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Today Meyer Memorial Trust announced a combination of nearly $6 million in grants and loans to establish the Oregon Housing Acquisition Fund. This statewide fund will be used to preserve and create affordable homes for 25,000 Oregonians.
“This project brings together an unprecedented team of partners to preserve and create affordable housing in our state,” said Meyer Memorial Trust CEO Doug Stamm. “We expect it to improve housing access for the most vulnerable Oregonians.”
Access to affordable housing is one area Meyer Memorial Trust selected for special focus following a year long strategic planning process to determine how Oregon’s largest private foundation could help address the state’s most intractable problems.
About three-quarters of Oregon’s very low income households spend more than 30% of their income on rent or mortgage payments. In the U.S., housing is considered “unaffordable” when more than 30-35% of household income is used for monthly housing costs.
To date, the fund has secured almost $33 million in pledges or expressions of interest. Funders include Enterprise Community Partners, the Collins Foundation, Tom and Bob Walsh, Oregon Housing and Community Services Division, and the City of Portland. A number of banks have also expressed interest in capitalizing the fund.
MMT and its partners plan to grow the fund to $50 million.
Between now and 2013, 7,300 rent-subsidized apartments in Oregon are at risk of converting to market rates due to expiration of government subsidy contracts. "Affordable housing developers struggle to meet the demand for homes because they lack rapid deployment capital to buy suitable buildings and sites," Stamm said. "The Housing Acquisition Fund is a response to these problems. Funds will be used to preserve 6,000 existing apartments and support creation of 1,200 additional affordable homes."
Ann Lininger, Director for Program-related Investing at MMT, helped to convene the Housing Acquisition Fund steering committee over several months while it developed this concept. The steering committee includes representatives of Network for Oregon Affordable Housing (NOAH), Oregon Housing and Community Services Division, the City of Portland, Enterprise Community Partners, the Community Development Law Center, Northwest Housing Alternatives (a nonprofit developer), Community Alliance of Tenants, Wells Fargo, Housing Works (the central Oregon housing authority), a former HUD executive, and private developer Tom Walsh. “This is a team effort that culminates work underway in the housing sector for years,” said Lininger.
According to Lininger, Oregon is in the forefront of statewide efforts to address the problem of affordable housing preservation. The recent transfer by Harsch Investment Properties of the 235-unit Clay Tower Apartments to Cedar Sinai Park was an early victory in the preservation effort and a significant contribution to this work by the Schnitzer family, she noted.
“It costs half as much to preserve and renovate an existing affordable apartment as it does to build a new one,” said Stamm. “By preserving affordable homes, we reuse and recycle important housing resources. This project is cost-effective and environmentally sustainable at the same time.”
“Through the leadership of owners like the Schnitzers and Walshes – and with the concerted effort of Oregon’s government, nonprofit, and private sectors – we can safeguard these subsidized apartments and the families who rely on them,” said Stamm.
NOAH will administer the Fund. The Neighborhood Partnership Fund is creating the Fund’s database and website. Gerding Edlen helped develop parameters for the Fund’s green building incentive program, which Enterprise Community Partners will administer.
“This is the right team, and this is the right strategy,” said Stamm. “This project holds promise to leverage significant support from out-of-state sources. The project’s green building element will reduce operating costs at affordable housing projects and safeguard tenant health. Most important, the project will preserve and create homes for 25,000 low-income Oregonians.”
The Housing Acquisition Fund’s six-year goals include:
• Preserve at least 80% of the 7,300 federally rent assisted apartments that are at risk of conversion to market rates between 2007 and 2013.
• Safeguard the almost $25 million in annual federal rent subsidy to Oregon associated with those units.
• Finance acquisition of land and buildings on which 1,200 additional units will be developed.
• Establish a cost efficient green building incentive program that will minimize operating costs and maximize indoor air quality in 1,000 apartments.
Fund partners are working with the state to secure the permanent financing for projects the Housing Acquisition Fund will support. At the February special legislative session, the Oregon Housing Alliance will seek financial support for preservation work.
“In some parts of Oregon, these subsidized apartments represent the only low-cost housing available,” Stamm said. “If they disappear, families could be forced to leave their communities in search of affordable housing. The Housing Acquisition Fund aims to keep Oregon home – for the holidays and beyond.”
This is the first part of MMT's Affordable Housing Initiative strategies. Further efforts will be announced as they are developed.
Stanford Social Innovation Review recently published an article titled Creating High-Impact Nonprofits. The authors spent several years studying 12 of the most successful nonprofits in recent U.S. history and they discovered a number of things that surprised them:
"What we discovered after closely examining these 12 high-impact nonprofits came as a bit of a surprise. We had assumed that there was something inherent in these organizations that helped them have great impact – and that their success was directly tied to their growth or management approach. Instead, we learned that becoming a high-impact nonprofit is not just about building a great organization and then expanding it to reach more people. Rather, high-impact nonprofits work with and through organizations and individuals outside themselves to create more impact than they ever could have achieved alone. They build social movements and fields; they transform business, government, other nonprofits, and individuals; and they change the world around them."
