2020 Organizational Effectiveness Grants
Funding will enable 117 organizations to invest in fundraising, leadership, communication and evaluation.
The Minneapolis Foundation will award nearly $3 million in Organizational Effectiveness grants to nonprofit organizations that work to improve lives and advance equity in greater Minneapolis-Saint Paul.
117 organizations will receive anywhere from $4,500 to $50,000 to expand their capacity through strategic investments in fundraising, leadership, communication and evaluation. The average grant is just over $25,500.
“These grants will help local nonprofits invest in the kinds of business tools that are critical to any well-run organization,” said Chanda Smith Baker, the Foundation’s Senior Vice President of Impact. “Too often, these needs are underfunded, and they become an enormous barrier to impactful work in the community.”
The organizations that received grants provide a vast array of services, from hot meals for seniors to job training for members of the American Indian community. Grants applicants were given great freedom to articulate their needs and explain how an Organizational Effectiveness grant would support their mission.
As a result, these grants support a diverse array of projects: One small nonprofit will hire a fundraising consultant to train its staff on strategies to expand its donor base. Another will fund a two-month sabbatical enabling its longtime executive director to craft a succession plan that will ensure the continued health of the organization after she departs. The Down Syndrome Association of Minnesota will modernize its website, making it more accessible for all users, particularly those who use culturally specific resources or speak languages other than English. And a local boxing club that serves North Minneapolis youth will roll out new tools to measure the impact of its programs.
“Northside Boxing Club’s new evaluation strategy will not only allow us to reach and teach more youth, more effectively,” said Ryan Burnet, the organization’s founder and Executive Director. “It will also create the pipeline for a longitudinal study that will inform the long-term outcomes of Northside’s youth development, boxing, and nutrition programs.”
- African American Leadership Forum
- African Community Services
- African Development Center of Minnesota
- African Immigrants Community Services
- Ain Dah Yung (Our Home) Shelter, Inc.
- All Square
- American Indian OIC
- Asian American Organizing Project
- At Home Group Inc – Small Sums
- Augsburg University
- Babys Space – A Place to Grow
- Big Brothers Big Sisters of the Greater Twin Cities
- Black Table Arts (Fiscally Sponsored: St Paul Almanac)
- Black Visions Collective
- CAPI USA
- Casa de Esperanza
- Center for Economic Inclusion
- Center for Multicultural Mediation
- Centro Tyrone Guzman
- Children’s Defense Fund
- Circle of Discipline
- Citizens League
- CloseKnit
- Coalition of Asian American Leaders
- Comunidades Organizando el Poder y la Accion Latina
- Connections to Independence
- Cookie Cart
- CornerHouse Interagency Child Abuse Evaluation and Training Center
- Cultural Wellness Center
- Down Syndrome Association of Minnesota
- Dream of Wild Health
- El Colegio Charter High School
- Elder Voice Family Advocates
- Elpis Enterprises
- Energy CENTS Coalition
- FairVote Minnesota Foundation
- Family Tree
- FamilyWise Services
- Fellowship Missionary Baptist Church
- Frank Theatre
- Gender Justice
- Great Plains Institute
- Greater Minneapolis Crisis Nursery
- Green Card Voices
- Guadalupe Alternative Programs
- Hiawatha Academies
- Hmong American Partnership
- HOME Line
- House of Charity, Inc.
- Housing Justice Center
- Immigrant Law Center of Minnesota
- Interact Center for the Visual and Performing Arts
- Jewish Community Relations Council
- Joyce Preschool
- JustUs Health
- Juxtaposition Arts
- La Oportunidad
- Lao Assistance Center of Minnesota
- LatinoLEAD (fiscally sponsored by Minneapolis Foundation)
- Legal Rights Center
- Little Earth Residents Association
- Loaves and Fishes Too
- Loppet Foundation
- Metro Meals on Wheels
- Metropolitan Center for Independent Living
- Metropolitan Interfaith Council on Affordable Housing
- Midtown Greenway Coalition
- Minneapolis American Indian Center
- Minneapolis Television Network
- Minneapolis Urban League
- Minnesota Association for Volunteer Administration
- Minnesota Breastfeeding Coalition
- Minnesota Freedom Fund
- Minnesota Home Ownership Center
- Minnesota Voice
- Mixed Blood Theatre Company
- Montessori Training Center of Minnesota
- Native American Community Clinic
- Navigate MN
- Nawayee Center School
- Nexus Community Partners
- Northside Boxing Club Inc
- Northside Economic Opportunity Network
- Northside Funders Group (fiscally sponsored by Minneapolis Foundation)
- OutFront Minnesota Community Services
- Partnership Resources
- Pillsbury United Communities
- Planned Parenthood of Minnesota, North Dakota, South Dakota
- Plymouth Christian Youth Center
- Powderhorn Park Neighborhood Association
- Powderhorn Residents Group, Inc.
- Prepare + Prosper
- Propel Nonprofits
- Ready, Set, Smile
- Reclaim
- Red Eye Collaboration
- Restorative Justice Community Action
- Reve Academy
- Reviving Islamic Sisterhood for Empowerment
- SEWA- Asian Indian Family Wellness
- Soo Visual Arts Center
- St. Paul Transportation Management Organization DBA Move Minnesota
- The Advocates for Human Rights
- The Aliveness Project
- The Link
- The SEAD Project
- Tiwahe Foundation
- Tubman
- Twin Cities Media Alliance
- Upstream Arts Inc.
- Urban Homeworks
- Urban Ventures Leadership Foundation
- Way to Grow
- Wayside House
- WE WIN Institute, Inc.
- Women for Political Change Political Action Fund
- Youthprise
The Minneapolis Foundation administers 1,400 charitable funds and distributes an average of $70 million annually to improve lives, locally and globally. To receive updates about future funding opportunities at The Minneapolis Foundation, sign up for email notifications here.
