Meyer Memorial Trust

This is gonna be great!!!

Looking forward to it!

Just returned from a meeting of grantees and funders and the message was non-profits need to be more open and "transparent" in their financial statements and actions. I think a move like yours, opening this site to all comments, is exactly what foundations should be doing. We need to hear the good and the bad about what we are doing. Congratulations. I have added this site to my Favorites!

I think the Foundation should be applauded for taking this course of action. If as stated at the start of this question you should "stay above the fray" how will you know what the fray is. By taking the approach you are, you will be more in tune with issues confronting organizations and as a result be in a better position to evaluate the issues and what interactions you may/may not choose to become involved in. Having a live forum for feedback and opinion should prove to be very valuable.

Again congratulations on raising the bar for others to emulate.

Gene Button

Direct and open exchange helps keep both the Foundation and customer (Non-Profits) more informed, knowledgable about best practice and current community need(s). I view the proposal as a valuable management tool.

Applause to you !!!!
Thanks

As a non-profit administrator, I have been contacting and working with foundations and other funders for 40 years. The complicated challenges we are facing today require a new level of openess and communication. And who says you have to fund your broggers? (Of course, if you don't fund MY program, I will be very upset!!)

On behalf of our non-profit, I applaud your move to open the doors! Only good can come from being "open", thank you!
:)

We have a relatively small non-profit and a shoestring budget that relies on grants for our public safety and education projects. Agencies who are members allow us to use their employees now and then, they in turn use us for volunteers for projects. We are unique, so having an open forum helps us get our messages out about our special needs. Kudos to Meyer Memorial Trust!

I think this is a wonderful idea. As a non-profit ED, having some direct communication channels about the issues we all are facing will be extremely helpful

Given MMT's role in providing financial and moral support to so many sectors of Oregon's communities, it makes perfect sense to me. This strikes me as yet another way MMT can encourage collaboration and shared problem solving. I'll be curious to see how it evolves and whether issue areas evolve over time or whether it will be a more general venue for sharing ideas.......or both?

Thanks for including us all

Mike Houck

Congratulations! Communication works!

Allow me to join the chorus of approval of your new "blog." Would that more funders would embrace this approach, our sector would be well-served. There simply aren't enough opportunities, given the increasing competition for our time and attention, to exchange candid thoughts and ideas. This way, all who choose to do so CAN do so at a time and place of their own choosing. This is a superb use of available technology - way to go!

This is additional proof that MMT views itself as a working partner in meeting regional challenges. Thanks for your open door policies.
Donna Milrany

You guys rock.

Meyer Memorial, like its original benefactor Fred Meyer, has always worked to be proactive in the community. Good job on opening up your work to others on the front line of helping make our community work for everyone and thank you for all you do.

I have a suggestion for a new program. How about a mini-grants program restricted to newsletters and $500 each for qualifying small to medium nonprofits. For some, $500 might buy the paper for two to three newsletters and for some it might only pay for the printing for one newsletter. A successful mini-grant for a newsletter(s) with a simple application would make a tremendous impact on sometimes scarce resources and time.

Naive? I should say not! As you can see by our community response, you are addressing a key issue.

Looking forward to future postings.

We are looking forward to the give and take. Thank you.

Thank you! Open Source will give non-profits the opportunity to be better informed. St Vincent de Paul volunteer members are very thankful and appreciative to Meyer Memorial Trust for the grant. Stronger communities will come from this openness.

There is a difference between trust and naivite. With this move, MMT is displaying a willingness to learn, to listen and to trust in the collective wisdom of the non-profit community. To ask others for input also requires a certain humility, which is wonderful to see in an organization as powerful and knowledgable as MMT. Thank you for this.

I sincerely hope that more nonprofits use this tool, and that MMT is able to hear the responses. It would be sad to have open communication lines go unused.

That being said things are mighty exciting down at FREE GEEK. I have seen a blossoming of our geeks. Not just that they are learning about computers, but also they are adding to a community on a local and worldwide scope.

Thanks!

As both foundations and non-profits get more sophisticated, I think it is critical for the dialogue to evolve as well. Kudos on a great move!

I see by the above comments that I am not alone in thinking that not only is this a "Healthy Idea" but also a very economic way of transporting information that funders and seekers alike will benifit from.
Thank you!

This is a marvelous effort to keep all of us "in the know." Thank you, MMT!

Wonderful decision, we appreciate MMT for all it has accomplished in our communities and look forward to the new information exchange. Thanks for caring and making such a difference in the lives of many.

This shows great leadership on MMT's part, and others will certainly follow. Thank you for creating this wonderful tool.

One of the things I have always liked about the MMT is that it is open and straightforward in its approach and the grant questions are clear and not hard to figure out. Some applications (especially government ones) are like trick questions or you need a code to figure them out.

I've really struggled to find a contrarian point of view advocating that you shut down the website, make applications available only at mysterious and arcane times and places, and have whimsical shifts in funding policy and procedures. However, I'm a miserable failure and can't do it.

So I think the idea of having the MMT crew down at the virtual street corner and watching what transpires in community life is well rooted in traditional, neighborly American style. From your digital front porch you develop relationships with passersby, see how the neighbors are doing, and get to carry on a conversation that's rooted in what people really need and want to talk about. I look forward to moseying by, maybe shooting a few hoops under the streetlight, and catching up on the really important things going on in our electronic neighborhood.

I tend to be an idealist, so I think it is a great idea. Thanks.

As a recipient of several small grants from MMT I think this is wonderful idea. Thanks!

It was my first day to read about Meyer Meorial Trust Activities after a News updates from the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation.

Openness in Non-Profit Organizations is such a high challenge. Many Organization will not entertain any contributions from out side their philosophies and many have been slow in realizing results due to their lack of space for new ideas.

Those of you who have worked in Africa pretty know how hard Youths and young ideas have been shattered.

I wish to vote at your useful action to provide this key opportunity to hear from the community and us.

If this dose not have cost implications, I suggest you allow those who contribute to live their web sites or a way we can further link up.

I too applaud your efforts.