Because MMT wants to invest in what really works, we found this article very interesting. We'd like to know how it strikes you... does it resonate with your experience here in Oregon and southwest Washington?
Please read the article, then come back here to MMT's website to post a comment in the box below. (We bet SSIR would love you to post a comment on its site as well!)
Permalink | Comments (3)Today marks the first day of the "Next Generation" at Meyer Memorial Trust. Many of you have been following our progress since April when we announced decisions resulting from our strategic planning process over the past year. The first program changes go into effect today, and are revealed on our updated website.
Now that MMT has turned 25, we have reached the next generation in our evolution, including transition and changes in our trustees, staff and how we approach our work. Like many new generations coming of age, we look for new and better ways to build on the past. We enter this phase with optimism, energized and with a refreshed outlook and approach to our work. More than ever, we see ourselves as better prepared to serve the next generation…and the next, and the next...
MMT is investing more in the long-term future of Oregon and southwest Washington. While each of our strategic initiatives has immediate and short term measurable goals and objectives that will let us see progress along the way, many of the initiative efforts won’t be finished for some time.
--Willamette River Basin restoration is a decades-long task that will extend well beyond the present generation. Addressing it will involve systemic changes in agriculture, forestry, waste management, and environmental education. We look forward to defining where the Trust can best lead and support this work that is so critical to the quality of life in the Willamette Basin.
--Improving public education and lifting student achievement is ongoing work where the rewards may not fully be seen for a generation or more. Through this initiative, MMT is working to contribute to a strong system that will be a foundation for future generations. Chalkboard Project adds a new impartial and research-based voice to this important conversation.
--The need for affordable housing is so great in our region, it will take time and significant private and public resources to have a meaningful impact. But because stable housing goes a long way in preparing future generations for successful lives, it has to be an important focus for our region's future. We are committed to increasing the funds available for affordable housing and to assisting the community development corporations across the region that are working diligently to increase affordable housing and related services.
In addition, we're making some long term investments in our Responsive Grants program.
--Nonprofit capacity building and technical assistance grants programs provide us with strategies to invest in nonprofits so they will be strong enough to endure and provide service for future generations. We also intend to invest in growing future leaders in the nonprofit world. We expect to see increased leverage in our grants program and we will be developing rigorous evaluation systems to measure results.
--Grassroots Grants are an important way we invest in smaller and more grassroots organizations, which represent the bulk of the region's nonprofits and will for future generations.
Today our Initial Inquiries process reopens. We invite you to explore our new grant programs, calendar and guidelines. Please keep watching our website for more changes in the months ahead, as we finish implementing all the decisions that have grown out of our strategic plan.
As always, we encourage your candid comments, ideas and suggestions.
Doug
Message from Doug Stamm:
Recently one of our trustees and I attended a conference on "Creating & Operating Multi-Tenant Non-Profit Centers". We were impressed and intrigued by what other foundations have done along these lines (e.g., the Tides Foundation in San Francisco/New York and the Meadows Foundation in Texas). See many more examples here. We are at the early stages of exploring the viability and potential value of developing such office space for non-profit organizations/services in the Portland metro area to begin with, but we'd like to know what organizations in other parts of Oregon and southwest Washington think as well. So please give us your ideas and input.
Does the concept of a nonprofit service center make sense? Would this kind of space add value to our community? What needs do nonprofits have that this kind of space might meet? Affordable, stable rent? Shared services? Meeting space? Program space? A nonprofit incubator? Office space with a programatic theme, where organizations with similar goals/activities could be co-located? What else comes to mind as we explore this idea?
Permalink | Comments (40)Below we offer a midsummer update on the strategic planning and implementation underway at MMT, last reported on here.
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."
-- 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.
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).
First, please be advised that we are working on renaming all our grant programs to more accurately reflect the intent of each program.
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.
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.
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.
Permalink | Comments (1)This morning we learned that trustee emeritus Warne Nunn has passed away at age 86. Warne may well have been Meyer Memorial Trust's best ambassador. He tirelessly traveled across the region, visiting grantees and prospective grantees. He always had a word of encouragement for nonprofit organizations and advocated for their needs passionately in meetings with MMT's board of trustees. Warne had a special love for Oregon history, public libraries and programs that supported underserved children and families. He never forgot his own childhood growing up on a farm in rural Oregon, and he never passed on an opportunity to speak for the needs of rural Oregon.
Before coming to the Trust, Warne worked for Governor and Senator Mark Hatfield in several capacities, and was Assistant Vice President of Public Affairs of the corporation now known as PacifiCorp. He also served on a number of corporate and community boards outside the Trust. All his service reflected his lifelong commitment to improving the lives of Oregonians.
Warne served as trustee from the time MMT began operating in 1982 until his declining health caused him to resign at the end of 2006. He was preceded in death by three other longtime trustees: Pauline Lawrence, Oran "OB" Robertson, and Travis Cross.
