Meyer Memorial Trust

What We Know So Far...

July 20, 2007 01:41 PM

Below we offer a midsummer update on the strategic planning and implementation underway at MMT, last reported on here.

The latest on our Strategic Action Initiatives:

Education:

As a first activity after adopting a more formal Quality K-12 Public Education Initiative, MMT awarded E3 $182,000 to partner with the Center for Educational Leadership at the University of Washington to provide teacher training and support to improve teaching practices in Oregon schools. The work will begin in schools in the Central Point district, with training in instructional leadership to all K-12 principals, assistant principals and other administrators. A small cadre of teachers in each school will receive training and coaching in literacy strategies. Literacy and leadership coaches will be provided in schools over the next two years, and a teacher facilitator will be mentored at several schools. The expected result is that students improve reading scores and are better able to access complex reading material in all subject areas.

MMT also recently awarded $1.5 million to Foundations for a Better Oregon's Chalkboard Project for the CLASS (Creative Leadership and Student Success) program, "a new opportunity to raise student achievement by building teacher leadership skills, expanding educators’ career options and providing educators with additional compensation for individual and/or team excellence."

Affordable Housing

The Meyer Trust is looking at three related strategies as part of our Affordable Housing Initiative:

-- First, we are exploring the possibility of creating a statewide housing fund that would make low cost loans to support preservation of existing federally subsidized units. The fund would also potentially support development of new units.

-- We are also examining strategies to improve access to affordable housing in rural Oregon, possibly through technical assistance and asset management support for CDCs that operate there.

-- Finally, we will maintain our interest in efforts to promote the sustainable delivery of resident services and supportive housing. One element of this strategy will be to track outcomes of investments we have already made.

We expect to implement this initiative in stages. To date, we have focused primarily on the housing fund concept given the urgent need to preserve affordable units subject to expiring affordability constraints.

Readers may be interested to know that during the year in which we were working on developing our strategic plan, MMT invested more than $4 million in affordable housing projects in the region. To cite a few examples:
-$632,500 to Habitat for Humanity affiliates
-$1 million to REACH Community Development for a condominium project that includes affordable land trust units
-$325,000 to Neighborhood Partnership Fund to support affordable housing development in rural communities.

Willamette River Restoration:

While continuing to consult with a wide range of Willamette River experts, MMT recently retained Pam Wiley, who has over 25 years of experience in the natural resources and environmental sector. Pam will lead the Trust’s strategy to move this project forward. We are hopeful that the research and outreach phase of our work will clarify the most appropriate role and strategies for the Trust to assist in the effort to restore the health of the Willamette River.

Again, while we were at work on our strategic plan, MMT continued to invest in watershed restoration efforts across the state, including approximately $900,000 in streams and wetland restoration in the Willamette River Basin (through grants to Bonneville Environmental Foundation, Oregon Trout, Oregon Water Trust, Western Rivers Conservancy, Wetlands Conservancy and Willamette Riverkeeper) and $400,000 in other watersheds (e.g., Deschutes, Umpqua and Columbia rivers).

Grant Programs:

First, please be advised that we are working on renaming all our grant programs to more accurately reflect the intent of each program.

Capacity Building:

Meyer trustees reaffirmed the Trust's commitment to continued funding for capacity building for nonprofits through multi-year grants (such as hiring the first paid staff, hiring a development director, or funding a program expansion with a sound sustainability plan). To begin with, this part of the portfolio will stay much the same. As we go forward, we will continue to evaluate additional strategies and approaches, and we anticipate being more specific about future plans in early 2008. (Please look for opportunities to participate in blog discussions about capacity building!) We will also continue to provide funding for organizations that support the field (e.g., TACS, the new Nonprofit Association of Oregon, etc).

We believe the hallmark of the MMT process is due diligence that allows our trustees to consider the history, role, and strength of the organization, the strengths and context of the project, and the sustainability of the enterprise, if applicable. Applicants seeking support for capacity building should be prepared for a thorough review of all aspects of their organization, not just the proposal under consideration.

Technical Assistance:

Before the end of the year, we hope to announce a new technical assistance grants program that would support short-term projects such as strategic planning, fundraising planning, feasibility plans, board training, enhancing accounting and finance capabilities, etc. We are researching the possibility of including succession planning, technology planning, marketing and re-branding, and other kinds of projects as well. We are planning to communicate with the field, through this blog and other means, to get your input on this program.

Grassroots Grants:

By expanding our Grassroots Grants program, MMT reaffirms its commitment to smaller organizations and rural communities throughout Oregon and Clark County, Washington. We have budgeted up to $1.6 million per year in this program. Applications under these new parameters will reopen on Monday, Sept. 17th in anticipation of a Nov. 15th application deadline.

Changes include:

• Minimum size increases from $500 to $1,000

• Maximum size increases from $15,000 to $25,000

• Project budget limit increases from $25,000 to $150,000 (including the value of inkind contributions EXCEPT labor)

What remains the same:

• Three deadlines per year: July 15, November 15, March 15

• Small grants are intended for smaller organizations (generally understood to be those with annual operating budgets of $2 million or less)

• All other funds for the proposed project need to be raised or formally pledged when the proposal is submitted

• Grassroots Grants are not intended to provide partial support for ongoing activities that will not change in any significant way.

Other business:

In addition to the strategic planning progress summarized above, MMT is moving ahead on another part of its work to become the best foundation it can be by implementing a Mission Investing program. Please read Doug's latest CEO Message that describes our intentions and activities.

You’ve probably noticed we’ve been recruiting for new staff members (three within the last month). One opening is the result of our beloved financial assistant Paula Maden moving to a new town at the end of the summer. The others are new positions created by our desire to better serve non-profits and citizens of our region as we enter the implementation phase of our new strategic plan.

We will continue to keep you posted and welcome your comments and questions here or in our discussion forums.

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