I felt compelled to put this opportunity up right away, due to its focus on helping Minnesota non-profits and because two of our recent clients (who do great work in our state) are an integral part of the collaboration on this new fund.

Special pick: Minnesota nonprofits now have a new avenue for support in organizational capacity-building from the Resilient Organizations Fund. The Fieldstone Alliance, in partnership with the Nonprofits Assistance Fund and MAP for Nonprofits (MAP), has announced the launch of this $400,000 fund for active grantees of the Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Minnesota Foundation. To have an impact Greater Minnesota, the Fund is working in partnership with the Minnesota Initiative Foundations.

BCBS Foundation grantee organizations can apply for grants of up to $20,000 to help them become “more sustainable, innovative, and better positioned to survive a potentially extended economic downturn.” Grant applications are available October 16 and due by November 2, 2009. Click here for more details.

Learn more: From August 10 through September 30 the Fund will convene 4 days of gatherings for nonprofit leaders for a dialogue on resilience leadership.

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In the Improve Group’s sincere wish for better economic times for everyone we thought it would be helpful to highlight a few job postings that have recently come to our way:

Organization: City House
Category: Executive Director
More information on how to apply:
Tom Allen, City House
tomallen@city-house.org

Organization: Northwest Area Foundation
Category: Evaluation and Analysis Program Officer
More information on how to apply:
Rebecca Yanisch, Principal, KeyStone Search
rebeccay@keystonesearch.com

Leafblad, Vice President
KeyStone Search
larsl@keystonesearch.com

Organization: Nonprofits Assistance Fund
Category: Loan Officer/Financial Management Specialist
More information on how to apply:
Janet Ogden-Brackett, Loan Fund Manager

Nonprofits Assistance Fund
2801 21st Ave South Suite 210
Minneapolis, MN 55407
FAX 612/278-7181
jogden-brackett@nonprofitsassistancefund.org

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Last week, the Waiver Review Team visited Stevens and Traverse Counties in western Minnesota. We stayed in Morris, Minnesota for our entire trip and experienced a team first – we ate at the same restaurant all four nights. We loved the homemade food at Bello Cucina so much we couldn’t stay away. Here you see Eric, Liz and Danielle enjoying white chocolate cheesecake with a raspberry sauce and dessert nachos. Yum!

Our trip wasn’t just fun and games. Eric, our database expert, just let us know we reviewed our 3,000th case last week in Stevens County. We were more than happy to celebrate that exciting milestone.

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After my summer visit to South Dakota to see my relatives I was struck by the strength and wisdom of those I am lucky to call my family. Many of our Dakota relatives are from the Lakota Sioux tribe and come from the Rosebud Reservation. Although most of the family has moved from reservation lands they have not moved away from their beautiful culture and beliefs. Maintaining our heritage and the civil rights that come with being a citizen of this country means a lot to my family, as it does to the funder below.

This week’s pick: Fund of the Sacred Circle, a program of the Headwaters Foundation for Justice, is offering grants to “American Indian organizations throughout Minnesota and Wisconsin addressing issues of racial, social, economic and environmental justice.” Areas of interest to the Fund include:

• Land and cultural revitalization or restoration
• Sovereignty and treaty rights
• Self-determination and civil rights

The Fund provides Planning Grants up to $5,000 and Implementation Grants up to $10,000. August 1st, 2009 is the due date for applications. Organizations that apply typically have operating budgets of less than $400,000

Click here to access grant application materials.

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It is great to go on vacation but it is just as good to be back. I hope you all have had a fun Fourth of July and gave yourself some time to relax and enjoy our beautiful country. I thought I would start my post-U.S.A. celebration Grant Gazing with a nod to our government’s efforts to support and encourage grassroots organizations that assist our countrymen and women. This grant is unique in that it gives funding to grantmaking organizations to help them supply additional support to others that make a difference.

This week’s pick: President Obama’s administration will work to leverage investments totaling $1 billion over five years administered by the Corporation for National and Community Service in support of high-impact social sector innovations. Our government has created an Innovation Fund to look for organizations that are providing successful community solutions and will use money to implement their programs and ideas on a bigger scale and to foster other new and unique responses.

"Solutions to America's challenges are being developed every day at the grassroots," Obama said during the White House gathering. "Government shouldn't be supplanting those efforts. It should be supporting those efforts."
- President Obama, June 2009

The fund will provide grants to existing grantmaking institutions that in turn support innovative, results-driven nonprofits. Grantmaking institutions and their nonprofit grantees will be asked to match the fund's investments. Go to http://www.nationalservice.gov/ to learn more.

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I will be on vacation all next week so I thought I would post my Grant Gazing a little early. I recently attended a ceremony honoring the achievements of my son's Junior High's 7th grade class. At that event, the principal stressed to the students the importance of having the goal of going on to post-secondary education. I have been coming across several grants in this area that focus on improving opportunity and quality of higher education through the U.S. Department of Education. Below is one of those opportunities.

This week’s pick: Fund for the Improvement of Postsecondary Education (FIPSE) Special Focus Competition: College Course Materials Rental Initiative (CFDA# 84.116Y). “The purpose of the program is to support innovative grants and cooperative agreements to improve postsecondary education. It supports reforms, innovations, and significant improvements of postsecondary education that respond to problems of national significance and serve as national models.”

Estimated award amounts are $200,000-$300,000 for a two-year project period and $100,000-$150,000 for a one-year project period. The deadline for transmitting applications is August 2, 2009. To learn more click here.

Oh yes... everyone have a happy and safe

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