Welcome to the MCF Online Resource Library

Get philanthropy insights, learn best practices and research documents that help you further your impact. Begin your search by typing a keyword in the "Search" bar below, or search by "Resource Type" by selecting the section(s) in the right-hand panel. Next, scroll to the bottom of the page to view search results. Have a resource to add? Email us at info@mcf.org.
 

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Compensation Philosophy for HR Decisionmakers

Published: 
September 2022
Read MCF’s new internal organizational philosophy which sets the tone for how we make decisions around competitive and equitable salaries, make salary adjustments and advancements, maintain confidentiality and transparency, and more. Developed in partnership with a DEI consultant, this philosophy furthers our equity goals and advances our vision of being the best place our staff have ever worked. Online here: MCF’s Compensation Philosophy .

Best Practices for Nonprofit Boards

Published: 
July 2022
Nonprofit boards play a critical role in making sure that their organizations stay strong and healthy, especially during times of crisis. Alice Antonelli, Director for NFF's Advisory Services, has gathered a series of best practices for nonprofit boards , including special crisis tips to help boards prioritize specific actions they can take right now during the COVID-19 pandemic.
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Best PracticeLeadership and Governance

Practical Guidance: What Nonprofits Need to Know About Lobbying

Published: 
May 2022
This resource is designed to help your nonprofit organization determine if state or local regulations might apply to your existing or proposed advocacy work. The answer is surprisingly often yes, but there are also often many advocacy activities that do not require state lobbyist registration or reporting.
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Public Policy

Trust-based Philanthropy Presentation

Published: 
June 2022
Trust-based philanthropy is informed by experience that funder-grantee relationships are stronger when they are built on the foundation of trust. These relationships: Center equity, humility and transparency. Recognize the power imbalance between funders and grantees, and work to actively rebalance it. Deeply value the quality of relationships, and honor how we treat others on the path to winning on our issues, as much as the act of winning itself. View the resources shared during a presentation to MCF's Corporate Community Affairs Network in June 2022.
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Best PracticeGrantmakingPresentation

Corporate Benchmarking Survey Spring 2022

Published: 
June 2022
In May 2022, MCF conducted a survey of corporate community affairs programs and corporate foundations. The survey questions are posed by your peers - professionals working in Minnesota's corporate giving programs. The survey responses are meant to inform your work and the work of your corporate giving peers. Questions in this survey focus on grantmaking ( survey part 1 ) and volunteer engagement / employee engagement ( survey part 2 ) within a corporate setting.
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BenchmarksGrantmakingHuman Resources

Native Nations and Communities 101

Published: 
March 2022
In March 2022, MCF and WASH-MN (We Are Still Here)* hosted a rich learning opportunity about Native Nations and communities. A recording of the presentation, linked here , introduces high-level topics specific to Native Nations and peoples, including what it means to be a Native Nation, the importance of treaties, basics of tribal citizenship and enrollment, and information on how to engage more effectively with Native communities. Viewers will gain base-level knowledge to help their foundations better understand and support Native communities and resources to continue learning. The session...

Crafting a Compensation Philosophy

Published: 
December 2021
A compensation philosophy serves as a guide for employers who are making compensation decisions. It also provides transparency to employees who seek to understand decisions that are made. The attached documents offer a starting point for crafting a comprehensive compensation philosophy along with sample excerpts from philanthropic organizations.

Aligning Banking and Organizational Values

Published: 
November 2021
During MCF’s fall 2021 Impact Investing Network meeting, members discussed aligning banking practices with organizational values. Aligning values could include choosing a bank based on the diversity of its ownership or leadership, on the geographic area where the bank focuses its investments, on the locations of the bank branches, or various other factors. Network members discussed two ways to align banking and values: (1) use values-based criteria to select a new bank or (2) actively express your values to your current bank in order to inform institutional change. Attached are two sample...

