Pretend you are listening to the radio in your car…

“Are you a nonprofit with a serious desire for evaluation or planning services? Are you extremely interested in capacity building and improved management skills for your organization? Do you have a lack of funding to obtain the assistance for these crucial management issues? Have I got a Foundation for you!”

Now you know why I didn’t go into advertising as a career. The message I am trying to convey it this: While grant gazing, I sometimes see great prospects for local nonprofits and the Improve Group to partner on a beneficial grant opportunity. This week's pick provides a source to make that partnership a reality.

The Management Improvement Fund (MIF) of The Saint Paul Foundation gives grants for technical assistance and consultation to help enrich the capacity and management of nonprofit organizations. Since 1985 this initiative has helped East Metro nonprofits become healthier businesses. The initiative funds:

• Organizational assessment
• Strategic planning
• Organizational restructuring/merger/dissolution
• Collaboration between groups and organizations
• Program evaluation
• Board development/governance
• Human resources/personnel
• Financial planning management

The application requires a technical assistance work plan, signed by a consultant and the organization, that meets the approval of a program officer of The Saint Paul Foundation. The Improve Group would welcome the opportunity to help write a clearly defined plan for this section with any applicant organization interested in partnering with us.

Please note, there are fund-matching guidelines that accompany this grant but organizations with operating budgets under $1 million are not required to make a match. Before applying it is important that you contact Foundation Program Officer Jerry Timian to determine eligibility. An advisory committee meets in March, June, September and December to review applications. Complete grant information can be found at http://www.saintpaulfoundation.org/impact/mif/.