MCF Conference and Annual Meeting | March 15 - 16, 2018
How to bring an LGBTQ-inclusive lens to your work
Session Hosted by MCF’s LGBTQ Working Group
Today’s Guiding Questions
How do we equip ourselves and our organizations with the skills, knowledge, mindsets, and goals
to ensure that the LGBTQ community is included in any conversation about funding
equity?
Given Minnesota's proud history of innovative philanthropy, where
do we fit within the national landscape of funder initiatives
focused on issues facing the LGBTQ community? Where should
we fit?
BEtter OUTcomes Funders
Blandin Foundation
Bush Foundation
Greater Twin Cities United Way
Minnesota Community
Foundation/St. Paul Foundation
Northwest Area Foundation
Otto Bremer Trust
Women’s Foundation of
Minnesota
Engage in skillful, sensitive
grantmaking in support of LGBTQ-
focused efforts and organizations
Ensure adequate, sustained
support across Minnesota’s
philanthropic sector for LGBTQ-
focused efforts and organizations
ou
r g
oals
Changing
mindsets
Shifting
practices
Raising
money
Building
leadership
CHANGING MINDSETS
Equipping individual grantmakers and foundation staff with the skills and knowledge they need to create inclusive organizations and guide the grantmaking of their organization to ensure a level playing field for LGBTQ members of our communities
SHIFTING PRACTICES
Creating organizations that model best practices in inclusive grantmaking and an organizational climate that is welcome to all
RAISING MONEY
Shifting the philanthropic sector toward sustained, adequate giving to meet the needs of LGBTQ organizations and initiatives and ensure a level playing field for all
BUILDING LEADERSHIP
Cultivating leadership across philanthropy to model the mindsets and investments needed for a fair, equitable society
What have we done?
Learned – Understanding Opportunities and Challenges ● Undertook comprehensive review of existing data about funding
and quality of life for LGBTQ Minnesotans ● Consulted with national experts on philanthropy and LGBTQ
issues and communities Listened – Hearing from Our Community ● Conducted funder focus groups and interviews with funders and
leaders representing LGBTQ serving organizations and initiatives
How BOI Works Building Capacity – Convening Learning Communities of Practice Offer a powerful, five-session Learning Community of Practice for funders, who send teams of trustees, executive leadership, and staff from their organizations. Deepens awareness, cultivates skills, and builds commitment Connecting – Reaching Out to Funders Engage funders to encourage involvement and support and sustained, skilled engagement with and funding for LGBTQ-related initiatives and organizations.
GIVE
Ensure your foundation makes an annual commitment to support LGBTQ-focused initiatives or organizations. Numerous opportunities exist that are a good fit with diverse funder priorities such as poverty, housing, education, healthcare, safety, the arts, civil rights, and more.
MORE
On an annual basis, make sure your foundation is investing at least the national standard percentage for LGBTQ-focused funding.
CONSISTENTLY
Sustained funding is critical to ensure that LGBTQ people have equal access to opportunity and well-being as all members of our community. Organizations and initiatives that work to create this access to opportunity need a predictable base of support to do important work.
HERE
In 2015, nearly half of all funding in 2015 for LGBTQ-focused efforts made by Minnesota-based foundations left the state. Thus, most MN LGBTQ-focused initiatives and local organizations have very limited access to resources to support their work.
Small Group Discussion
Based on your initial work with the
Appropriate Standards tool, what’s
coming clear about needs and
possibilities for your foundation
with respect to ensuring skilled,
sensitive grant-making and
adequate, sustained support?
Large Group Reflection
Is there anything that emerged in your small group as a key insight you’d like to share with others?
When you get back to your office after the MCF conference, what steps will you take to implement Appropriate Standards at your organization and get involved in BEtter OUTcomes ?
Questions about today?
Want to follow up about things you heard today? Contact Anil Hurkadli at [email protected] Or Maggi Adamek at [email protected]
I want to get involved…
Want to contribute to the BEtter OUTcomes Initiative? Want to join a Learning Community of Practice or get involved in implementing the Appropriate Standards at your organization? Contact Tom Vance at [email protected]
What’s ahead?
May 2018 – Fairness in Philanthropy Funder Briefing Spring & Summer 2018 – Northland and Twin Cities Learning Communities of Practice Regular updates via MCF’s Philanthropy Potluck Blog