Warne was a wonderfully warm and cheerful presence in our office. We will miss him more than we can say. Our thoughts are with his family, especially his wife Delores, who supported him in his role at the Trust for many years.
A memorial service is planned for Thursday, June 28, at 3:00 pm at Our Savior's Lutheran Church in Lake Oswego (2000 Country Club Road, Lake Oswego, 97034).
Permalink | Comments (12)It's been so much fun hearing your answers to the question in my previous email that I thought it only fair to share them with you:
Do you remember where you were on this day 27 years ago when you heard a particularly explosive news item?
Here are the answers so far. Please add your own below...
YES! I was on the Columbia River fishing for Sturgeon when Mt. St. Helens blew! It was scary on the river because we couldn't tell which way the blast was moving at first.
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Yes. In an emergency room in Seattle... They didn't let us leave because of the potential ash issue. I was 7 months pregnant and we were all worried about ash and lungs. WOW. That really came flooding back!
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I was on the coast and didn't know a thing about til driving back to Portland that afternoon.... we rounded the curve on the freeway at Terwilliger curves so we had a clear view north and I shouted "OH MY GOD!!!!" and scared everyone else in the car to death.... I'll never forget that amazing sight!!!! Really took my breath away!!
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Back in NJ when I heard the news, Mt. Saint Helens explodes!- never imagined then that one day I'd be living in it's shadow.
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You probably don't expect us to respond, but I happen to remember that I was in a small airplane the morning of May 18. We had rented a plane just by coincidence and were in the air during the explosion. Couldn't see much because of the ash and dust of course, but it is fun to remember.
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Yes, I remember well. I was living in Arizona and had just sent my son off on a plane to Portland, OR to be picked up by my dad. My son, Jeff, was 12 years old. I remember him calling me from the airport saying he had used his tic tac box and filled it with ash that was raining down and telling me how heavy it was! Thanks for the memory jog and for keeping us abreast of MMT's work iinteresting ways.
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I do indeed remember where I was. Living on the west side of Eugene, Oregon, I awoke when I heard a huge explosion. I ran outside and scanned the horizon in all directions, looking for a fireball or column of smoke. It had sounded like something in Eugene blew up. My neighbors were out too, and we stood huddled in a small group of bewildered citizens, wondering and worrying.
Mt. St. Helens is our favorite volcano and we have been visiting it regularly since we returned to the west coast. We hike there frequently and monitor our favorite places, noting the growth and small changes. In subsequent vacations, we have been to Hawaii Volcano National Park a couple of times, to the top of Mauna Kea, to Yellowstone, and as far up Rainier as one can go without climbing. In Yellowstone, many people scoffed at our “tiny” Mt. St. Helens. For my husband and me, Mt. St. Helens is “our volcano” and we love and respect it.
Since last August, MMT has been working closely with FSG Social Impact Advisors in the most comprehensive and deepest look ever at our grantmaking activities. FSG performed research, gathered data, solicited input from 150 members of communities and organizations from our region, assessed MMT’s experience and expertise, and evaluated the relevance and success of our past grantmaking activities.
As part of that process, we asked for your help as we set about figuring out how to better achieve our mission to "to invest in people, ideas and efforts that deliver significant social benefit” to Oregon and Clark County, Washington. We're grateful that a number of you contributed to our assessment by participating in a discussion on our website, which was incorporated into FSG’s report.
This chapter of our strategic planning process is coming to a close and we are ready to share FSG’s findings and announce the first phase of our decisions to emerge from that process. Now that our trustees have made some initial determinations, MMT staff will spend the next several months drawing a map designed to get us to these new destinations.
In short, our trustees have decided to pursue a more proactive and targeted approach to grantmaking in order to have a greater impact on persistent challenges our region faces. They see this change in focus as a substantial but natural evolution for MMT.
We know that any time foundations announce changes, there may be uncertainty and anxiety among nonprofit organizations. We want to do whatever we can to address uncertainty by communicating clearly and directly with you and invite you to ask questions and participate in a discussion about these changes (see link to forum below). We hope these open lines of communication will help reduce the concern or uncertainly that may arise, although we acknowledge and regret that some of it may be unavoidable.
While our decisions mean that a number of changes will occur, some fundamental principles will remain the same.
MMT remains committed to focusing on investing in people, ideas and efforts that deliver significant social benefit to Oregon and Clark County, Washington. As a central philanthropic resource, we recognize the vital role the Trust plays in the region, and we will continue to provide funds that respond to a broad spectrum of community needs identified by nonprofit organizations.
We will expand the grants activities that were found to be most successful or show particular promise. For example, we will continue to expand our growing Program-Related Investment activities, offering a variety of new opportunities and resources to our nonprofit partners in a variety of fields.
We remain committed to being accessible and open, and will continue our efforts to actively communicate with you. We aim to continue to respond to applicants in a timely way, balancing this with continued rigor in our research and due-diligence.
