Big Strides in One Year of Enhanced Data Access for Minnesota

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MCF recently marked one year since the start of our data partnership with Impala, a unified software platform for data on philanthropy. Thanks to this partnership, all foundations and nonprofits in Minnesota have access to Impala's Ecosystems platform, which lets anyone see the full giving picture of a selected geography, cause area, set of funders, or set of nonprofits of their choosing.

It's been an eventful year, with many Minnesota nonprofits and foundations accessing Impala to take data searches into their own hands, and Impala tools aiding MCF in getting a better picture of our philanthropic scene.

Highlights include:

• 62 MCF members onboarded and using the platform (and 75 Minnesota foundations total), compared to just 9 before launch.
• 232 Minnesota nonprofits onboarded, compared to only 27 pre-launch.
• Congressional district fact sheets that MCF used as part of Foundations on the Hill this year, produced using data from Impala, that helped our representatives get a better picture of philanthropic funding in their areas.
• Regular MCF use of Ecosystems to help answer MCF members' questions about what other grantmakers were funding in geographies and causes they care about.
• MCF research like Giving in Minnesota relying on Impala for data for subjects like what geographic areas receive funding from Minnesota-based foundations.

Impala staff have also worked directly with some MCF members in answering their data questions and holding individual training sessions for their staff and grantees.

Our Foundation has used Impala to better understand the education and environment ecosystem by highlighting which Foundations are funding in MN. Additionally, Impala has helped us understand some gaps in funding for culturally specific communities across the State.  Impala gives us information to understand the ecosystems that matter most to our giving priorities.

-Ambar Hanson, Executive Director, Mortenson Family Foundation

With two years remaining in our Impala partnership, we're looking forward to seeing what more we can accomplish in our state and organization. If you don't have an Impala account yet, head to our Minnesota landing page to create one, and keep an eye for future Impala training sessions coming soon.