Ten months after Meyer launched the Equitable Education portfolio, the first Annual Funding Opportunity has concluded, offering 49 grants across Oregon, totalling more than $7.2 million over three years.
The education portfolio began with the vision that all students have an opportunity to access meaningful public education. We sought to invest in inclusive opportunities designed to afford Oregon students the chance to realize their goals of increased academic achievement and remove disparities at all levels of the education continuum, from students entering kindergarten ready to succeed to planning for post-secondary and career success.
In service to this vision, we focused on three key goals:
Building a unified movement to advance equitable education.
Creating systems- and policy-level impact.
Improving student achievement and college and career readiness.
Out of 167 competitive applications, we invited 57 nonprofits to submit full proposals. You’ll find the full list of Equitable Education 2017 Annual Funding Opportunity grantees here.
Our new grantees reflect a mix of rural and urban organizations offering a vision and approach to directly address educational disparities so that all students in Oregon have the opportunity to obtain a meaningful public education. Of crucial importance is their collective belief that for Oregon to flourish, each student — regardless of race, ethnicity, family income, geography, disability or language — must have the opportunity to succeed in school.
Among the education grantees in the 2017 Annual Funding Opportunity, a few key themes emerged.
A number of grantees will demonstrate their commitment to mobilize individuals and organizations toward a common movement to advance equitable education. UniteOregon and Salem-Keizer Coalition for Equality, for example, will leverage their relationships and community credibility to mobilize the power and potential of students, families, communities and organizations toward unified action, meaningful change and education opportunity for all.
Other grantees will bring their experience to the systems and policy area. KairosPDX, Better Together Central Oregon and Douglas Education Service District all recognize that in order for education equity to be take hold, Oregon’s leadership, priorities and policies must better reflect the diversity of needs and the rich array of cultures and traditions of Oregonians.
Acknowledging the need to balance long-term system and policy impact with the urgency to address and improve achievement and college and career readiness for today’s students, groups such as Building Healthy Families, Central Oregon Community College and Southern Oregon Child and Family Council will focus their efforts on key transitional moments to boost student readiness and/or achievement. Additionally, organizations such as Building Blocks to Success, REAP and Hood River County School District committed to expanding programs that strategically target priority populations while introducing innovative solutions to address persistent and deeply rooted barriers to student success.
The Equitable Education portfolio team is grateful for the time and thoughtful intention of our applicants throughout this process. Like you, we believe that to advance change in both institutions and outcomes, we must challenge mainstream assumptions and practices, focusing on the needs of students most affected by educational disparities. While doing so, we reaffirm our collective commitment to meaningful public education for all. Thank you for joining us in taking another step toward our new, shared vision for equitable education in Oregon.
Groundswell Fund received the ‘Smashing Silos’ Impact Award for their philanthropic leadership in reproductive justice and intersectional approach to supporting women of color, low-income women and LGBT people as grassroots activists.
Here is LGBTQ Weekly's coverage of NCRP's awards ceremony in Louisiana:
“We dedicate this award to our grantees who transgress issue silos every day, the radical queers in Arizona working for health care and immigrant rights, the Black women in Pittsburgh fighting for environmental justice and abortion care, the Native women on the reservation demanding contraception access and birthing justice,” said Groundswell Fund’s executive director, Vanessa Daniel.
Learn more about the Groundswell Fund and why they're being honored for their leadership in supporting these efforts, here.
I am a dedicated day hiker. Last year I logged more than 300 miles. I am on a trail most weekends and have been known to tap vacation days to get in a few mid-week summer hikes. The mountains, the gorge, the coast, the desert ... anywhere I can be enveloped in nature and solitude. The vast majority of the time, I am invigorated, motivated, at peace and in awe. But I admit that occasionally it feels like a slog. Will I ever reach the top of the ridge? Will the trail ever end? Will the rain ever stop? Somehow I press on and am rewarded with a breathtaking view, a sense of accomplishment and feeling thankful that I didn’t give up.
These feelings have followed me off the trail the past couple of rough months. As I began composing this blog announcing our July and August grant awards, I stepped out of the slog to feel a renewed sense of hope, determination and gratitude. In the midst of anger and grief over the continued blatant racism and oppressive national policy environment, I am humbled and inspired by so many in our communities who are taking a stand for justice, getting involved, reaching out to understand and support each other, and innovating and advocating to build a flourishing and equitable Oregon. Many of you did amazing work during Oregon’s legislative session and in local communities to help pass policies that move us closer to equity. You are working within your organizations and in your communities to meaningfully advance diversity, equity and inclusion. And you are lifting up and celebrating the diverse strengths and beauty of the many communities and people who call Oregon home. I am immensely grateful.
We see your work, determination and progress, and we continue to explore how we can best partner with you every day. Meyer’s 24 summer grant awards, totaling $1.5 million, showcase those meaningful efforts. I am happy to share these highlights of funding opportunities and collaborations with the field.