Many things about Meyer Memorial Trust will change. Most changes represent an evolution rather than an abrupt departure, but all are intended to significantly change the way MMT supports the region and our nonprofit partners.
1. MMT will increase its focus on certain critical issues that affect our region because we are committed to having a greater impact on the most challenging and persistent issues we face. MMT will launch Strategic Action Initiatives where we will direct a significant portion of our grant funds. The first three Strategic Action Initiatives will focus on Closing the Achievement Gap and Lifting Student Achievement in K-12 Public Education, Access to Affordable Housing, and Willamette River Basin Restoration. These initiatives will work toward specific goals and convene partners to identify a path forward. At this point, we expect 20-30% of our grant dollars to be awarded in our Strategic Action Initiatives.
2. In both our focused initiatives and responsive grantmaking, we expect to hold ourselves and nonprofit partners to the highest standard of excellence. The Responsive Grant Program will become more competitive and we will be looking for the highest and best use of our resources in every decision we make as we have a smaller pool of grant funds available. We expect this will make our grantmaking decisions even more difficult than they have been. MMT will also work to stimulate grant proposals in high need areas by issuing Requests for Proposals from time to time. At this point, we expect our Responsive Grant grantmaking to become 40-50% of our portfolio.
3. To help nonprofits fare better in the face of greater competition, MMT will work more intentionally to strengthen nonprofit organizations across our region. Through a directed Nonprofit Capacity Building Program, MMT will create new funding opportunities, grants programs, and resources for the nonprofit community. To begin with, MMT is creating a dedicated Technical Assistance Grants Program to help nonprofits access needed resources, develop skills and build knowledge. At this point, we expect Non-Profit Capacity Building to represent about 15-20% of our portfolio.
4. MMT will enhance its ability to provide expedient support to significant projects at smaller organizations by expanding the Grassroots Grants Program. Both Grassroots Grants and Technical Assistance Grants will have streamlined application processes. At this point, we expect Grassroots Grants to represent about 5% of our portfolio.
5. MMT will conclude its Support for Teacher Initiatives program after 2007 and more strategically target its support of education by expanding and building upon education initiatives already begun.
While the shift to a new grant portfolio will be a gradual process, some changes will be apparent very soon. In order to ensure a smooth transition, the Trust will spend much of summer 2007 preparing for the launch of its new portfolio in the fall. Because we need to reallocate staff to designing and implementing new programs and procedures, we will not accept Responsive Grant Initial Inquiry applications between April 26 and Sept. 17, 2007.
Initial Inquiries received by April 25 will be reviewed by the Trustees at the June meeting, but those invited to submit full proposals will not be processed further until after September 17. Because Initial Inquiries submitted between today and April 25 will not be considered until fall when the new portfolio is in effect, there will be no advantage to rush an Initial Inquiry in over the next few days. Please be assured that all proposals that came in before April 25 will receive a full and complete review by MMT, just as they would have if we were not undergoing program changes.
Applicants whose full proposals have been received prior to April 25 will continue to have proposals processed as staff is available. Those that are invited to submit full proposals in April and May will be asked to submit after August 15, 2007. Program officers will communicate with their assigned grantseekers and advise them of the status of individual proposals no later than May 15.
The Grassroots Grants deadline of July 15, 2007 will remain in effect and operate under existing rules and procedures. Grassroots Grant program changes will be implemented for the next deadline on November 15, 2007.
MMT will conclude its Support for Teacher Initiatives program after pending proposal decisions are made in May 2007.
Over the next several months, everyone at MMT will be involved to some degree in putting these changes into action. As you might imagine, there are many details that still need to be addressed to develop internal processes, procedures and documents to effectively execute the new strategy and implement the new grants programs. We will communicate additional information here and through our email list as soon as it is ready.
We have included on our website the document that FSG Social Impact Advisors provided us upon completion of its work. It includes a lot of additional information about the planning process and frames the process we will undertake this summer to implement these changes in our work. We encourage everyone to read the document through.
We know there will be questions. And we know we may not have answers to all of them yet. Rather than wait until every last detail has been developed, we want to let you know where we are in our strategic planning process at this stage. Your questions and comments can help us design useful programs as we continue to map out the future. Because we are announcing changes that affect so many of our programs, rather than attempting to have one big conversation about everything here on our blog, we have established discussion forums for each major area of change. We hope there will be a collective discussion so everyone can benefit from reading all questions that get asked and answers that follow. Please help everyone by taking part in that open discussion.
We are also planning a series of community events after September 17 to talk about these changes. If you are interested in hosting such an event, please let us know. We want to reach all parts of our region as effectively and efficiently as we can, so we’ll be looking for opportunities to address larger groups that might already be planning to convene.
We view the changes we are announcing today as the next steps in our continuing efforts to partner with nonprofit organizations to improve this wonderful part of the world we share.
MMT has just completed the first stage of the most comprehensive and deepest look ever at our grantmaking activities. In summary, we have decided to:
TIMING ISSUES: New grants portfolio will be launched Sept. 17 after strategies and procedures are refined and put in place the next few months. (No Initial Inquiries accepted between April 26 and Sept. 17.) Proposals already in process will be processed as staff is available; each applicant will hear from its program officer by May 15th.
