I used to write grants and didn't exactly love doing it, so I feel the pain of grantwriters: When a funding opportunity opens, they are tasked with figuring out how to present the most compelling information possible and persuade a funder that a particular project is worthy of investment. To add to the stress, funders' selection criteria can seem obscure, with processes that are often daunting, unclear and even seemingly arbitrary.

Our values dictate that we strive to be transparent about our grantmaking and open regarding our decision-making processes. In addition to our website's Applicant Resources section (where we have compiled useful information, templates and examples) and the many in-person and virtual information sessions we've organized around the state, I'd like to offer the following — hopefully helpful — tips to make the application process easier and your proposal more successful.

Determine eligibility and alignment

Many organizations are eligible to apply for Meyer funding, but not all of them will be in alignment with our goals.

To be eligible, your organization must fulfill certain requirements, such as having tax-exempt status and meeting our nondiscriminatory policy, among others.

To show alignment, however, you have to demonstrate that your project or proposal "fits" with Meyer's goals, i.e. not only that your project will help Meyer achieve a portfolio's desired outcomes but also that you have a strong analysis of how your work is (or is demonstrably committed to be) rooted in equity and inclusion.

If this is still too vague, information sessions are great opportunities to engage with our staff, hear us talk about our funding priorities and ask questions. You should also check out what each portfolio funded last year. Building Community's award list is here, Equitable Education's award list is here, Healthy Environment's list is here, and Housing Opportunities' list is here.

Familiarize yourself with our portfolios, grant types and amounts

In the Initial Application, you will choose one portfolio goal and up to two outcomes your proposed work will help achieve. Spend some time reading about the different portfolios, their grant types and their maximum amounts, and decide which goals your work will most likely help to accomplish. If you're unsure about what the types of funding mean, please click here. To find out about maximum amounts, visit each portfolio's page.

If you still have questions after looking at the portfolios or feel like you fit in multiple places, email us at questions [at] mmt.org (questions[at]mmt[dot]org) and our staff will get in touch with you. You may also take a look at Meyer's frequently asked questions page.

Use plain language

When talking about your work, don't assume we know what you do, who you are, or what communities you serve. Answer each question fully and use as plain a language as possible, providing examples if appropriate, and avoiding jargon and acronyms.

Perhaps a good question to ask may be: If a friend read your application, would she understand what your organization does or what your proposal is about? If the answer is no, then chances are we probably won't either.

The cardstack above illustrates three approaches to writing the program description for "Awesome Organization." As you can see, finding the sweet spot of clarity and simplicity can make a big difference.

Connect the need for your project to its root causes

Your proposal has a better chance of rising to the top if you can articulate clearly (a) how your work will dismantle barriers for underserved communities or (b) how your project will somehow address the root or systemic causes of a problem.

Using Awesome Organization as an example again, we can say that improving access to chocolate (or food or shelter or education) is a worthy cause in its own right, but Awesome Organization's proposal would be significantly more competitive if it demonstrated that it not only addresses the immediate need of the community to access chocolate but that it also understands what creates that immediate need — lack of farmer training and access to capital, especially for farmers from underserved communities — and how the organization can effect long-lasting change — providing low- or no-interest loans to farmers to keep chocolate affordable and addressing the barriers that prevent them from connecting to each other and accessing spaces that allow them to innovate.

Want more information? Sign up for our Building Community's newsletter and read Erin Dysart's blog about how Building Community thinks about the Direct Service-Root Causes connection.

Some additional tips

Create or update your profile in GrantIS as soon as possible

And consider that …

• The setup takes a few days.
• If you already have a profile, you'll need to update it. (Before you submit your application, we will ask you to certify that your organization's information is correct.)
• If you are applying through a fiscal sponsor, the process can take additional time.

"Right-size" your ask

• Familiarize yourself with the range of funding amounts in your chosen portfolio. In determining whether your request is appropriate, we will consider your project size, project complexity, project budget, organization size and what other funding you've secured.

Include key information in the body of the application

• We receive so many initial applications that — as much as we would like to — we may not be able to read attached materials we have not specifically requested. Having said that, if you are citing a report or quoting experts, please include links in the body of the narrative instead of providing a bibliography. It saves you words and it makes it easier for us to find the information.