Oregon Immigrant and Refugee Funders Collaborative/Meyer Grants
Our community’s response to the Oregon Immigrant and Refugee Funders Collaborative has been inspiring. This collaborative — a partnership of MRG Foundation, Collins Foundation Oregon Community Foundation and Meyer — is designed to address crucial and time-sensitive issues facing immigrants and refugees. In July and August, Meyer made five awards totaling $213,109 through this partnership:
$100,000 to Causa of Oregon, lead applicant for a collaboration with Innovation Law Lab and Lewis & Clark Law School, to support the Immigrant Inclusion Plan, which will provide the infrastructure needed to mesh community-based organizing, immigrant defense work, immigrant rights policy development, and public discourse on immigrants in Oregon to affect inclusion throughout the state.
$19,000 to Centro Cultural de Condado de Washington to support the Esperanza Deportation Relief Fund, which offers financial assistance to families that suddenly lose an income-earner in the household.
$19,109 to Bienestar to provide assistance to families that have been impacted by anti-immigrant policies and the increase in anti-immigrant sentiment.
$25,000 to Northwest Employment and Education Defense Fund to support efforts to protect low-wage contingent and immigrant workers from exploitation.
$50,000 to Portland Community College Foundation to support the launch of a DREAM center at PCC Rock Creek Campus' Multicultural Center, which will help undocumented students fulfill their dreams for postsecondary education.
You can find out more about the collaborative and how to apply here. And be sure to check out our awards database to learn about the other ways Meyer is supporting the important work of these and other grantee organizations working for immigrant and refugee rights.
Portfolio and Meyer-Directed Grants
Over these past two months, a handful of grants were made through our Building Community, Equitable Education, Healthy Environment and Housing Opportunities portfolios, as well as other Meyer-directed and mission-aligned awards.
Two technical assistance grants were made through our Building Community portfolio:
$18,500 to PHAME Academy to support the transition of executive leadership of this organization serving adults with intellectual and developmental disabilities.
$19,250 to Willamette Valley Development Officers for internal diversity, equity and inclusion assessment and planning.
One award was made through our Equitable Education portfolio to Foundations for a Better Oregon for continued support of The Chalkboard Project ($630,000). Meyer has been a long-standing partner in this philanthropic collaborative working to unite Oregonians to make our public education among the nation's best.
Through our Healthy Environment portfolio, Meyer provided:
$100,000 to the Portland Harbor Community Coalition to build capacity and develop tools for impacted communities to benefit from Portland Harbor Superfund cleanup and redevelopment. Earlier this year, my colleague Kelly House wrote a great blog about Meyer’s prior investment in this coalition, its impact and the personal stories of some of its members — be sure to check it out.
$15,000 to the Oregon Environmental Council to organize partners in developing a community-based transportation plan for the Portland area that focuses on emerging technologies to ensure optimal mobility and environmental health benefits for local residents, particularly benefits for lower-wealth neighborhoods. We see this as a timely opportunity to bring community voice into local transportation planning and Department of Environmental Quality rulemaking to ensure that lower-income communities are not negatively impacted or left behind.
$50,000 to Craft3 to pilot a food and farm business loan program that supports economic, ecological and family resilience outcomes and helps strengthen the Pacific Northwest regional food system. The program will prioritize serving communities of color and indigenous communities and Tribes.
From our Housing Opportunities portfolio, we made a $49,000 award through our Affordable Housing Initiative to Earth Advantage to promote adoption of the Life-Cycle Cost Analysis tool to support more sustainable and cost-effective affordable housing.
Other Meyer-directed awards included $252,535 to Philanthropy Northwest to support a second cohort of Philanthropy Northwest Momentum Fellows to prepare professionals from underrepresented communities for successful careers in the philanthropic sector. We also awarded a $145,000 capacity building grant to the Native American Youth and Family Center.
A complete list of our July and August awards can be found here.
In other news:
2017 Annual Funding Opportunity Update
I have heard from many folks lately wondering where we are in our 2017 Annual Funding Opportunity decision-making process. Our portfolio teams will soon complete more than 200 site visits and are beginning to develop funding recommendations. We are excited about the rich opportunities to partner with so many organizations that share our vision of a flourishing and equitable Oregon! The vast majority of funding recommendations and decisions through this program will be made in October, but this year a small percentage of decisions, primarily for technical assistance grants, will be made in August and September. Stay tuned — we will be announcing all the 2017 Annual Funding Opportunity awards in our November newsletter. Are you signed up to receive our newsletters? It just takes a sec!
You might also want to put a note in your calendar that our 2018 Annual Funding Opportunity will once again be open for applications mid-March through mid-April. More details to come.