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First, a big thanks to all of you who attended our first ever gathering for nonprofits on March 9th. And a special thanks to those (98 of you!) who took the time to fill out our online survey form to help us know how you thought the event went.
We've now compiled the results and are sharing them with you. As we trust you know, we conducted the survey to help us know how to improve. Although we learned a lot from our first event by being there ourselves, you helped us clarify and identify ways to do better in the future.
First, the general results:
The scores for all the sessions/presentations were very close to the same, averaging about 4.0 on a scale of 1 to 5 (with 5 being the best). The highest scoring part of the day was the film festival.
We asked how well you thought we met the three goals we set for ourselves for the day (providing a context for nonprofits to think about the point of communication, introduction to using video as a tool to communicate, helping nonprofits feel inspired and empowered to create video), and the average score for each was 4.2 out of 5.
While the large majority of attendees gave favorable ratings, there were a small but consistent number who found absolutely no value in anything we did. Five people who attended gave us the lowest possible score for every question. (Between 25 and 50 people gave us the highest possible rating on every question, which helped our self-esteem!)
Our top three take-aways:
1. By far, the major difference in our future gatherings will be the opportunities for interaction we build in. We will select future venues with interactivity in mind. (For our first event, our venue choice was made on the basis of a place suitable for watching movies, a setting not known for facilitating group conversation.)
2. On a related note, we realize we jammed too many things into our first event and didn't provide enough breaks. Some suggested we should have spread the activities over the entire day, others said the chairs were too uncomfortable for sitting more than a couple of hours. Since we knew some people were driving across the state to attend, we wanted to make it worth their while so we erred on the side of long, with the second half structured so people could leave early. We continue to evaluate this issue going forward.
3. We are glad to see that many nonprofits seem to welcome a foundation reaching beyond its comfort zone and trying new things. It appears there is a hunger for information that is accessible and free, especially for smaller nonprofits that may be a long way from establishing a budget for trainings (may not even have funds to adequately pay staff yet). We also recognize that a handful of people who attended think we have no business doing anything except making grants! All feedback is welcome and helpful as MMT makes its way into a future that may be different from its past.
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In the spirit of transparency and openness, below we are sharing a representative sample of comments (from high to low) we got on the "fill in the box" portion of our survey. We include some comments verbatim and for the first two questions, indicate the number of others who shared the sentiment.
What did you find most interesting/useful?
"My organization is entering strategic planning and I am very interested in updating our communication strategies, so the presentation from the guys at OneNW was very interesting. I really enjoyed the funnel analogy." "The idea of the engagement funnel was very compelling. Good solid information to thank about and put to use." (13)
"Laura was a very polished presenter and therefore the most interesting." "Laura Mansfield was straightforward and realistic. I thought her documentary production experience was very informative for the topic of the seminar." (13)
"No question, the second half of the program where organizations showcased how they had successfully integrated video into their communication platform. It highlighted that the style, process and purpose of the video can truly reflect your organization and its mission." "Seeing a broad range of pieces with a variety of budgets and qualities was useful. I left feeling empowered, both as a non-profit representative and a freelance video production artist, by the fact that there is a lot you can do with a few resources to make a video that will authentically help spread the mission of an organization. Also, it was very kind of you folks to feed us popcorn and snacks!" "Variety of techniques/methods used in funding/producing videos; individual videos, voices & stories. I liked the informal tone of the session." (44)
"Maybe not useful, but definately interesting was the opening video (EPIC 2015). The most impressive aspect was that it FULLY captured your attention." (4)
"Really, the last 10 minutes was the most useful (the most interactive part)." (3)
What did you find least interesting/useful?
"The film festival." "Listening to the directors of the movies." "Several not so great videos (one didn't even have a call to action!)" "The 'extra' time taken by film presenters beyond the program timeline." (11)
"The meeting facilitation was bumpy and unprofessional. For example, Marie Deatherage did not introduce herself at the beginning of the session. The second presenter interrupted her, and they were not properly introduced either." (2)
"A lot of the info was too basic....I already knew a lot of info provided by key note speakers." (4)
"The presentation on video production. I thought that the tone was a little condescending. The word polished was used numerous times and it made video seem out of the realm of possibility for most organizations. After seeing the videos in the afternoon it is clear that is, luckily, just not the case. Additionally, there was a vibe of 'this is all for the money'. In my opinion that focus is what can potentially make video ineffective and hollow." (3)
"A couple of the projects shown had budgets of $250,000 and involved filming the President of Rwanda. While it's nice to see what MercyCorps could possibly do, local examples like Free Geek, which was shown later in the afternoon, had far more relevance to me." (6)
" I found the entire thing interesting and useful except for the cynnical comments of the two people sitting behind me who apparently did not find it interesting and useful and felt the need to comment loudly for almost the entire workshop. This is not your fault. I should have been more assertive about shutting them up." (2)
"I'm not too big on presenting from the pulpit. I like to engage the experts and the audience more." (3)
"Could have addressed backlash of donors (particularly older donors) who are not interested in media or resent it. (The 2015 video itself is both interesting and ultimately frightening.) How do we connect them or how do organizations run multiple campaigns. It's a real capacity issue."