Principles for Philanthropy: Introductory Presentation

Published: 
October 2021
MCF offers this PowerPoint deck as a tool for educating your colleagues, staff, board or community members about the Principles for Philanthropy. Ideas for using this PowerPoint deck: Use the whole deck to introduce all of the principles at a staff or board meeting. Focus on one slide – one of the 8 principles – for 15 minutes at the start of a meeting. Use the questions at the end of the deck to engage your team in discussing one principle – or the entire set of principles: What principles / concepts resonate most with your foundation? What principles / concepts do you think will feel...

Corporate Benchmarking Survey Fall 2021

Published: 
October 2021
In October 2021, MCF conducted a survey of corporate community affairs programs and corporate foundations. The survey questions are posed by your peers - professionals working in Minnesota's corporate giving programs. The survey responses are meant to inform your work and the work of your corporate giving peers. Questions in this survey focus on a wide range of issues including overall giving structure, the relationship between corporate giving and DEI, foundation governance, employee volunteer programs and program forecasts for the near future.

Compensation Benchmarking Resources from Nonprofit Sources

Published: 
September 2021
The following resources provide compensation benchmarking, often for both salaries and benefits, for various nonprofit staff positions. Each resource fills a unique niche that may help you set competitive wages and benefits for your organization’s team. Minnesota Council of Nonprofits, Salary and Benefits Survey : The survey gives a page-by-page review of the top 77 jobs in nonprofit organizations. The report presents the results by 6 budget categories, 7 geographic regions, and 12 activity areas so you can compare your organization's compensation to similar organizations...
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BenchmarksHuman Resources

Trust in Civil Society

Published: 
July 2021
Public trust is the currency of the nonprofit sector. The public’s belief that nonprofits will “do the right thing” is one of the central reasons the sector exists. Communities have relied upon nonprofits to provide trusted sources of information, life-sustaining services, environmental stewardship, and places of refuge for centuries. In today’s highly polarized environment, understanding and managing trust has never been more important for organizations to own their license to operate, lead, and succeed. Given the outsized importance of trust, it is imperative to assess the status of that...
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Public Policy

Power Moves: Your Essential Philanthropy Assessment Guide for Equity and Justice

Taking time out for self-assessment and learning is an important part of the organizational cycle of planning, action and reflection. It helps ensure that your strategies make sense given your goals, and that those strategies are having the impact you seek for the communities you care about. Other factors may prompt introspection, such as internal leadership changes or external events. The philanthropic sector’s growing urgency to tackle inequities also offers strong motivation to take stock. Today, it is still all too easy to predict advantage or disadvantage based on race, ethnicity, gender...
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Diversity, Equity and Inclusion

Financial Due Diligence: Assessing Risk for Your Next Program Related Investment

Published: 
May 2021
View a video of an educational workshop (recorded May 3, 2021) on the ins and outs of financial due diligence. This video takes away the mystery of conducting due diligence. Aspects of the session describe due diligence of Community Development Financial Institutions (CDFIs); and the principles of due diligence can be applied more broadly, as well. Presenters and facilitators: Paige Chapel, President & CEO, Aeris Susan Hammel, Impact Investing Executive in Residence, Minnesota Council on Foundations Eric Muschler, Program Officer, McKnight Foundation Jeff Ochs, President & CEO, Venn...
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Resource type 
Impact Investing

Shifting the Evaluation Paradigm: The Equitable Evaluation Framework

Published: 
April 2021
The Equitable Evaluation Initiative (EEI) believes that evaluation has the ability to contribute to equity and that it must embrace definitions of rigor and validity that reflect the complexity of the work in which many are engaged. We are imagining what might be possible if evaluation were conceptualized, implemented and utilized in a manner in which equity is core and validity reflects 21st-century contexts and identities. The Equitable Evaluation Framework™ (EEF) is co-crafted and co-led by partners in philanthropy, evaluation and nonprofits, and it facilitates ways to engage institutions...

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