Open Funding Opportunities
While we round the bend on the 2017 Annual Funding Opportunity awards and begin reviewing proposals to our recent Affordable Housing Initiative Systems Alignment: Housing+Services RFP, we are pleased to offer an additional opportunity to apply for funds:
Oregon Immigrant and Refugee Funders Collaborative. Organizations working to address critical and time-sensitive issues facing our community’s immigrants and refugees can continue to apply for funds through this funder collaborative. No deadline. Access the application through any of the participating funders (MRG Foundation, Collins Foundation, Oregon Community Foundation and Meyer), or click here.
Finally ... Not to Miss!
Meyer has stepped up the strategic use of our voice to take a stand and advocate for mission-critical issues. We have also prioritized funding work that leads to policy and systems changes, and we have created a specific opportunity to apply for funding for collaboratives, coalitions and networks working on systems change. You have provided a lot of positive feedback about these changes ... and you’ve asked a lot of great questions!
We are excited to support two upcoming opportunities for nonprofits and funders to learn more about advocacy, lobbying and working in and resourcing networks.
Critical Connections & Critical Mass: Supporting Movement Networks for Change with Elissa Sloan Perry of Management Assistance Group, in Portland on Sept. 19. Grounded in the belief that “to change everything it will take everyone,” Meyer is also sponsoring this workshop that will explore what it means to work collaboratively in coalitions and movement networks and the implications of resourcing this strategy. Willamette Valley Development Officers is hosting, and Meyer, along with other Oregon funders, will be participating. Scholarships are available. You can find out more and register here.
Alliance for Justice is offering two advocacy and lobbying workshops in Portland on Sept. 28. At Meyer, we believe that all nonprofits and funders have a responsibility to understand the public policies and inequities that are connected to their mission and have a role to play in advocating for change. We are excited to be sponsoring two upcoming Alliance for Justice workshops on advocacy and lobbying, one for nonprofits hosted by Nonprofit Association of Oregon and one for funders hosted by Grantmakers of Oregon and Southwest Washington. I look forward to seeing you there!
And with that, we wish you a smooth transition into fall and offer our continued appreciation for all the energy you are contributing toward making Oregon a welcoming place where everyone has true opportunity to thrive.
You are working within your organizations and in your communities to meaningfully advance diversity, equity and inclusion. And you are lifting up and celebrating the diverse strengths and beauty of the many communities and people who call Oregon home. I am immensely grateful.
Our partners have consistently emphasized to Meyer the urgent need for better coordination and alignment between affordable housing providers and services that help people stay housed and thrive. We are once again offering a Request for Proposals from innovative and impactful efforts working to overcome barriers to collaborating across systems.
Lessons from 2015 Projects
Projects funded in 2015 illustrate the breadth of systems that benefit from a stronger connection with affordable housing.
Catholic Community Services of the Mid Willamette (Marion County) linked housing assistance and foster care diversion, along with the local Early Learning Hub.
Columbia Gorge Health Council (Hood River and Wasco counties) piloted a “Pathways” model of paying for outcomes including housing, health care and other social services.
Community Action Partnership of Oregon, in partnership with ACCESS and Klamath-Lake Community Action Services (Statewide, with a focus on Jackson, Klamath and Lake counties) created better coordination between housing resources and the Department of Human Services, with a focus on foster care diversion and child welfare.
Enterprise Community Partners (Portland Metro) piloted a fund mirroring Medicaid flexible benefits for housing-related costs to show housing and health benefits.
REACH/Housing With Services (Multnomah County) incorporated health, nutrition and other social services in affordable housing buildings downtown.
United Way of Lane County (Lane County) integrated housing issues in the local Early Learning Hub and brought early learning and health programs to affordable housing.
Worksystems Inc. (Multnomah and Washington counties) linked housing and employment support.
Each of these projects reinforced the growing mountain of evidence for the connections between housing stability and other issues that make the difference between thriving and not: strong families, good health, and success in education and employment. We also learned quite a bit about the barriers to effective collaboration from talking with these grantees and reflecting on their progress and challenges — barriers such as legal and privacy challenges around data sharing, overcoming inertia and turf issues, and misaligned incentives and basic risk-aversion.
The New RFP
As in 2015, Meyer is taking a broad approach to the challenge of systems alignment, welcoming proposals from both new coalitions and more established collaborative efforts, aiming to improve the connection between affordable housing and other systems, especially for populations with specific and difficult housing challenges (including survivors of domestic violence, young adults aging out of foster care and ex-offenders re-entering society).
