Looking to whip up some organizational sustainability? A new report shows that the secret ingredient isn’t love, or at least not just love.

Hopefully "leadership" is in here somewhere.

I think it’s fair to say that all nonprofits have passion for what they do. According to the TCC Group, what differentiates those who succeed financially and those who don’t comes down to a surprisingly short list, with leadership at the top.

The Sustainability Formula: How Nonprofit Organizations Can Thrive in the Emerging Economy identifies key values and behaviors that are correlated with financial sustainability.

In a survey of over 700 nonprofits using their own 146 question Core Capacity Assessment Tool (CCAT), TCC Group found that the behaviors that are crucial to nonprofit sustainability are:

• Decisive, strategic and accountable leadership that values evaluation, learning and effective, mission-focused communications;
• Financial and programmatic adaptability; and
• The resources to deliver core programs.

Interestingly, the report found that only 25% of total respondents reported that their organization had all of the qualities that TCC Group defines as markers of a sustainable organization. Furthermore, only 28% reported feeling that their organization was financially sustainable.

The report profiles two nonprofits that exemplify the core traits stated in the sustainability formula, New York Cares and The Family Center. Through these two examples, TCC Group illustrates different aspects of sustainability, and then concludes the report with a list of ten recommendations for nonprofits looking to improve their own sustainability.

To read the full report, visit the TCC Group’s website, or download the pdf report here.

-Cary Lenore Walski
MCF Web Communications Associate

In July and August, the Women’s Foundation of Minnesota will hold grants information sessions to publicize its funding opportunities.

Foundation staff will also offer helpful tips on writing effective grant proposals, and attendees will have the chance to network with others who are working with women and girls in their area.

Minnesota nonprofits seeking funding to advance economic, social and political equality for women and girls are encouraged to attend. For more information, contact Sida Ly-Xiong at 888-337-5010 or sida@wfmn.org.

• Warroad | July 22 | 10-11:30 a.m.
  Public Safety Center – 802 Cherne Drive NW, Warroad
• Mankato | July 23 | 1:30-3:00 p.m.
  Mankato YWCA – 209 South 2nd St., Suite 314, Mankato
• Rochester | August 5 | 10-11:30 a.m.
  United Way of Olmsted County – 903 West Center St., Rochester
• St. Cloud | August 12 | 10-11:30 a.m.
  Atwood Memorial Center, Primrose Room – 651 First Avenue South, SCSU Campus, St. Cloud

Ridin' the range and ropin' the headlines so you don't have to.

Your biweekly roundup of media coverage on the world of nonprofit and philanthropy (yee-ha.)

Accepting Less*
(The Chronicle of Philanthropy) In response to the economy, many philanthropic leaders are taking voluntary pay cuts.
*Paid subscription required.

Dueling Research on the True Beneficiaries of Foundation Grants
(The Chronicle of Philanthropy) Same data, different conclusions. Two conflicting reports on giving to marginalized groups raise debate about on how research on grantmaking is conducted.

Giving Goes Flat
(Twin Cities Business Journal) Burt Cohen bemoans the apparent trend among his peers to refuse giving due to the economy, and challenges the old adage, “Whoever dies with the most chips wins.”

Innovative-Safe or Innovative-Radical?
(The Wall Street Journal) N. Ramakrishnan discusses a push for innovation in communication about neo-natal and mother health in India, and in doing so, brings up some important points about what truly defines innovation.

Kobe’s Next Conquest: China
(The Wall Street Journal) In another celebrity philanthropy double-take, NBA star Kobe Bryant helps the Chinese government in their new push to foster philanthropy in the world’s most populous nation. New wealth for middle-class Chinese brings new opportunities to buy, but also to give.

Madoff Losses Tied to Board Size, Makeup
(Philanthropy Journal) A lack of board diversity is linked to Madoff-related losses in foundations.

“Perfect Storm” of Fiscal Stress Hits Nonprofits
(John Hopkins University) Soggy socks? You’re not the only one. This new report from John Hopkins University outlines in detail the current stormy financial situation for nonprofits. The forecast for the near future? Partly cloudy at best.

Raising Children Who Care in Times That Need It
(The New York Times) Is your kid more likely to opt for Halloween candy than UNICEF? Teaching empathy is challenging, but there are new resources to help parents.

Under a New Lens: Corporate Philanthropy in a Changed Economy
(onPhilanthropy) Foundations and corporate CEO’s converged at CECP Corporate Philanthropy Summit to discuss trends and best practices in corporate philanthropy. How can corporations give efficiently and enhance their reputation without being perceived as disingenuous?