"Receiving the information on the Community Access Capital Grant, which is due March 20th was the least useful and most frustrating. We need more lead time to discuss the opportunities with our board and develop a good grant application."
"The entire format of the event was awful. When your first speakers say, "We're the boring part" and then talk for an hour, you know the event stinks. Organizer: do not invite boring speakers. Speakers: do not plan boring presentations. Also do not announce that what you are about to do is boring. Both organizers and presenters insulted the audience and wasted thousands of dollars in nonprofit resources because attendees got so little out of it."
What would have made it better? Advice for future sessions? (the variety of comments makes them much more difficult to categorize, but we've included a representative sample here)
"I loved the session, but too much of anything can become bad--cutting it to about half the time would have made it perfect!"
"Shorter! There is no way I an sit for 5 hours."
"Having the agenda in advance would have been helpful in planning the day."
"Perhaps having someone explain that videos can be made for very little money earlier in the day. Though Laura Mansfield had interesting points, she made it sound like a simple video would cost $16,000. Then after the break we saw that wasn't true, but people that left prior to the break may have been discouraged, thinking that there's no way their org could dedicate $16,000 to a video."
"I would have loved to hear more about specific steps to plan a video: how to decide what goes into it. Maybe a check list of what to consider, what kinds of expertise (videography, editing, etc.) are needed, etc."
"It would have been great to leave with DVDs of all the videos shown, especially Free Geek. I shared info about the event with my co-workers and they were eager to see the agenda and review all the examples."
"Some of the comments after the videos were too long. Perhaps handouts could have been used to summarize the findings from the non profits. Also, breakout groups might be helpful in the future."
"Have a 2-hour session with Gideon & Drew and an indepth Q & A after their presentation."
"Perhaps showing all the films and then having a panel with a moderator ask focused questions and take questions from the audience."
"No. 1, more break time. There's a reason old-time movie palaces had intermissions. Also, as this was quite a crossroads event for people in our industry, a few more breaks would have allowed for more mingling and networking."
"I'm wondering if it would have been possible to split into discussion groups with the speakers, to get a bit more dialogue going and to make it feel more interactive."
"This might be hard to do, but I wonder if you could customize the content a bit more. A Community Development Corp. has significantly different needs than Outside In or Friends of Trees. I'm wondering if maybe the afternoon sessions could be broken down in a fashion that would give more specifically targeted information."
"Better parking."
"Chocolate cake and brandy!"
What other topics, if any, would you like MMT to try to help demystify in the future?
applying for grants, getting solid funding, reaching people without annoying them
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How organizations are using electronic communications like e-newsletters, blogs, email blasts (ex: Constant Contant, etc.), including benefits and drawbacks to each, but hearing this all from the organizations themselves...not from a vendor or consultant or TACS. I know what the products/services are out there, but how are they REALLY working for groups? How did it change their communications with the public and their constituents?
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What grant-givers are looking for in grant-requests
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I'll think about this more and let you know.
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Discussing concrete solutions to bridge the technology gap (this happens with smaller organizations and also with staff that are not as tech savvy as they want to be) What can we do to catch up with the wave so that we do not fall off the cart entirely. If we are behind the ball with technology in more than one way..where is our time best spent? Where can we see the biggest advantage/return on our investment?
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more ideas about ways to do hands on .. or get it done ... at low costs ...
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Forming successful partnerships and collaborations.
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I would like you all to support TACS or WVDO or PSU or AFP any of the other organizations that provides professional development for the non profit sector. I don't see how this is the role of a foundation and clearly you are no good at it. You should have submitted an RFP for this kind of program. What you delivered was thrown together, uncordianted attempt at doing a brain dump vaguely on the topic of video in the nonprofit. It resulted in a incohesive, fragmented, repetitive presentation. Sometimes it was an infomercial. If you added up all the hourly wages in that room, I'd say you did the nonprofit community a disservice.
I have no doubt that you will get people who say it was helpful, but if these people have never used video, they don't know enough to know what was missing.
One more thing: one email a month from MMT is MORE than enough.
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I think you are doing a great job. It's exciting to be able to attend FREE trainings that are high quality.
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Alternative avenues of funding such as PRI, venture philanthropy/social investing, etc. Also internal nonprofit communications (conflict management, team building, communication skills building, facilitation, etc.). I am working on a degree program in this area and would be happy to recommend speakers who are professionals in this area and also have excellent presentation and teaching skills. I believe there is an enormous need for greater competence of nonprofits in this area (and am pursuing this degree in order to achieve that on at least a personal level!).