These grants are not meant for fairly straightforward work bringing a specific service to an affordable housing project (important as that work can be, it’s a better fit under our annual Housing Opportunities funding round). Rather, by supporting focused collaborative efforts engaging specific issues across multiple systems, Meyer expects to assist the broader fields of affordable housing and supportive services by:
Highlighting replicable models of successful collaboration, identifying specific strategies to promote effective cooperation across systems or service providers
Identifying and addressing significant policy or systems barriers to better coordination
Documenting the potential to deliver better outcomes (including cost savings or other opportunities to better leverage scarce resources) through effective collaboration
More detailed information on the RFP is available here: mmt.org/rfp
Meyer’s Affordable Housing Initiative (AHI) identifies housing advocacy as a key strategy for advancing a broader agenda around improving access to safe, decent and affordable housing around the state. Whether in the form of grass-roots organizing, policy research and analysis, coalition-building, or well-designed messaging, advocacy can help to draw attention to urgent housing challenges and elevate the conversation statewide and in local communities.
Meyer’s housing team recognizes that there is special urgency around housing issues across the state right now. The steep climb in housing costs has elected officials, community leaders and housing advocates scrambling for tools and solutions to ease the burden on low-income Oregonians, and the issue was front-and-center at the Legislature last session like never before.
This spring, Meyer announced the AHI’s third Request for Proposals to support community-driven public policy advocacy and community organizing aimed at expanding the availability of affordable housing to low-income Oregonians. We again invited proposals for up to two years, with eligibility broadly defined to include projects that increase the number and diversity of voices engaged in housing advocacy and that promote concrete policy and systems changes at both the local and statewide levels.
The Meyer housing team reviewed the 22 proposals received from across Oregon in response to the RFP, totaling almost $1.4 million in requests. Altogether, 12 grants totaling $717,000 over the next two years were approved.
This RFP allowed proposals under two categories:
“Campaign Leader” grants of up to $60,000 per year for 1-2 years for focused and targeted efforts with a clear policy or systems change goal led by a strong coalition of partners with a credible plan to succeed
“Advocacy Mobilizer” grants of up to $30,000 per year for 1-2 years, to support community organizing at an earlier stage of organizing than Campaign Leaders, or work focused on broader base-building, issue identification, etc.
The intent of the RFP was summarized in five specific outcomes:
More effective and strategic housing advocacy and organizing in communities around the state and in the Oregon Legislature
Increased support for affordable housing by policy-makers and the general public
Measurable progress on local and/or state-level policies or systems changes that increase resources for affordable housing and/or reduce barriers to affordable housing access and development
An expansion in the number and diversity of stakeholders and constituencies engaged in affordable housing advocacy across the state
Effective, replicable models and strategies for organizations seeking to improve the effectiveness of their advocacy efforts
Consistent with Meyer’s focus on equity, the RFP criteria emphasized benefiting communities of color, culturally specific organizations, and underserved rural communities in both expected outcomes and in the design and implementation of projects.
Meyer is pleased to support these 12 projects:
CAMPAIGN LEADERS
1000 Friends of Oregon (Multnomah County)
Portland for Everyone - $65,000
To support Portland for Everyone in mobilizing a coalition of advocates, community-based organizations, neighborhoods and local businesses that will urge Portland City Council to make inclusive and equitable land-use policy decisions that expand housing choice and availability
To expand and support a broad-based, progressive coalition, led by Oregon Opportunity Network and Oregon Center for Public Policy, to reform Oregon's mortgage interest deduction and investment in affordable housing statewide
ADVOCACY MOBILIZERS
CASA of Oregon (10 counties in eastern Oregon)
Eastern Oregon Housing & Asset Building Network - $60,000
To establish a network of housing and asset-building providers in rural eastern Oregon to create a common agenda, shared measurements, continuous communication, mutually reinforcing activities and backbone support
Habitat for Humanity of Oregon (Statewide)
Empower and Mobilize Oregon Affiliates for Successful Local Advocacy -$40,000
To empower all 29 Oregon Habitat for Humanity affiliates to conduct successful local advocacy efforts
MACG Vision (Clackamas and Marion counties)
Clackamas Mobilization - $60,000
To mobilize members of faith organizations and other housing advocates in Clackamas County and northern Marion County, including individuals directly impacted by the area’s housing crisis, to advocate for more resources and policies to support affordable housing
OPAL (Portland Metro)
Southwest Corridor Coalition - $60,000
To build a lasting coalition led by low-income residents focused on equitable housing and community investments without displacement as the Portland region plans new high-capacity transit along the Southwest Corridor
Oregon Center for Public Policy (Statewide)
A Rent Assistance Program for Oregon - $50,000
To analyze and develop policy concepts for state-funded rent assistance to address the plight of Oregon families most at risk of becoming homeless
Oregon Food Bank (Statewide)
Engaging New Housing Advocacy Voices from the Food Assistance World - $46,000
To increase the number and diversity of housing advocates by bringing the voices of clients, organizations and volunteers involved in food assistance throughout Oregon into the movement for affordable housing
Oregon Opportunity Network/Welcome Home Coalition (Portland Metro)
Welcome Home Coalition - $60,000
To mobilize advocates, volunteers and partner organizations to establish reliable, dedicated revenue sources in the Portland region to fund homelessness prevention, affordable housing and homeownership programs
ROSE Community Development (Multnomah County)
97266 Housing Leadership Team - $60,000
To bring together diverse community members, to build leadership and power to fight against displacement in Portland’s Lents neighborhood, and to support and lead local housing advocacy initiatives
Street Roots (Statewide)
Street Roots Rural Housing Reporting Project - $36,000
To develop dedicated reporting on rural housing issues to help bridge the rural/urban divide in Oregon and promote better understanding of issues communities across the state face and the common ground that all can rally around
Housing Advocacy in Corvallis and Benton County - $60,000
To support a housing advocacy campaign that will engage diverse and underrepresented people in securing the resources needed to improve housing resources in Corvallis and throughout Linn and Benton counties
This slate of grants represents a diverse range of approaches from public policy research and analysis to grass-roots organizing to sophisticated and strategic efforts to influence statewide priorities and resources. Geographically, these grants include projects focused on some of Oregon’s most under-resourced and isolated counties, areas where activism and energy are really blossoming like Corvallis and Clackamas County, and statewide projects focused on bringing more of what Israel Bayer of Street Roots calls “unexpected messengers” — people speaking to housing issues whom one might not expect — to inform discussions around affordable housing needs and solutions.