-Cary Lenore Walski, MCF Web Communications Associate

Rock on, Twin Cities' volunteers!

The Corporation for National and Community Service ranks the Twin Cities first in volunteerism. More than 913,000 of us (39.3 percent of our population) volunteer 106.2 million hours a year, making an estimated annual economic contribution of $2.1 billion, according to the corporation’s new web tool VolunteeringInAmerica.gov.  (Check out the profile of volunteering in Minnesota – that’s impressive too!)

Adding to these accolades is news that the Corporate Volunteerism Council of the Twin Cities (CVC-TC) was awarded the 2009 Corporate Volunteerism Council of the Year Award at the National Conference on Volunteering and Service in June. The award, presented by the Points of Light Institute, recognizes the CVC-TC’s outstanding success in employing the CVC Principles of Excellence, which acknowledge that CVCs exist to meet the needs of businesses and the community, assist businesses interested in developing employee volunteer programs, and target its efforts to address serious social problems based on real community needs.

In accepting the award, CVC-TC president Cheryl Thompson said, “We believe that employee volunteerism is the pinnacle of corporate citizenship, bringing together a corporation’s most valuable resource – its people – with organizations that address community needs and bring positive change.”

Among its accomplishments this past year, the CVC-TC:

• Engaged nonprofit associate members to apprise CVC-TC members of emerging community needs and to partner on strategic community initiatives.
• Promoted collaboration through a joint volunteer project bringing together 100 corporate volunteers from 10 companies, plus partners Hands On Twin Cities, Great River Greening and St. Paul Parks and Recreation.
• Bolstered local, cross-sector collaboration efforts in support of the Serve America Act/Service Nation by quantifying the corporate contribution to the community: In 2009, employee volunteers in Minnesota will contribute more than 700,000 volunteer hours, valued at $13,657,000.
• Offered educational programs on topics such as green volunteering, on-site volunteer opportunities and retiree volunteer programs.

The CVC-TC works to improve communities through its mission to advocate, support and grow employee volunteerism in companies of all sizes.  Many CVC-TC members are also MCF members.  (To learn more, read the CVC-TC feature in our spring issue of Giving Forum focusing on corporate philanthropy.)

Congratulations to the CVC-TC for its efforts to maintain and further our community’s long tradition of volunteer service.

- Chris Murakami Noonan, MCF Communications Associate

The Minneapolis Foundation, an MCF member, recently released its 2009-2015 Strategic Plan and updated grant guidelines. Community stakeholders and nonprofits are invited to attend one of two informational sessions to be conducted regarding these changes hosted by the Minnesota Council of Nonprofits.

The first session, a webinar, will be held Wednesday, July 29, at 9:30 a.m. The second, an in-person session, will be at Lutheran Social Services’ Center for Changing Lives, on Wednesday, August 5, at 9:30 a.m. To learn more and to register, visit The Minneapolis Foundation’s website.

The Minneapolis Foundation’s strategic priorities for 2009-2015 are to “promote social, economic, and racial equity.” With its unrestricted funds, the foundation will pursue this new strategic focus by transforming education, promoting economic vitality, and building social capital for residents of Minneapolis.

As a result, the foundation will support a range of very specific strategies and continue its commitment to policy and systems change work.

Photo by *Micky

The choices are endless.

I could help the local girls softball association repair their catchers’ gear, the church youth group’s journey to New Orleans to rebuild houses, food shelf collections at my neighborhood grocery store, the picnic for families struggling with sarcoma, the small theater company’s edgy production of a work by an Asian American playwright.

Or I could support internationally renowned breast cancer researchers, a potter in South America via microfinancing, cleaner air worldwide, millions of the hungry and sick displaced by civil war or drought-ridden lands, or schooling for a youngster in Uganda.

Whether it’s across the street, across town or across the ocean, whether it’s one person or a multinational organization with hundreds of staff people, their passion to make the world a better place is what motivates them to pursue their mission and inspires us to give.

Among the freedoms we celebrate this weekend, let’s not forget that we Americans have the freedom to choose which of these passions we support and the extent to which we give.

Imagine how different our country would be if we could not freely and openly give.

