MCF's Supplier Diversity Policy & Practice
Supplier diversity includes underrepresented groups (people of color, women, LGBT) that can provide goods or services to MCF. They are commonly referred to as minority/women/LGBT business enterprises (MWBEs or LGBTBEs) and are at least 51% owned and operated, and controlled by a person who meets the aforementioned demographic categories.
Scope
The supplier diversity practice will follow the Practice Options in Principles for Grantmakers & Practice Options for Philanthropic Organizations to “actively seek a diverse range of candidates when selecting consultants, investment managers, legal counsel, auditing firms and other vendors”. MCF will make every effort to identify vendors which have as many of the following characteristics as possible:
Tier 1 Preference
- Minority-owned (to include African Americans, Asian/ Pacific Islanders, Native Americans and Latino/Hispanics).
- Women-owned
- LGBT-owned
Tier 2 Preference
- Small (generally fewer than 20 employees).
- Locally-based (owned by residents of Minnesota).
- Socially responsible (has environmentally friendly/green/sustainable practices or living wage policies or actively providing jobs/training to women, people of color, and/or LGBT people).
Goals
MCF’s goal is to have 50 percent of its vendors from within the Strongly or Highly Preferred (pertains to number of vendors not dollars spent). On an annual basis, a minimum of 20% of MCF’s annual vendor spending will be with characteristics defined in Tier 1 (refers to dollars spent).
- Highly Preferred vendor = Has one or more characteristics from Tier 1 and three or more total characteristics from among either Tier.
- Strongly Preferred vendor = Has one or more characteristics from Tier 1 and two total characteristics from among either Tier.
- Preferred vendor = Has at least one of the characteristics listed in either Tier.