Nonprofit Mission Award for

Responsive Philanthropy

Blandin Foundation

The Blandin Foundation seeks to strengthen communities in the rural Minnesota area, especially in the Grand Rapids area. They envision a future of healthy rural communities with strong economies where burdens and benefits are shared equally. The Foundation has two main goals. First, they seek to promote the connection between a healthy forest-based economy, a healthy forest ecosystem and healthy communities. Second, they are working to increase high-speed, next generation broadband service throughout rural Minnesota.

Across Minnesota, rural areas are generally underserved, with unemployment rates typically twice the urban and suburban rates. There are also, on average, higher levels of domestic conflict, depression, substance abuse and poor achievement in schools in rural areas, and in Itasca County, where the Blandin Foundation is located. The Blandin Foundation partners with people impacted by these deficiencies by listening to them, engaging them and empowering them, to hopefully improve their economic life and quality of life.

Through its Public Policy and Engagement Initiatives, the Blandin Foundation brings together businesses, organizations and individuals to determine what resources are needed and how best to distribute their assets. They drew on information from this to now focus primarily on forest and broadband.

The Vital Forests/ Vital Communities Initiative guarantees that solutions are shaped by actual stakeholders by ensuring that the board is made up of professionals and advocates who analyze these issues inclusively and then develop the solutions. This approach ensures that everyone’s voice is heard. In 2006, the Foundation leveraged funds for the Forest Legacy Partnership, with a $6 million challenge grant, to purchase conversation easements, which brought in a supplementary $1 million in private foundation money. Since then, they have invested another $7 million and the passage of the Upper Mississippi Forest legislation by Governor Pawlenty has brought in an additional $36 million. As a result, more than 239,000 acres in northern Minnesota have been put into conservation easement. This project will greatly benefit future generations, providing them permanent, public access to the north woods.

On the Broadband Initiative, the Foundation recently delivered four programs to over 40 rural Minnesota communities. This is in addition to their start-up contribution of $250,000 to the statewide broadband project, which raised more than five times that amount in additional support. They are also applying for federal stimulus dollars on behalf of rural Minnesotans to promote broadband access.

The Blandin Foundation is recognized worldwide for its quiet, thoughtful, and collaborative efforts on these major issues affecting many Minnesotans.

Blandin Foundation Web site: www.blandinfoundation.org

Carl and Eloise Pohlad Family Foundation

The Carl and Eloise Pohlad Family Foundation is committed to improving the lives of economically disadvantaged children and youth and positively impacting the quality of life in the Minneapolis/ St. Paul metropolitan area. The organization has three primary areas of focus: programs that support student’s academic achievement and out-of-school activities, organizations that provide services to people in need or enhance the community through the arts, and capital grants to growing organizations. A wide variety of over 100 organizations received support from the Foundation in 2008, totaling over $8 million that was distributed to organizations and programs in the Twin Cities from the Foundation.

In the midst of the recent economic crisis, the Pohlad Family Foundation has stepped up in an unprecedented way, while most others are retrenching. Thus, they are providing much needed assistance to those who are most impacted by the economic downturn. The Foundation recognized that the economic downturn would seriously impact families, organizations and individuals, and so they responded with a long-term vision for the community. One of the steps they took was to pledge $20 million in support of small businesses, improving neighborhoods and maintaining the nonprofit sector. This funding has enabled small businesses to retain employees and secure capital to continue their operations, as well as allowing nonprofit housing organizations to assist families who are at risk of foreclosure or are already homeless. Other nonprofit organizations have also benefited from the Pohlad Foundation as they believe that nonprofits should not have to scale back their capacity to provide services in our community at the same time that the demand for those services is growing. The Foundation has committed $5 million to local nonprofits to retain or add services to meet the growing demand for basic needs in the current economic downturn.

The commitment of the Pohlad Family Foundation has greatly benefited the Minneapolis/ St. Paul metropolitan area and they have helped save jobs and maintain services for those in need in our community, especially during these difficult economic times, since they are one of the few organizations stepping forward. Their philanthropy has provided nonprofits that serve disadvantaged people with the tools to help them meet their most critical needs.

Carl and Eloise Pohlad Family Foundation Web site: www.pohladfamilygiving.org

The McKnight Foundation

The McKnight Foundation makes grants to support children and families, the arts, the environment, region and communities, and specific international and scientific research efforts. They seek to improve the quality of life for present and future generations through grant making, coalition-building, and encouraging strategic policy reform. The McKnight Foundation focuses on Minnesota for most of their grants, and in the past 55 years has granted approximately $1.7 billion. In 2008, the Foundation had assets of about $1.6 billion and granted about $99 million, of which, 69 percent were awarded in Minnesota.

In January 2009, the McKnight Foundation hosted an open table discussion that encouraged grantee organizations to provide insight about how their organizations and the communities they serve would be impacted by the economic downturn. Many of those in attendance said they were encouraged by these meetings and gained insight that they would take back to their organizations. In response to this meeting, the Foundation made several recent changes to improve its communications and relationship with grantees and others. This year the Foundation will finalize a new reporting system that more fully meet the needs of the Foundation and its grantees.

In April 2009, the McKnight Foundation committed to contributing $5 million each to loan funds administered by the Family Housing Fund and Greater Minnesota Housing Fund to help stabilize communities that are affected by foreclosures. This investment will provide money to nonprofits to acquire vacant, boarded homes to repair and sell to responsible homeowners and create new, affordable housing opportunities so that homebuyers can purchase newly rehabilitated energy-efficient homes.

As a result of the McKnight Foundations’ work, there has been increased stability for families in the area of affordable housing as they have linked families to opportunities. They have participated in efforts to accelerate the pace of affordable housing, promote innovative and high-quality housing design for livable communities, and advocate increased public and private support for affordable housing. Also, in the area of out-of-school time, McKnight has supported the development of high quality programs to provide children and their families with the skills, knowledge and resources for the children to thrive and become successful adults.

McKnight Foundation Web site: www.mcknight.org

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