Mary Anne Welch

In all 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 need 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 see the article 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.

The Nonprofit Finance Fund is a NYC-based national nonprofit finance organization, awarding loans, making investments, offering consulting services and workshops, and occasionally offering grant opportunities via other grantmakers. Recently, the Fund published two great grant/loan tools:

• First, How to Craft Your Organization’s Financial Story. These days, your financial story is probably the most important document you can get a funder who’s not familiar with your work. It’s critical messaging in a way a funder can understand you.

• Second, Cashflow Projection Template:. Cashflow projections are essential documents for determining how much working capital an organization needs to maintain or build to manage the low cash points in the year.

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Bloomerang, the maker of donor management software, has put out a book with 42 questions that promise to lead you to building trust with your donor base and persuading donors to become involved with your organization. Link to the pdf

October 2023

Opportunities

• Request for Proposals for Strengthening Native Programs & Feeding Families Grant
• Robert Wood Johnson Foundation’s Pioneering Ideas: Exploring The Future To Build A Culture Of Health grant will Fund ideas that address any of these four areas of focus: Future of Evidence; Future of Social Interaction; Future of Food; Future of Work. 
• Women’s Foundation Rest-Up Grant
• GrantsforUS.oi/ Minnesota 

Awards:

• The NBA Foundation awarded 40 new and renewed grants in the latest grant round to help drive economic opportunity and empowerment in the Black community.
• Joyce Foundation: Latest Grants: August 2023
• Northside Awesome Fund is a Minneapolis Foundation HEREsMLPS honoree

From The Chronicle of Philanthropy

Summary:

1. Don’t apply for every grant out there
2. Focus on the future
3. Try to get meetings at conferences and through email introductions
4. In proposals, start with the larger narrative about why your charity exists, what its big dream or vision is, how you want to achieve that, and how you’ve done that so far. Provide context beyond the duration of the grant.
5. Look at every element of the proposal with the lens of that particular funder, and make sure that you’re making the strongest case possible to them.
6. Demonstrate resilience by explaining how you’ve handled uncertain times in the past.
7. Ban the boilerplate – tailor each application to address the specific ecosystem that the grant maker cares about.
   Write for skimmers.
8. Use A.I. to streamline to help with tasks such as organizing and editing your proposal or finding facts for your statement of need. But be aware of potential misinformation and privacy concerns.
9. Spell out your organization’s “why.”
10. Plan your responses carefully. Most applications are now online, but it’s best to download the questions and take time to think about them before responding.
11. Put the spotlight on your community.
12. When speaking about the people your group serves, make sure to do so in a respectful and meaningful way.
13. Be honest.
14. After you get a grant, stay in touch with the program officer.

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