As part of our emphasis on shared learning and informing the field, Meyer will convene a gathering of advocacy grantees in late summer/early fall to build connections, compare notes and forge alliances.
It seems fitting that the bulk of Meyer’s $936,460 in June grant awards support housing advocacy. At the same time those awards were made, Oregon’s 2017 legislative session was drawing to a close, offering some forward momentum to support affordable housing and unfinished business and remaining opportunities to create communities where every Oregonian has a safe, decent and affordable place to call home. At Meyer, we believe that housing is key to a flourishing and equitable Oregon and understand that public policy is the primary driver of housing equity.
Our June housing advocacy awards — 12 grants totaling $717,000 — were made following a request for proposals issued in February as part of our Housing Opportunities’ Affordable Housing Initiative (AHI). This is the third year of housing advocacy awards made through our AHI. These awards support community-driven public policy advocacy and community organizing aimed at policy and systems changes that will expand the availability of affordable housing to low-income Oregonians. While all of this year’s awards advance the same broad goal, they reflect a range of strategies and opportunities such as reforming Oregon’s mortgage interest deduction in support of more equitable public investment in housing, identifying specific needs and community-driven housing solutions in rural communities, and building capacity of people living on low-incomes , faith communities, social justice organizations and housing providers to engage as housing advocates, just to name a few.
Technical assistance to Children First of Oregon, an organization that works to create conditions in which all Oregon children thrive, in advancing internal diversity, equity and inclusion objectives.
Finally, as part of Meyer’s commitment to advancing the national field of philanthropy, modest awards were made to the Council on Foundations for an upcoming summit on achieving equity in the workplace and to the Center for Effective Philanthropy, an organization that helps philanthropic funders better define, assess and improve their effectiveness and intended impact.
You can find a list of all of our June awards, here
In other Meyer news, we have completed Inquiry Application decisions for our 2017 Annual Funding Opportunity. This year — the second round under our new funding structure — we accepted applications through all four of our portfolios and had an enthusiastic response to the first open opportunity under Equitable Education. In total, we received 608 inquiries requesting more than $73 million. Nearly half (47 percent) were submitted to Building Community, over a quarter to Equitable Education (27 percent) and the remaining split evenly among Healthy Environment (13 percent) and Housing Opportunities (13 percent). For 16 percent of applicants — 99 organizations — this was the first application to Meyer and another 14 percent — 87 organizations — had submitted at least one application in the past but have not yet received Meyer funding. Nearly half the requests were for capacity building or operating support.
Following close review, thoughtful discussion, a bit of angst and some difficult decisions, we invited 213 applicants, with initial requests totaling over $27 million, to continue in the process. Organizations invited to move forward indicate that work supported by the requested Meyer grant dollars would include specific strategies designed to serve and/or benefit the following populations*:
People of color (67 percent)
Immigrants and refugees (37 percent)
People living on low incomes (78 percent)
People with disabilities (28 percent)
People who identify as LGBTQ (19 percent)
In addition, 46 percent of applicants indicated that their proposal would benefit rural communities.
*note that one application can serve multiple populations
As anticipated, proposals that rose to the top in our review process demonstrated a clear opportunity to advance Meyer’s portfolio goals and communicated a commitment to equity (both internally and externally), with some earlier on in their equity journey. Successful proposals demonstrated that their work was meaningfully informed by, engaged with and/or would be led by community. Most of these proposals also drew a connection between the organization’s work and broader policy and systems change. Finally, clarity about the role and importance of Meyer funds, a clear implementation plan, and organizational readiness were key considerations in our teams’ decisions and recommendations.
