New Grant Review Process in 2011!

Just wanted to share some new changes with our 2011 grant review process...

As of January 1, 2011, the Initiative Foundation will be reviewing grant inquiries - for our Innovation Fund - on a quarterly basis.

We have decided to adopt this process due to an increased number of funding requests and our desire to be more transparent and strategic. Our Grant Team will be able to compare applications, ensuring that we fund the most promising and well-planned projects that serve critical needs in central Minnesota.

In 2011, the foundation will award over $1 million in grants, $150,000 of which will be awarded through our Innovation Fund and the remainder through restricted grants that require participation in one of our leadership programs. Through the discretionary Innovation Fund, the average grant size will be $5,000 and projects must address at least one of five different criteria.

Instead of reviewing Innovation Fund inquiries and proposals on an ongoing basis, now we will be reviewing and awarding grants only four times throughout the year. More information about the the schedule and process can also be found on our website at www.ifound.org.

If you have questions or concerns, please contact Don Hickman, Senior Program Manager & Grant Team Lead @ 877-632-9255, dhickman@ifound.org.

Looking forward to a healthy and prosperous new year!

Looking for the right host site...

How can a VISTA member help your organization better fight poverty?

• Got an idea for a new program or for improving services but no one with the time to dig in and get the job done?
• Wanna improve your fund development efforts? Generate community “buzz” about your work?
• Need more volunteers? Want them to be better trained?
• Need an enthusiastic someone with a singular focus on helping your agency better deliver on the promise of its mission to alleviate and eliminate poverty?

A VISTA member could be just what your agency needs!

Over the past ten years the Initiative Foundation’s 140+ VISTAs have created new programs, developed outreach tools and helped their host sites manage over 21,000 volunteers who provided over 234,000 hours of community service. Over that time, our VISTAs have helped raise over $1.6 million in grants and contributions and nearly $1.1 million in in-kind resources for their sites.

The Initiative Foundation is currently looking for organizations interested in hosting an AmeriCorps VISTA member for the 2011-2012 service year.

VISTAs are national members who serve full-time for a year in nonprofit organizations, educational institutions, faith-based organizations, tribal and government agencies to build their capacity to conduct anti-poverty work. (Note that eligible nonprofit private organizations are not limited to those with IRS 501(c) (3) status, but rather all organizations with IRS 501(c) status that focus on anti-poverty community development; organizations that focus solely on advocacy and lobbying are not eligible.)

VISTAs help their host sites grow so they can serve more people, in better ways for a longer period of time.

Applications for next year’s host sites are being accepted through February 4th. Selected sites will recruit VISTA members this spring who will begin service in early August.

Wanna learn more? Visit our website or call Chris or Annie at (320) 632-9255.

How Minnesotans Gave to the Max

This past Tuesday, November 16th was like most any other early winter day in Minnesota. Crisp temps, a little sunshine and some snow-covered pumpkins on porch steps... But inside our office and thousands of other nonprofits across the state, we weren't too focused on what was going on outside. I was obsessed with clicking that little blue round arrow at the top of my internet browser. And the website that was up on my screen? GiveMN.org

Tuesday was the second annual Give to the Max Day - a statewide push to promote philanthropy and online donations to the thousands of nonprofits in Minnesota. And WOW what a turnout!

First though I should start by reminding everyone that last year's inaugural Give to the Max Day smashed all sorts of records when 38,000 donors raised over $14,000,000 (yes that's MILLION) for 3,434 Minnesota nonprofits. So needless to say, it was a lot to live up to.

This year's results were truly amazing though... when they first started promoting 2010's GTMD they set a goal of getting 40,000 individual donors to give during that 24 hour period. The goal was met and then exceeded when 42,596 people raised over $10,000,000 for 3,663 nonprofits!

I stayed up until 11:45PM on Tuesday night watching the neck and neck race between the North American Bear Center and Concordia College. Even though their total donation spread was more than $150,000 they were competing for the most number of individual donors - and the stakes were pretty high. The nonprofit with the most number of donors would receive an extra $20,000. It was really quite fun to see - to see a smaller nonprofit in Ely and a large college in Northfield 'playing on same field'. (And since I fell asleep before the race ended I awoke to find that the St. Olaf had won by only eight donors!)

Congrats to all of the nonprofits who received donations on Tuesday and thank you to the staff at GiveMN for a well-promoted, well-received, well-executed day of giving! Kudos to you!

Want to learn more about GiveMN and GTMD?
Watch their fun "thank you" video or take a look at the GiveMN.org website.

Calling all artists!!

The Initiative Foundation is requesting proposals for the design and creation of an artistic piece to recognize donors and 100 commemorative gifts. The deadline for proposal submission is November 24, 2010.

> download the Request for Proposal

Feel free to share this with others who might be interested in this type of project!

If you have any questions, feel free to contact Mary Bauer, CommonWealth Officer at mbauer@ifound.org or 320.632.9255.

30,700 Acres of Beauty

A sweet natural gem of 30,700 acres sits just 50 miles northwest of the Minneapolis/St. Paul metro area.

The Sherburne National Wildlife Refuge welcomes some 110,000 visitors every year and now we recently welcomed them into the Initiative Foundation "family"!

Representatives from the Friends of Sherburne National Wildlife Refuge (FSNWR) came to visit with our staff a few weeks ago and completed the official paperwork to establish an endowment fund with us.

According to Sue Hix, FSNWR vice president, the fund will provide an opportunity for donors to direct gifts to either short-term or long-term needs for environmental education and interpretation programs and activities.

Earnings from the fund will help to maintain programs into the future - helping to finance program development, speakers, teacher and volunteer workshops, bus transportation, and a comprehensive array of educational materials that will benefit both students and the general public.

The Sherburne National Wildlife Refuge, located near Zimmerman, was established in 1965 and is managed by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service. The Friends of Sherburne National Wildlife Refuge, established in 1993, currently has more than 300 active members.

And this Saturday, October 9th they're having their annual Wildlife Festival! A sampling of the free festivities... scavenger hunt, bonfire, archery, hay rides, a variety of exhibits, raptor program, naturalists and silent auction. For more info visit their website at: www.exploresherburne.org.

A little background info on our endowed funds:

• An endowment is a professionally managed investment account in which only the earnings are spent.
  
• The Foundation manages the investments and administers the fund.
• Right now we host and manage the assets of more than 40 different funds - all of which exist in order to assist donors, nonprofit organizations, and communities in meeting their charitable goals.

Learn more:

• Friends of Sherburne Wildlife Refuge Website
• U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service Website
• Setting up a Fund with the Foundation

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!

Wadena Loan Fund

Today we announced a special, emergency loan fund for businesses affected by the recent storm damage in Wadena. For more information about the fund you can read the news release about it or download one of the following:

> Wadena Fund Fact Sheet

Fund Application:
- fillable Word version
- printable PDF version

Questions about the fund can be directed to Dean Uselman, the Wadena Development Authority's Executive Director, at 218-631-7710, wadenadevelopment@arvig.net or Paul Kleinwachter, the Initiative Foundation's Business Finance Officer, at 320-632-9255, pkleinwachter@ifound.org.

Also... last week our new intern, Lawrence, visited Wadena and put together a nice video about what's happening now. Take a look!