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I'm sure there are some, but it's too late in the afternoon for my brain to process. But I would like to thank the MMT crew for this wonderful effort. It was great to see MMT reps so involved in this topic -- and in such a hands-on, accessible way. Much appreciated.
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How can non-profits and non-profit service providers come together more easily?
How do independent producers/consultants approach the non-profit sector to provide services?
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Working with businesses as partners in win-win relationships.
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Effective use of non-profit boards.
Development and funding raising
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I am so new to non-profit management that I appreciate any free education I can get, but because I am involved in an arts organization I would love to see some workshops that focused on the arts specifically.
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Web conferencing and collaboration software [e.g. Webex]. This can be used to create short [or long] real-time presentations to donors and allow them to engage in discussion at the same time. [And, of course, it can be used within the org to faciliate communication and training.
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Effective boards
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Blogs, interactive media
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How to make a 1- 2 minute quick-time video using stills and "Ken Burns" effects.
Getting the media's ATTENTION. Effective press releases and other means of getting into the news.
Plannig, promoting, and putting on an effective fund-raising event.
Defining your target audience in fund-raising.
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You can do that???? Demystify the future, I mean....
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"Size matters"
What are the considerations for capital investment and especially STAFF TIME for these new media ideas/projects? And from the perspective of customizing the considerations: national organization, social services, public policy, fundraising, local organization, statewide or regional organization. One size will not fit all but how do you know what is best for YOUR organization??
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I think this one will be with us for a while.
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Measuring performance, operating transparently, models of governance.
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I think it would be helpful to also focus on a little about communicating to your funders ie. showcasing the funder and the grantee as partnering together. Thanks for providing this opportunity!
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Storytelling - how to structure and write powerful stories that can be used in multi-media.
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for beginners-how to change a website or update it.
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Long range plans of use of creativity - how to fund really unusual ideas.
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Fundraising: who does it well? why and how?
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Collaborative advantages - how nonprofits can work together to leverage change. Addressing the fear of lost autonomy - and creating a partnership contract for projects.
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It is very dry, but the use of data and databases keeps coming up as an important tool and one which there is typically a knee jerk reaction to implementing.
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I would like to hear from the film makers about the process and exactly how staff and volunteers can be involved and how they need to prepare for a venture like this.
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Anything that will help non-profits become more successful at finding resources of sustainable funding and ways to engage communities to support their mission.
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I appreciate your doing this. I am not sure I was a good target audience so treat my repsonses accordingly. (Don't weigh them as heavily)
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there are quite a few. a lot of us are so glad to see an alternative to TACS workshops, it's nice to see something a little more cutting edge for a change
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Well, since I'm thinking along these lines, I'd be interested in seeing some discussion or research about the way the entire non-profit world will evolve over 15 years. What will offices look like? What staffing configurations might be needed. And most important: Will prospective funders be willing to support the higher levels of overhead that likely will be needed to keep pace?
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fundraising, outreach, volunteer recruitment and retention, keeping your values even when you have to compromise
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I'm interested in emerging trends in engaging volunteers of all types in new and exciting ways
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Its the whole new media that I'm interested in--this emerging way of building community.
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The conversation can continue here... add your comments now! Also, please participate in the discussion forum we set up following the event. (Please note that you need to register before you can post.)
Permalink | Comments (0)Mainly, a bunch of reasons why you should not miss this event...
Take two powerful keynote presentations about creating content for communication:
>>> Beyond Hello: Communications that Build Relationships and Influence
>>> The Power of Media and What This Can Mean For Your Nonprofit
that will be of great interest and help to:
== Nonprofit communications and development staff who design and/or implement communications plans
== Nonprofit executives and board members who make decisions about and allocate resources for communications
== Foundation staff and trustees who make decisions about funding communications proposals
== Communications professionals who want to better understand how to serve nonprofits
== Those who just like to see and learn cool stuff
with appearances by really awesome folks and organizations like:
- Gideon Rosenblatt, Executive Director ONE/Northwest, Seattle
- Drew Bernard, Portland Director ONE/Northwest
- Laura Mansfield, Laura Mansfield Consulting
- Ian McCluskey, Northwest Documentary Arts & Media
- Karen Anspacher-Meyer, Green Fire Productions
- Carl Kucharski, Portland Community Media
- Ellen Thomas, Northwest Film & Video Center
- Ellen Beer, FIlm Action Oregon
- Rebecca Gibbons, Mt. Hood Cable Regulatory Commission
- Lynn Thompson, BBBS
so you can ponder and discuss things like...
* What's the point of communicating? What do you need to know and think about before you start?
* What's new about New Media?
* Why and how is video such a powerful form of communication? What do we need to know in order to make the most of it?
and then add:
+ real life nonprofit video examples and backstory of what it took to produce them.
+ community video resources
+ a whole packet of information that includes NPower's Tech-Savvy Communications: A Toolkit for Nonprofits
at:
noon to 5p.m., Friday March 9th
Hollywood Theatre
4122 NE Sandy Blvd., Portland
for free! So the only decent thing to do is register now!