As always, we encourage applicants who were not invited to move forward to contact our portfolio staff for feedback and conversation. We also hope that if you submitted a request you responded to our applicant survey to help us identify how we can better communicate what we are looking for in proposals and to share your ideas about improving our processes. We made a number of changes last year in response to your feedback and continue to be open to and value your ideas.
We are excited about the innovation, collaboration and community, policy and systems change aspirations embedded in the proposals we received. The commitment to and enthusiasm for building community, increasing housing opportunities, cultivating a healthy environment and creating an equitable education system are both inspiring and palpable. We continue to be humbled and inspired by your work and the possibilities ahead of us — and we are deeply grateful for your partnership in shaping an Oregon where all who live here can truly thrive.
Partnership, in its many forms, is infused throughout Meyer’s program strategy. One way this shows up is in how we weave in grant dollars to support our partnership work to strengthen the broader nonprofit and philanthropic fields.
Meyer’s May grant awards, totaling $93,650, include some excellent examples of the ways in which our grantmaking supports our partnerships, collaborations and sector connections. They also reflect the understanding of our founder, Fred Meyer, that when given thoughtfully, even small amounts of money can accomplish great things. As you can see, each May grant award is $26,000 or less.
In late May, a packed room of folks from social justice organizations and funders (including Meyer staff) convened to take stock of the changed political environment and to explore ways we can work together to strengthen our community’s capacity for justice. Somewhat unique in its formation, the event was co-created by a small group of nonprofits, Meyer and other partnering funders. Meyer was pleased to provide Western States Center, which served as a key event organizer, with a small grant of $1,750 to help support the logistical costs of the gathering. We are looking forward to the next steps as the partnership moves toward action!
We are also excited that, for the first time, Meyer is providing grant support ($12,000) to the National Committee for Responsive Philanthropy (NCRP), an organization that is known for its social justice leadership and advocacy and specifically for pushing philanthropy to do more for those who are marginalized, underserved and disenfranchised.
NCRP is a strong proponent of grantmaking practices that resonate with Meyer’s values and funding approach: dedicating a significant percentage of funding to strengthen marginalized communities; making multi-year grants; offering operating support and capacity building grants; funding advocacy, organizing and civic engagement; demonstrating transparency in disclosing information; and paying out more than the standard 5 percent of foundation assets in grants. In fact, its research and recommendations to philanthropy were a meaningful resource during Meyer’s recent organizational redesign. As the importance of NCRP’s work and message are elevated within the current political context, we are especially pleased to join its network of philanthropic supporters to influence the field of philanthropy.
And speaking of advocacy, grantmaking practices and convening, we are grateful to be partnering with Grantmakers of Oregon and Southwest Washington, the Nonprofit Association of Oregon and the Alliance for Justice (AFJ) to build the capacity of nonprofits and funders to engage in policy advocacy through workshops in the fall. As Meyer has increased its work in the advocacy space — both through our grantmaking and amplifying our voice in support of issues we care about — we have appreciated the excellent guidance and resources that AFJ offers. If you are not familiar with AFJ or want to deepen your organization’s engagement in systems change, I encourage you to check out their Bolder Advocacy initiative (that’s right - they offer free technical assistance! And services in Spanish!). And look for the upcoming Nonprofit Association of Oregon and Grantmakers of Oregon and Southwest Washington workshops. We are thrilled to once again help bring AFJ to Oregon through this $7,500 grant.
Over the coming months, we will continue to share about our programmatic work, grantmaking and beyond. In the meantime, you can find a list of our May grant awards on this PDF.
Kendall Clawson, Executive Director of the American Leadership Forum of Oregon, responds to the prompt, "What makes you do this work?" during a convening of the Building Community portfolio’s Leadership Development and Learning Collaborative.
April was a busy month at Meyer as we completed statewide outreach for our 2017 annual funding opportunity and our program team began digging into the 607 inquiry applications we received in response to our annual funding call. Applicants can expect to hear in mid-June about whether they are invited to submit full proposals.
But our annual funding opportunity is just one piece — albeit a big one! — of Meyer’s strategy. We continued to make other grants in April, awarding 18 grants totaling more than $792,000 to advance our vision of a flourishing and equitable Oregon. Through these investments, Meyer partnered to establish a rapid response fund as part of the Oregon Immigrant and Refugee Funders Collaborative work, invested in model watersheds under our Willamette River Initiative and supported field convening and learning. These awards continue Meyer’s commitment to social change, collaboration, innovation, diversity, equity, inclusion and responsiveness in this policy environment that is hurting our neighbors, friends, co-workers and community.
