How Do We Make Funding Decisions?

Donors trust Minneapolis Jewish Federation with their generous donations. We take this responsibility seriously — the process by which we set priorities and make funding decisions needs to be rigorous and transparent.

This diagram shows the parts of the process and how they work together:

The Board of Directors sets Federation’s vision and direction; receives and approves funding recommendations.

The Community Impact Steering Committee (CISC):

  • interprets Board vision into guidance for committees;
  • recommends rough split of funding across committees and into different types of funding;
  • interacts with committees to identify community-wide needs and trends;
  • combines all funding recommendations of committees into a comprehensive recommendation up to the Board.

The Committees on Caring Community, Jewish Identity & Engagement, Jewish Education and Overseas:

  • interact directly with Community Partner agencies and programs;
  • understand their strengths and needs;
  • analyze funding applications and make recommendations on funding
  • made up of volunteers with strong interest and experience in the area of work for that committee.

Important dates in the process:

  • March 1: Application materials available for 2016-2017 grant year

 

  • April 4: Letter of Inquiry due from new organizations seeking program funding
  • April 20: All applications due
  • May – June: Committees evaluate applications, ask for additional information where needed, and get further guidance from CISC
  • End of June: Committees send recommendations to CISC; CISC reviews and pulls them into a single draft recommendation to the Board of Directors
  • July: Board responds to draft recommendations; revision by Committees and CISC; final funding decisions July 20, 2016
  • September 1, 2016: Grant year begins
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