Permalink | Comments (1)As part of philanthrophy's efforts to be more accountable and more effective, Meyer Memorial Trust has been engaged in a new level of self-reflection, self-evaluation and strategic planning for the last few years.
While the size and nature of Meyer Memorial Trust means we will never have the global influence of a Gates or Rockefeller or Ford Foundation, we have nonetheless set a rather ambitious goal for ourselves. We strive to be a national model for regional foundations. We want to do that not only through our grants programs, but through all the work that we do.
One way our newly articulated ambitions and efforts have been visible to those outside our office is through our increased emphasis on and efforts at communication. While we always considered communication a priority at the Trust and we were the first foundation to have a website in Oregon, new technologies and tools enable us to communicate more frequently and in a variety of new and fun ways.
Two years ago we redesigned our website from the ground up and added a number of interactive features. We also began writing more often and informally to you, giving you a look further inside our organization, attempting to dissolve barriers that naturally arise between foundations and those whose work we exist to support.
So here's why we think 2007 will be the best year yet... We have other several other communication and outreach efforts under development that we will be launching during this. While some activities are not quite ripe for announcing, we are excited today to unveil the first of our 2007 communication and outreach programs.
We'll describe the bigger picture to you in a message coming soon, but we want to open this new phase today by announcing our first gathering. (We're calling them "gatherings" because we haven't found another word that quite captures what we have in mind... we intend that these will take on a wide and unpredictable variety of forms; they won't be the usual "talking heads" kinds of events usually referred to as workshops, conferences, trainings, or panel presentations.)
Our intention in these gatherings is to demonstrate that one important role for a national model for a regional foundation is to offer times and spaces and other resources that enable and empower nonprofit organizations in our region become the best they can be. Which means they need to have access to the best information, tools, and inspiration available.
We begin on March 9th with a look at Communicating in the age of New Media. Our first session will look at some big picture communication issues in this new era, with particular emphasis on video as a tool. We will follow up with other related topics over the following months. We hope you will come be part of this exciting new venture.
We're also making it possible for 100 individuals from nonprofit organizations to attend a very interesting and exciting event on the evening of March 10th to witness and participate in an example of nonprofits using multimedia in new and exciting ways... to raise awareness and funds, motivate action and behavior, and so forth.
Here are the particulars:
Communicating in the Age of New Media
Friday, March 9th
Noon to 5 p.m.
Hollywood Theatre (home of Film Action Oregon)
4122 NE Sandy Blvd.
Portland OR 97212
Price: No charge, but please bring a nonperishable food item for Oregon Food Bank.
Hosted by Meyer Memorial Trust
Bring your own brown bag lunch, the popcorn and drinks are on us!
This event will include a Media That Matters film festival on food and sustainability...
Register for the March 9th event here. After registering, you'll receive an email confirmation. Please print your confirmation and bring it to the event. If you also want to attend the March 10th event, please see instructions below*
Unmasking New Orleans: The Frontline of Sustainability
part of a multimedia convergance to foster sustainable building
Saturday, March 10th
8 p.m. to midnight
Audio Cinema
226 SE Madison St.
Portland OR 97214
Price: $20 adults, $10 students, but free to first 100 nonprofits, see *below
Hosted by From the Bottoms Up
MMT has purchased 100 tickets to this event, which we see as complementing our March 9th gathering by serving as an example of communicating the work of an organization and cause in unexpected and imaginative ways. These tickets will be provided at no charge to nonprofits that attend the March 9th gathering.
*MMT has 100 tickets to offer to 501(c)(3) organizations, one per organization. Since our supply is limited, nonprofits who wish to send a representative to the March 10th event should request a ticket as soon as possible. First come, first served. To request a ticket, email Marie, MMT's Director of Communication & Learning with the Subject Line Tickets, and in the body of the message include the name of your 501(c)(3) organization and the name of the person who will be attending the March 10th event Please note that others will be able to attend by purchasing tickets, you don't have to fly solo... For more information on ticket purchase, contact From the Bottoms Up.
If you have any questions, it might be a good idea to post them as a comment below so the answers can be shared among us all...
So we hope you are as excited by these developments as we are. And for sure, we hope to see you there on March 9th. (We've reserved the large theater, so we have lots of room).
Permalink | Comments (0)With profound apologies to Kermit the Frog, we'd like to ask you about being green...
As you may know, for several years MMT has had a policy encouraging "green" building practices in capital projects that seek funding from us. We have been especially interested in seeing construction that reduces use of fossil fuels and lowers ongoing energy costs for organizations. A summary of that policy and links to sources that define green building can be found here.
We are contemplating strengthening our green building policy. But before we make a decision, we would like to hear from you. How would requiring "green" building practices affect your capital projects?
Is promoting green building a value your organization shares? Do you foresee any unintended consequences that we should know about? What should we know about the challenges your organization might face in meeting "green" building requirements.
This is your opportunity to contribute your wisdom and experience to our decision-making process. Please submit your response here by Jan. 31, 2007.
Permalink | Comments (18)