You can view the full list of April grant awards here. And here’s a little bit more context about what Meyer funded in April:
Healthy Environment
In our Healthy Environment portfolio, Meyer made seven awards, totaling $708,479, through our Willamette River Initiative to support model watershed organizations working to improve habitat, flow and water quality in key Willamette River tributaries. These grants were made to local watershed councils in Benton, Linn, Lane and Polk counties and the Bonneville Environmental Foundation as part of Meyer’s long-term support of the Willamette Model Watershed Program. So many things about the Willamette River make it a cornerstone of a flourishing and equitable Oregon: cultural practices, salmon, drinking water, recreation, jobs and the spiritual renewal of nature, just to name a few. You can learn more about Meyer’s 10-year Willamette River Initiative, its tributary strategy and grantees here.
In addition to these Initiative grants, Meyer awarded $16,000 in Healthy Environment funds to the Affiliated Tribes of Northwest Indians in support of convening, relationship building and collaboration among Oregon Oregon tribes and environmental and social justice organizations.
Building Community
In the first quarter of 2017, Meyer awarded 32 grants to organizations selected to be part of leadership development and capacity-builder learning communities. These cohorts are working to build equity and inclusion at community and policy decision-making tables through leadership development and to strengthen the broader social sector by integrating diversity, equity and inclusion within organizations. Through these cohort experiences, organizations will come together to lift up collective wisdom and to share and build knowledge to advance diversity, equity and inclusion. In April, Meyer invited four additional organizations to engage in these learning convenings, awarding each of them a $10,000 grant to support their participation.
Learn more about our Leadership Development and Capacity Builder programming here.
Meyer-Directed Awards
Meyer continues to make mission-aligned grants beyond our portfolio-specific awards in response to timely opportunities and needs. In April, we made seven Meyer-directed awards totaling $28,000. Awards included $15,000 to support Meyer’s partnership with the MRG Foundation, Collins Foundation and the Oregon Community Foundation to establish a rapid response fund as one component of the Oregon Immigrant and Refugee Funders Collaborative. This collaborative is building on a history of partnership in support of immigrants and refugees, including past grantmaking related to Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) policy. You can learn more about the collaborative here and here.
Remaining funds supported convening and learning, including grants to support grassroots social justice organizations in raising funds in the context of movement building, to inspire and equip social change agents inside grantmaking organizations, and for dialogue about pressing civil rights issues and bridging divides in Oregon.
Meyer's 2017 Annual Funding Opportunity closed on April 19, and a quick crunch of the numbers starkly illustrates the gap between philanthropy and need in Oregon.
By-the-numbers
Meyer received 606 inquiry applications under our community, education, environment and housing portfolios, totaling $74 million.
Meyer expects to award $17.1 million under the funding opportunity, about 23 percent of what was requested. That gap is why Meyer invests in strategies that expand and deepen the impact of our grantmaking.
Most of the requests, 284 inquiry applications totaling $31 million, came under the Building Community portfolio, which works to further the vision that Oregonians can achieve their full potential, have a voice in decisions that affect them, and engage in and help build vibrant communities. The portfolio will invest $4.8 million toward that vision this year.
The Equitable Education portfolio saw the second largest request, with 166 requests, for a total of $23 million. This portfolio will invest $5.2 million through the funding opportunity to help Oregon students to realize their goals of increased academic achievement with the absence of disparities at all levels of the education continuum.
Nonprofits made 80 inquiry applications under Meyer's Healthy Environment portfolio, totaling $8 million. In all, Meyer will invest approximately $3.3 million through the portfolio to advance the vision of nurturing a resilient natural environment, while supporting the well-being of Oregon’s diverse cultures and communities.
And finally, 76 organizations applied for $11.7 million in funding under the Housing Opportunities portfolio. The portfolio will invest approximately $3.8 million this year to open doors to opportunity and strengthen communities through safe and affordable housing.
What comes next?
Meyer uses a two-step application process for our annual funding opportunity: Inquiry Applications and Full Proposals.
Beginning in mid-March, Meyer welcomed inquiry applications from eligible organizations seeking to advance one of our portfolios' goals. (You'll find a sample from the Building Community portfolio here). After the deadline of April 19, Meyer's inquiry applications review process normally takes approximately 65 days.
After reviewing Inquiry Applications, Meyer invites the most promising applicants to submit a full proposal. Meyer will notify organizations in mid-June whether or not they are invited to submit a full proposal. If invited, organizations will have three weeks to submit a full proposal, due in July. A sample preview of the full proposal application and questions is available at https://mmt.org/portfolio/community/full-proposal-questions.
After reviewing proposals and following up either in person or over the phone, Meyer anticipates making final award decisions by the end of 2017, with funding available to organizations in early 2018.
Questions? Check out our list of frequently asked questions at www.mmt.org/apply/applicant-resources/your-questions. Or contact us at grantops [at] mmt.org (grantops[at]mmt[dot]org) with questions about GrantIS.
In the midst of our exciting 2017 annual funding opportunity, Meyer Memorial Trust continues to make awards to organizations driving equity solutions in Oregon.
