Treasure from the Treasury

Two weeks ago Kathy received an email with the subject: "CDFI award notification email".

We had been anticipating that email for quite some time. (273 days to be exact - not that I was counting or anything.)

Last fall we applied for a grant from the U.S. Treasury Department's Community Development Financial Institution (CDFI) Fund. If awarded, the funding would allow us to expand our Technology & Green Loan Fund - basically so that we could provide more technical assistance and loans for businesses in these growing industries.

Well, the email was good news. In fact, it was great news!! The Initiative Foundation was awarded $750,000 from CDFI!

In total our staff logged something like 225 hours in order to prepare that application. It consumed my time and conscience for quite awhile. (I even had a dream that we were awarded $60 million from them and that I had to keep it a secret for a week!)

Well, I can dream easy now. We're thrilled to have received the award but more importantly, we're thrilled that we can invest in more locally owned businesses that are creating good jobs for central Minnesota communities.

Right now we're working through the paperwork but stay tuned as we announce more details about this funding and how businesses can benefit from it! In the meantime, feel free to read CDFI's announcement about the awards and list of recipients.

What it's all about...

As you might know... Linda Kaufmann, who joined the foundation in 2000, was recently accepted into the Bush Foundation's Fellowship program. She left just a couple weeks ago and I wanted to share a little bit about all of the amazing work that she did for the foundation in the last 10 years. (which is going to be hard to sum up in just one, little blog post!)

At the core of Linda's work was providing nonprofits, individuals and coalitions with training and resources in order for them to better support children, youth and families. She is truly dedicated to this - to seeing children and their families in central Minnesota thrive.

In 2003, she helped form a statewide program called the Minnesota Early Childhood Initiative. Through MECI, over 80 early childhood coalitions have been formed in greater Minnesota. Some of the other programs that Linda started or helped initiate include:

• Minnesota THRIVE (which supports the healthy social and emotional development of young children)
  
• Inside-Out Connections (supporting children impacted by parental incarceration)
  
• Minnesota ICE (increasing awareness and action against methamphetamine)
  
• Youth As Resources

"What it's all about..." was the title of one of the last emails that Linda sent out before she left. The email itself was short but the photos are what it was "all about" anyways. Here's what Linda said:

"Wanted to share some beautiful photos from Mikinnack Child Care Center in Cass Lake! We made a grant to the center earlier this year to help them open their doors in order to serve some of the most vulnerable young children in our region."

(click on the picture to see more photos)

Kathy, our president also sent us an email shortly before Linda's departure. It read: "As we prepare for Linda’s send off I wanted to share this editorial that she has written telling the story of the MIF Early Childhood work. Linda has provided a great deal of leadership with this project in our region and in our state. Linda, we honor you for your tremendous contribution!"

(that editorial can be found here: www.mncompass.org)

And besides all of this work, Linda also wrote grants for the foundation's programs. Our conservative estimates show that she helped to secure upwards of $12 million. Simply amazing!

Thank you, Linda, for all of your work and dedication to the Foundation. Families and children (and central Minnesota as a whole) are better off because of you!

24 hours left in the online giving challenge!

There's just 24 hours left in our first ever online giving challenge. So far, the results have been fantastic! 252 unique donors and $48,990 in funds raised for five Brainerd Lakes area nonprofits.

Now we have just one request...

The Salvation Army, one of the five charities, has until tomorrow (Friday, Aug 13) at 4 p.m. to raise another $1,255 to receive an anonymous donor’s matching grant of $5,000, and they are running out of time and options. They are now facing the reality of being the only charity that doesn’t reach their goal. Can you help?

If you have as little as $10 to spare, please consider helping out The Salvation Army or any of the other nonprofits. All five are very worthy organizations, meeting the most basic human needs in the Brainerd Lakes Area. Thank you, in advance, for your support!

www.givemn.org/ripples

Giving Challenge for Brainerd Nonprofits Starts Today!

Here's you're chance to help out Brainerd area individuals and families in need!

Starting Monday, August 2nd at 8 a.m. (& concluding on August 13th at 4 p.m.) an anonymous donor will be matching all online donation to five Brainerd Lakes Area nonprofits. Every donation, up $5,000 per organization, will be matched! The nonprofits included in this challenge are:

• Bridges of Hope
• Kinship Partners
• Lakes Area Habitat for Humanity
• Salem WEST
• The Salvation Army
  

As an extra incentive, the foundation will award another $1,000 to the nonprofit that ends the challenge with the most individual donors. That means every gift matters, regardless of the amount.

So, cast a pebble for your favorite nonprofit today, and check back often to see the ripples!

But Remember!
Gifts must be made online and during the challenge period in order to qualify for the match.

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(www.givemn.org/ripples)

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Other info:
> download the official news release
> visit the Initiative Foundation's GiveMN page
> get more information about GiveMN & online giving trends

And special thanks to The Brainerd Dispatch, BL Broadcasting, Brainerd Lakes Chamber and Range Printing for contributing advertising and other promotional support to the challenge.

Best of luck to all of the nonprofits!