE RUSSIA UKRAINE DEBACLE AND PHILANTHROPY
 
Not much that we can report that you don’t already know, but here are two things worth sharing from a philanthropic perspective:

  • Cryptocurrency – according to some of our friends in international philanthropy, cryptocurrency is about the only way that donors and funders can easily transfer money into Ukraine and Russia for anti-war protestors. Evidently, people have been using cryptocurrency because it’s easier to pass through legal restraints and easier to move. Next month, AP’s Laura Wilson will be publishing an article in FFF on crypto and philanthropy.
  • Russia has been a particularly difficult place for American foundations to work. The Russian government often boots out American foundations working on civil society or the environment. Read about the MacArthur Foundation’s  experience making grants in Russia.

ELON MUSK ON PHILANTHROPY
Musk told a reporter that he cares more about the outcomes, not optics, of philanthropy, making it harder for him to give away money "effectively." "If you care about the reality of doing good and not the perception of doing good, then it is very hard to give away money effectively, I care about reality. Perception be damned."
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. With few exceptions, we only include foundations, corporate giving programs, and related grantmakers.
This month, we’re finding lots of good local jobs. Visit the Minnesota Council of Foundations Jobs Board and a bunch of environment/climate jobs. The resource of the month is the Association of Black Foundation Executives job site.

VIRTUAL AND OTHER VOLUNTEER ISSUES

National nonprofit volunteer organizations like VolunteerMatch have been talking about the serious problems now facing organizations that depend on volunteers to operate. One organization estimates the number of volunteers has shrunk nearly 80% since pre-pandemic. Other surveys say there are three big problems facing volunteer-based groups:
  • The price of gasoline at $4.25/gallon limits people who work for Meals on Wheels and similar organizations.
  • Schools are waiving or eliminating the requirement that students volunteer for a local charity as part of their graduation requirement.
  • One in three volunteers say they have paused their volunteer work due to concerns about contracting Covid-19.
  • Some volunteers are limiting virtual volunteer work due to limited Internet access.
  • As one example of the Impact Of COVID-19 On Volunteering, read the survey Volunteer Maine and other local groups published last year.
RAISE A GLASS!
At age 12, Freeman Hrabowski III joined the 1963 Birmingham Children’s Crusade and had the distinct experience of having Sheriff “Bull” Connors spitting directly into his young face.
Thirty years later, Dr. Hrabowski was inaugurated as the President of the University of Maryland, Baltimore County, an urban, predominantly Black-serving campus. Within a few years, UMBC was receiving several national awards for “up and coming” colleges, “most innovative” colleges, and “best STEM colleges.”

In addition to his UMBC presidency, Dr. Hrabowski chaired the National Academies, sat on several presidential commissions, received honors from Carnegie Corporation and others, and wrote several books on education and the need for STEM education for inner city kids.
This month, Dr. Hrabowski retires as president of UMBC. So when you join your college friends for a drink (for the first time in two years!), lift a glass to Dr. Hrabowski and thank the universe for spirited educationalists and great STEM educators.

Know someone who could use fluff free fundraising information? Know someone who could use a good FREE chat with a group of great fundraisers (including you, maybe)? Drop a note 4info@accessphilanthropy.com.

Best to you.
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