Since January, Meyer has made 106 grants totaling more than $8.8 million to 100 nonprofit organizations, including nearly three dozen under our fall Nonprofit Social Sector RFP and nine under the Affordable Housing Initiative’s Rural Manufactured Home Repair RFP. We’re excited that all of these awards support social change, innovation, diversity, inclusion, leadership and capacity building, along with equitable practices and outcomes.
View the full list of grant awards by viewing this PDF. And, as always, you can view our full awards database here.
Here’s a little bit more insight into what we've funded so far this year:
Building Community throughout the Nonprofit Social Sector
In Meyer’s Building Community portfolio, Meyer made 37 awards totaling nearly $3 million to organizations changing systems and improving conditions for communities of color, people living in poverty, and other marginalized populations. Awards included 32 grants to organizations that applied under our fall Nonprofit Social Sector RFP for leadership development and building capacity of capacity builders.
Leadership development
As part of our program restructuring, we committed to continuing our support for programs that develop and support leaders and networks from Oregon’s diverse communities. We believe that powerful institutions continue to struggle for authentic engagement with marginalized populations and that positions of power remain limited or unsustainable for people of color, immigrants and refugees, and other marginalized populations. Through our leadership development strategy, we aim to build equity and inclusion at community and policy decision-making tables. Salem Keizer Coalition for Equality, for example, was awarded an $85,000 grant to organize, train and empower Latino Spanish-speaking parent leaders on social justice in education and civic representation. In all, we made 22 awards totalling $1.5 million to advance leadership development.
Building capacity builders
Meyer also made awards investing in strategies that support capacity builder core work, advance equity and effectively strengthen the broader social sector. With Meyer’s focus on equity, it has become clear that organizations need capacity building services such as generalized training and consultation to integrate diversity, equity and inclusion strategies within their organizations. These grants will support this. The Coalition for Community Health Clinics, for example, was awarded $136,000 to provide technical assistance to 14 member clinics to design and implement equity-focused community health improvement strategies within health care settings. In all, we made 10 grants totalling $1.4 million to build the capacity of organizations that help build the capacity of others.
Learn more about our Leadership Development and Capacity Builder awards here.
Nurturing a Resilient Natural Environment
In our Healthy Environment portfolio, Meyer made 13 awards totaling $140,500 to organizations that are advancing equity throughout the state, and five awards, totaling $513,215, to organizations improving the health of the Willamette River, the watershed that more than two-thirds of Oregonians call home. Among those grants was a $15,000 operating support grant to Crag Law Center, which provides free legal services and low-cost legal aid to protect wild places, climate and livable communities across Oregon, and a $20,000 grant to Ecotrust for an effort to recruit and train diverse community members for careers in the green workforce.
Advancing Affordable Housing Opportunities
In our Housing Opportunities portfolio, Meyer has made 25 awards this year totaling nearly $2.8 million to organizations exploring innovation, supporting systems change and leveraging resources to meet the housing needs of all Oregonians. All of the awards but one, a $125,000 grant to Mercy Corps Northwest, for a center that helps formerly incarcerated individuals find their way back to stable lives, were made under two Affordable Housing Initiative strategies:
Manufactured Housing
Last fall, Meyer asked nonprofits and housing authorities to submit plans to build the capacity of rural manufactured home repair programs. With a strong field of proposals, Meyer funded nine projects totaling $630,000 over two years and across the state. Umpqua Community Action Network in Josephine County was awarded $100,000, for example, for home repairs in its 50-space manufactured home park in Roseburg, to be maintained as permanently affordable housing, prioritizing households with children. Read more about that batch of grants here.
Sustaining Portfolios
Meyer’s Sustaining Portfolios Strategy couples flexible funding with technical assistance to help ensure the long-term sustainability of Oregon’s existing affordable housing. In the last two years, Meyer has awarded two-year grants to 19 organizations through two rounds of funding. Six grants awarded in February, totaling $380,975, provided a third year of funding to organizations in the first group of grantees, such as Columbia Cascade Housing Corporation in The Dalles and Farmworker Housing Development Corporation in Woodburn.
Advancing Equitable Education
Meyer made 7 awards totaling $1.4 million to continue our support for equitable education while we have developed this portfolio. See our new framework for equitable education in this blog post from portfolio director Matt Morton.
Meyer-Directed Awards
Beyond our portfolio specific awards, Meyer occasionally makes grants to respond to timely needs and opportunities during these changing times. This winter, we’ve made 15 such awards, totaling $930,000, including grants awarded in March to Catholic Charities and Lutheran Community Services Northwest, to provide emergency bridge funding to maintain critical refugee resettlement services.
Wajdi Said, president and co-founder of the Muslim Educational Trust, leads a conversation with Meyer Memorial Trust staff and trustees, including Dahnesh Medora and Board Chair Charles Wilhoite.
