Nonprofit Mission Award for
RESPONSIVE PHILANTHROPY
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Nonprofit
Mission Award for Responsive Philanthropy Criteria:
This award recognizes the partnership
between funders and nonprofits in mobilizing resources
for public benefit. Nominated organizations should:
- Be responsive to
citizen initiatives;
- Recognize public
policy issues and long-term strategies to fight
problems; and
- Commit substantial
resources to disadvantaged people and Minnesota
communities through a process of dialogue and
partnership.
This
award is intended to honor the work of private foundations,
community foundations or corporate giving programs
in Minnesota.
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Finalists
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Read
more about the finalists:
ASIAN
AMERICANS/PACIFIC ISLANDERS IN PHILANTHROPY'S NATIONAL
GENDER & EQUITY CAMPAIGN, Minneapolis
Asian
Americans/Pacific Islanders in Philanthropy (AAPIP) was
founded in 1990 to advance the philanthropic sector and
communities, concentrating on Asian Americans and Pacific
Islanders. AAPIP supports and facilitates capacity building
of Asian American and Pacific Islander organizations through
grantmaking and new approaches to social justice philanthropy.
AAPIP’s
efforts to build a more powerful community infrastructure
and a social-justice movement that is inclusive of Asian
American and Pacific Islander communities is achieved
through their National Gender & Equity Campaign (NGEC)
initiative. From the hearts and minds of Asian American
women activists, AAPIP’s NGEC identified a long-term
strategy to fight oppressions through significant financial
support for community organizations and providing capacity
building that increases community power for social change.
  
Through
a series of conversations with community members, the
National Gender & Equity Campaign initiative has created
a community engagement fund, started in 2008. This fund
has provided $220,000 in financial support, technical
assistance and a joint learning space for 22 local Minnesota
organizations to deepen community engagement. The NGEC
has also designed a fellowship program, which provides
general operating grants of $75,000 a year to 6 Asian
American organizations in the state to increase their
effectiveness, and to further sustain them as social justice
organizations.
With
an investment of more the $1.5 million dollars to Minnesota’s
Asian American communities, NGEC has crafted an array
of stories from the community that capture their needs,
visions, and social change strategies. They have also
developed a database of informal and formal Asian American
groups and made investments in the development of culturally
competent and holistic tools to support community development.
NGEC
has been able to share its frameworks, approaches and
tools with other philanthropic partners nationally and
locally. As a result, Asian American organizations like
CAPI and Center for Hmong Arts and Talent (CHAT) have
been able to further their efforts in advancing social
justice for their target communities.
Visit
Asian Americans/Pacific Islanders in Philanthropy: www.aapip.org
THE
FREY FOUNDATION, Minneapolis
The
Frey Foundation’s mission as an independent, private,
grantmaking foundation is to act as a catalyst in strengthening
its community by investing in a statewide plan to end
homelessness. Established in 1985, the Foundation now
has the combined effort from three generations of the
Frey Family. Through direct giving, Frey Foundation hopes
to promote self-sufficiency and creative change that will
result in community members reaching their full potential
and the quality life for all.
In
February 2006, the Frey Foundation announced they would
commit $5 million dollars over five years to aid the end
of long-term homelessness, which was defined as more than
1 year of continuous homelessness or 4 stints of homelessness
over the course of 3 years. Through involvement with the
Minnesota Business Plan to End Long-Term Homelessness,
the Frey Foundation has allotted $50,000 for general operating
expenses to the Family Housing Fund and Corporation of
Supportive Housing, and $200,000 to the Partners Fund
for distribution through the Partners Fund process. The
Frey Foundation also distributed the remaining $700,000
per year directly to providers, primarily in the Twin
Cities area.
One
unique aspect to the Frey Foundation’s participation
in ending homelessness is its willingness to have others
decide on how and to who their funds should be distributed.
Frey Foundation still continues to allocate the bulk of
the funding themselves, but by the time $10 million is
distributed by the Foundation, $2.25 million will have
been distributed through the Partners Fund. The Partners
Fund is where  members
of the community decide what will work best for their
communities, ultimately opening the Foundation to new
ideas and ways to focus their funding.
In
2009, the Frey Foundation committed a second $5 million
to ending homelessness. However, their contribution to
eliminating long-term homelessness does not only exist
in monetary terms. Jim Frey, co-chair of the Steering
Committee of Heading Home Minnesota, has been instrumental
in bringing other philanthropic and business leaders to
the cause. By speaking at a number of events, his advocacy
and the advocacy from the Frey Foundation as a whole,
has provided the necessary momentum to make homelessness
initiatives gain momentum.
Visit
The Frey Foundation: www.freyfoundationmn.org
WOMEN'S
FOUNDATION OF MINNESOTA, Minneapolis
With
a mission to fund and build the capacity of innovative
social-change programs across Minnesota, the Women’s
Foundation of Minnesota is the first statewide women’s
foundation in the country. As they conduct research on
the status of women and girls in the state, they hope
to further inform their own grantmaking, educate opinion
shapers and policymakers and raise public awareness. Overall,
their mission is directed to achieving equality for all
women and girls within the state.
The
Women’s Foundation of Minnesota’s philanthropy
can be narrowed to three core responses. First, they have
committed to engaging Minnesota citizens in developing
their organizational strategies. Second, they have committed
to funding public policy and social change with multi-year
grants that support long-term strategies. Finally, they
have strengthened their partnerships in engaging grantees
in on-going learning, networking and capacity building.
  
Focusing
on five cornerstone areas, Women’s Foundation of
Minnesota has been able to launch a new focus, “On
the Road to Equality,” engaging potential grantees
in dialogue about their plan, process, and the possibility
of future partnerships. This effort represents a response
to the community that followed the Foundation’s
goals of: creating economic justice for women; advancing
women’s safety and security; guaranteeing women’s
health and reproductive rights; promoting women’s
human rights; and expanding women’s political power.
In
2009, the Women’s Foundation of Minnesota announced
a commitment to multi-year funding as a way to support
long-term public policy and social change efforts. The
Foundation believes that organizations involved in public
policy are in need of long-term funding to sustain efforts
that take significant time. This acknowledgement is found
to be a necessary strategy to achieve the goals of both
the Foundation and their grantees.
Furthermore,
the Women’s Foundation of Minnesota provides support
to grantees through on-going learning, networking and
capacity building. They have provided trainings on board
governance and fundraising, convened discussions about
outcomes, provided grantees with opportunities to meet
their funders, and have presented a webinar for grantees
entitled “Tools and Methods to Measure Impact.”
Through their on-going learning techniques, the Foundation
has built organization’s capacity for serving disadvantaged
people in Minnesota communities.
Visit
The Women's Foundation of Minnesota: www.wfmn.org
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