In American Philanthropy Diversity: What It Means, Why It Matters, published March 2009 by The Philanthropy Roundtable, Naomi Schaefer Riley writes:

“The distinctive characteristic of American philanthropy is freedom. … However Americans want to help, they are at perfect liberty to do so. The result has been an awe-inspiring display of human ingenuity. The breadth, depth and variety of American charity has no historical precedent or contemporary parallel.

It addresses many thousands of causes, supported by many millions of donors, all of whom take it upon themselves to try to improve their communities in some small way. Such philanthropic diversity reflects the extraordinary creativity of free people deciding how best to give away their money.

It exists because countless individuals freely come together in pursuit of a vast variety of moral goods. Each of these associations has some charitable purpose; each has its own strategy. Each is unique, and each contributes to the rich mosaic of American philanthropy.”

So, choose to give a little or a lot, to some and not others, to give money or time. For me, the key is that I am choosing to give.

Happy Independence Day!

- Chris Murakami Noonan, MCF Communications Associate

The McKnight Foundation has announced a new focus on building literacy rates of Twin Cities children by third grade.

In making the announcement about this new early child development goal, the foundation cited the importance of early literacy to development of successful adults and prosperous communities.

“In the Twin Cities today, 41% of third-graders read below grade level,” said Robert J. Struyk, McKnight board chair. “McKnight has long focused on providing children with the resources to become successful and engaged community contributors. Better preparing our youngest to read and write at grade level will help put them and keep them on track for graduation and beyond.”

The literacy focus builds on McKnight’s current early childhood work, with special emphasis on transitions from kindergarten through third grade.  Third grade reading skills are a high predictor of high school graduation rates.  Less than 80% of Twin Cities students graduate from high school, and rates are closer to 40% for Asian, Hispanic and Black students.

To address the educational achievement gap, McKnight will collaborate with early education advocates in nonprofits, business, philanthropy, and the formal education system.

Over the coming years, the foundation will make some adjustments to its current work, discontinuing discrete grantmaking to support fatherhood development, parenting skills building, and family economic success. McKnight will continue funding multiservice family support
organizations.  Decisions about future support for out-of-school time and homeless and runaway youth programs are still under consideration.

The new funding focus will be managed within McKnight’s Region &
Communities grantmaking program.  This summer the foundation will hire a program officer to lead the literacy work.

The level of financial investment in the literacy goal was not announced.  Later this year, McKnight will release new grantmaking guidelines.

Empty home on Bloomington Ave., South Minneapolis. Photo by Andrew Ciscel

Behind the bleak national statistics on unemployment, jobs, housing prices, and other economic indicators, are hundreds of urban areas facing unique challenges.

Intuitively, we all know the economy in the Twin Cities is different from that of  Seattle, Charlotte, or Detroit. But how different are they? And where are funds (public and private) best invested to address the needs specific to this metro area?

The Brookings Institution’s Metropolitan Policy Program recently issued the first in a series of quarterly reports looking at key economic indicators across the country’s 100 largest metro areas. Collectively, these 100 areas contain two-thirds of the nation’s jobs, and generate three-quarters of GDP. Combined they are the engines of growth from which the eventual “green shoots” of recovery will spring.

The Brookings researchers examined the following indicators: employment; the unemployment rate; wages; gross metropolitan product (GMP); housing prices; and real estate-owned properties; and ranked each metro area on each of these indicators, from 1 (strongest performing) to 100 (weakest performing).

How do the Twin Cities stack up? Average or slightly worse — in the 50s and 60s – for most indicators.  But for real estate-owned properties (REOs), defined as “foreclosed properties that fail to sell at auction and thus become owned by the lending institution, shown as the share of all mortgageable properties in each metro area,” the Twin Cities ranks 92 out of 100. (Remember, low scores are good, high scores are bad.) For every 1,000 mortgageable properties in the Twin Cities, 7.63 are REOs.

Things are worse — much worse – in places like Las Vegas, NV, Riverside, CA, and Modesto, CA, which are at the absolute bottom of the list, and where there about twice as many REOs as in the Twin Cities. But those cities are also at the bottom on indicators like the unemployment rate and declining housing prices.

The Brookings researchers classify the Twin Cities as similar to cities like Atlanta and Washington that are “somewhat healthier economically, but that experienced significant exurban expansion in recent years.”

What’s most striking to me about this report is how to interpret it in the context of MCF’s new research on the outlook for grantmaking for the remainder of 2009. In Special Update: 2009 Outlook Report, the specific services related to the downturn that Minnesota grantmakers say they are most likely to support are basic skills education and job readiness skills; food assistance; and emergency housing assistance/homeless shelters.

