Doug Stamm's blog

It might not feel like the beginning of a new year to most of you, but here at Meyer Memorial Trust we celebrate the beginning of our fiscal year on April 1. And for some reason, it always feels a bit like an opportunity to start over. Not as in Groundhog Day, more like another chance to get it right, be the best we can be.

Today we join others in disseminating a report from Multnomah County’s Coalition of Communities of Color that addresses the relationships among foundations and communities of color in Oregon.

You may be wondering what’s going on with MMT’s continuing response to our ideas4oregon project in which we asked for your ideas about how we should spend the first million dollars of the second $500 million we award.

Quite a lot, as it turns out.

I’m excited to announce today the launch of our first project rising from ideas4oregon. (We’ve given short updates on our other two ideas4oregon projects in this week’s news alert.) READ MORE

Here at Meyer Memorial Trust, we celebrate more than one new year each year, and try to use those occasions as opportunities for reflection and forecasting. We did that at the end of the calendar year and now we want to use our transition from one fiscal year to the next on April 1st to look back and ahead in a more formal, organized way.

There's no getting around it, 2010 has been a harsh year for Oregon and Clark County, Washington. We continue to suffer effects of The Great Recession with an unemployment rate stuck higher than the national average... Despite these and other sobering realities, I remain very optimistic about our state's future. And it's not just holiday cheer leading me down that yellow brick road. Nor is it merely

Sometimes you get what you ask for… We asked for million dollar ideas4oregon, and we got them. If you’re counting, we had 542 submissions. In short, you blew us away. We are so impressed and grateful that hundreds of Oregonians took the time and devoted their energy to give us their best thinking. It achieved our goals of collecting bold and innovative approaches...

While there have been some signs of economic recovery in recent months, we still hear and see much evidence that the Great Recession continues to limit many nonprofits’ ability to raise funds while demand for their services remains great. So we at MMT continue to look for ways to provide extra support to help meet these challenges.
 
As a result, we’re pleased to announce we are offering a special Operating Fund grants program again this year.

In what is now being called "The Great Recession," we at Meyer Memorial Trust have challenged ourselves to be responsive and flexible in the face of economic challenges nonprofit organizations have faced.

You may notice we have a new look for spring. Welcome to our new website. We hope you feel at home here.

Spring is a universal metaphor for the start of better times. And this year, opportunities for growth seem especially appealing.

We trust you had a delightful summer in this amazing corner of the world, despite the economic challenges we all face. Now that we're in back-at-it mode again, I want to provide another update as part of our commitment to keep you informed about our efforts