LATEST NEWS | Women’s Foundation of Minnesota Announces Record Grantmaking in FY06

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: WEDNESDAY, APRIL 26, 2006

MINNEAPOLIS - The Women’s Foundation of Minnesota, the state’s only grantmaking organization dedicated exclusively to growing equality for women and girls in Minnesota, awarded $1,074,502 in grants during its fiscal year ending March 31, 2006, according to Lee Roper-Batker, Women’s Foundation president and chief executive officer. It is the first time in the organization’s 23-year history that it has hit the $1 million mark in a single fiscal year and a reflection of its rapid growth.

“For the Women’s Foundation, this level of grantmaking is tied directly to the effectiveness of our grantees in building equality for women and girls in Minnesota.  And as our base of support continues to grow, so do our resources and the numbers of programs we can fund each year,” she said.  “Our supporters understand the value that long-term investment in women and girls brings about to the health and stability of whole communities.  Truly, when women move forward, the whole world moves with them.”

In addition to achieving the $1 million benchmark in overall annual grantmaking for the organization, the Foundation also announced that its five-year girlsBEST (Girls Building Economic Success Together) grantmaking initiative, which designated its final round of grants in January, provided a total $1,017,045 in funding statewide. The girlsBEST initiative was established by the Foundation in 2001 in response to information gained during a listening tour of 159 women and girls in 14 Minnesota communities. The common theme that emerged was the importance of investing in girls today as the best way to build opportunities and equality for all women tomorrow.

The Foundation currently provides grants through the Social Change Fund, dedicated to providing grants to state nonprofits working to achieve equality for women in five cornerstone areas; the girlsBest initiative, dedicated to providing grants to programs that prepare girls for economic well-being and success; and a growing number of Donor Advised Funds, which allow donors to direct their philanthropy to organizations they support.

The Foundation also works to build philanthropy with and for women of color underrepresented in philanthropy. In 2005, it established the Women of African Descent Giving Circle, the first Black, all-women philanthropic group of its kind in Minnesota. The Foundation also earned the 2005 Responsive Philanthropy Award from the Minnesota Council of Nonprofits for creating the nation’s first Hmong Women’s Giving Circle.

 
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