The services grantmakers say they are least likely to support? Financial assistance with mortgage payments; assistance with heating or utilities bills; credit counseling; and homeownership education or foreclosure avoidance education.

Does this mean grantmakers shouldn’t be putting resources into food assistance or job readiness skills? Of course not. There are clearly defined needs in these areas. And it’s not like there are no foundations doing work related to foreclosures.

The McKnight Foundation, an MCF member, is actively engaged in helping to stabilize communities affected by foreclosure. So is the Pohlad Family Foundation, another MCF member.

So the question is then, how should we interpret the findings from each of these research reports?

Join the Conversation: If you are a foundation trustee or staff member, have you actively made the decision recently to fund or not fund foreclosure-related programming? What information informed your final choice?

- Juliana Tillema, MCF research manager

Image by Son Marki

What I learned about philanthropy from the King of Pop

I’m not going to lie to you. I grew up during the 80’s and 90’s. At the time when Michael Jackson reined as King of Pop, I was much more likely to be dancing around in my basement to the B52’s “Rock Lobster” than to “Billy Jean.”

However, news about Jackson’s death, a story first broken yesterday at TMZ.com, got me wondering was Jackson a philanthropist? The answer is, “Yes.”

According to Wikipedia, Jackson donated over $300 million to charity over the course of his lifetime. Among his most notable contributions to philanthropy were his musical ones.  He wrote and performed two hit singles that had a huge impact philanthropically.

Sales of “We are the World,” co-written with Lionel Richie in 1985, raised over $100 million for  USA for Africa.  Similarly, the proceeds of the “Heal the World” single, and the subsequent tour, were all donated to charity.

Say what you might about Michael Jackson. There’s a lot there to talk about–the outfits, the scandals, the weird pet chimp. Despite of all the dross,  you can’t deny he gave a lot.

In fact, I would even go so far as to say that there’s something that we can take away from the charitable work that Jackson did while he was alive. Namely, a lesson about the power of using your own personal talents to become a philanthropist.

Now I don’t know about you, but I personally don’t have enough dough to summer at Neverland Ranch. But I can write code. That’s why my philanthropic work is the time I spend volunteering for an organization called Rainbow Rumpus as webmaster.

If you are in similar straights, or if you just have the inclination, please volunteer. Here at MCF we are firm proponents of the notion that philanthropy is not just for wealthy people.  Anyone who cares can do it.

Whether you’re donating your time, your money, or the proceeds from your latest chart topper, whatever you do makes a difference.

Related Resources: The Whitehouse has launched a neat new website that can help match you with an organization that needs your help. Those interested in learning more about Jackson’s charitable work should read this article at DoSomething.org. Which, by the way, has some great resources for getting youth engaged in volunteerism and philanthropy. If you do have some money to donate and are looking for ways to do so, check out our Minnesota Toolkit for Giving.

- Cary Lenore Walski, MCF Web Communications Associate

Download - pdf

Fifty-two percent of grantmakers in Minnesota expect giving to decrease in 2009, compared to 40% at the end of 2008, according to a new report issued by the Minnesota Council on Foundations.

The result of a collaboration with the national Council on Foundations, the Special Update: 2009 Outlook Report highlights how grantmakers’ outlook for the year has changed since MCF issued its last report on the outlook for grantmaking in 2009.

The new report compares responses to surveys conducted in March 2009 and November 2008, which asked respondents to anticipate their giving in 2009 compared to previous year’s levels.

Thirty-one percent expected giving to remain the same in March, compared to 41% in November. About the same number expected giving to increase in March (17%) and November (15%).

Although the outlook for 2009 has worsened, grantmakers in Minnesota compare favorably to national averages. Sixty-two percent of grantmakers nationwide expect to decrease their giving in 2009, as compared to 52% in Minnesota. In addition, asset declines in 2008 among grantmakers in Minnesota were not as steep as those experienced nationwide.

Food, housing, and jobs are the areas Minnesota grantmakers say they are most likely to support, in relation to the downturn.

These findings are consistent with the Nonprofit Current Conditions Report, recently issued by the Minnesota Council of Nonprofits. That report shows that 51% of nonprofits in Minnesota that receive corporate and foundation grants have already experienced a decline in grants and future commitments.

As foundation assets and payouts continue to decline, most nonprofits report they expect 2010 to be worse than 2009, according to the report.

-Juliana Tillema, MCF Research Manager