We’re trying something new — requested by you. A gift to the community campaign, by design, benefits thousands of people and hundreds of organizations. For many years, donors have expressed interest in their Community Campaign gifts being directed toward certain types of programming. The Impact Focused Funding pilot project — utilizing national best practices in grantmaking — is a result of those requests.
We are currently in year 2 of the pilot. In Year 1 of the pilot (the 2023 Community Campaign), MJF and organization professionals collaborated to develop grant projects to be implemented in 2024-2026. From the 2023 Community Campaign, an additional $480,127 is being invested into the community to move these priorities forward!
To contribute to the Impact Focused Funding priority of your choice, you can do so through the Community Campaign online or reach out to our Philanthropy department at 952.593.2600 or philanthropy@jewishminneapolis.org.
To be eligible:
The Priorities for each Impact Area, listed below were selected through a 9-month community-wide input process conducted in 2023. Before the proposals were finalized for the Board vote, our local partners affirmed that these priorities and areas of focus would be impactful for grants.
We are testing this method for three years. During this period, donors have the opportunity to choose the area that means the most to them and direct a portion of their Community Campaign gift toward it. In 2023, it was a requirement for only increased or new dollars to go toward IFF priorities, but in 2024 we are switching that.
In 2024, with a minimum amount of $100, any donor can direct up to 10% of their overall Community Campaign gift toward Impact Focused Funding. Donors can contribute to more than one, as long as each receives a minimum of $100.
Allocation partners have been guaranteed that the Community Campaign will provide the same amount of unrestricted base allocations in 2024, 2025, and 2026. Because of this, we still need to raise millions of dollars of unrestricted support and why, during the pilot phase, only a small portion of your gift can be directed to IFF priorities
Not at this time. We are seeking funding for the priorities themselves, for which multiple organizations are doing work within. This way, we are able to allocate the funds to collectively move the priorities forward and each organization will receive the amount of funds they need.
Fundraising in 2023 was successful… and we learned a lot during the year. As a result, we have made some adjustments for 2024 – the beauty of this being a pilot! We continue to assess and adapt the initiative, based on what we have learned so far so that when the pilot period is over, we have a well-balanced funding mechanism that addresses community-identified needs.
A top priority of this project is to communicate with the community in a transparent manner. Throughout this process, your feedback is valuable and accountability is important to us. We continue to share information regularly through newsletters and website updates, and we encourage you to reach out to Federation staff at any time with any question.
We are working very closely with partner organizations and devoted volunteers who share their time, expertise and understanding of the community, to make this project a success. Projects were developed in collaboration between MJF and each organization’s professionals.
Throughout this three-year project, we will evaluate success through surveys, interviews, and analysis of fundraising and grant results, while also comparing our data to benchmarks in Jewish communities and nonprofit networks nationwide. As noted above, that information will be shared with the community.
No! Through collaboration with partner organizations we have designed grant applications that are simple, informative, and meet the needs of grantee and grantor. During the first year of the project, we heard from all of our partners that the process was valuable to them and not time consuming. And most importantly, it is providing funds for projects that they otherwise did not have funding for.
Our goal is to raise an additional $860,000 over the next 3 years, which will be matched by Federation funds for a total community investment of $1.7 million.
Do you have another question or comment on any aspect of the Pilot on Impact Focused Funding?
Tragedies in our backyard and halfway across the globe have been widely reported and are at the forefront of our minds. Please consider donating to have an immediate impact. 100% of the proceeds go directly to Rehovot to various organizations who will use it well, including JAFI’s Fund for Victims of Terror, United Hatzalah, JDC, and the Municipality itself.