Share the good ... and the bad

• We love to hear about the great work you're doing. But if your organization is going through a transition, has experienced some challenges recently or is expecting some rough times ahead, note it in your application as well and explain what you've done or are going to do to address the challenge.

If you're not invited to submit a full proposal, ask for feedback

• We'd be happy to go over your application and share our perspective on what you can consider when submitting your next application.

Once again, we are looking forward to reading about all that you're accomplishing.

See you at the information sessions!

— Violeta

Preparing a project budget begins with capturing the correct numbers. Simpler, straightforward projects are typically fine just focusing on creating a clear and accurate budget.

For organizations with large, complex or multiyear projects, more advanced budgeting techniques can be helpful. Numbers have meaning in themselves, but the budget framing tell a larger story about the organization's values and how it is approaching the project. It requires strategic thinking. Without some strategy, the budget for a complex project may fall flat or raise more questions than it answers.

Here are some practical considerations as you prepare budgets for larger, complicated projects.

Understand the funder's guidelines

The crucial and often overlooked first step in the grant process is to orient to the funders' requirements. Is it willing to be the only funder on a project? Does it require matching funds from other sources? Is it only willing to fund a certain percentage of the project budget or the organization's operating budget? Does it like to see an organization's own investment in a new project before seeking outside support? Getting that clarity up front will guide both your thinking about fit with the funder and also strategy about how to frame the budget.

At Meyer, we are rarely the first or the only funder of a project. Beyond that, there are few generalizations. We look at proposals differently based on the type and size of the project and the type of funding requested. More nuanced explanations can be found in funding guidelines for each portfolio.

Locate your proposal on the project timeline

Timing is a crucial aspect of a proposal, and capturing timing in a budget can be a little tricky. It may be helpful to think about the larger project and the steps that build on each other for a larger vision. We often see projects that build on some prior work or pilot effort and want to bring to bear the data, understanding, connections and vision to scale up the project or new business line. In these types of proposals, the narrative sections of the application will describe this pilot step and how it informed the larger vision.

The budget can mirror that progression by reflecting the work that has gone on up to the point an applicant applies and capturing it in the budget. Put another way, your project budget doesn't need to start at the time of application. Your project may be a four-year effort, starting with the year before the application, including a two-year grant period and also a year after the grant ends. Being clear about how the proposed grant period fits into the larger project timeline helps to ground your efforts and orient the reader.

If you are using Meyer's sample budget templates to describe a multi-year project, the project or capacity-building formats can be adjusted to show multiple years.

Consider your framing – wide-angle or close-up?

Related to timing, we often see that a project is defined discretely, as a finite piece of a larger effort. With this kind of close-up framing, it often appears that Meyer is being asked to fund 100 percent of the project, and this bumps up against the notion that Meyer is rarely a first or only funder of a project. To get around that issue, you might consider putting a wider angle on the project framing by showing the work that has come before it or the work expected after the grant, as long as it is reasonably connected. This wider angle can show a more diverse range of financial support for the proposal, and consequently, it does not appear that Meyer is being asked for 100 percent of the project budget. Panning out so far that the project is framed as a 10-year effort, however, loses a lot of detail and punch. Balance is prudent.

Describe the role that Meyer funding can play

We understand that, for many projects, any funding will help. For others, a Meyer grant represents something different, and it is often larger or more flexible than many other sources of grants or revenue. If the Meyer funds can play a certain role in the support of your project, describe that in your project budget and narrative. Some examples of the roles we are often asked to play:

• Experiment with new approach or prototype.
• Evaluate a demonstration project.
• Support efforts to build diversity, equity and inclusion in your work.
• Leverage or matching grant for public funders.
• Fill a key funding gap.
• Complement more restricted grants and contracts.
• Share funds with partners in a collaborative effort.
• Provide support during a critical transition.
• Augment advocacy and systems change efforts.
• Build a new or strengthen an existing skill base in the organization.
• Achieve a level of work that unlocks funding from other, larger sources.

Describing the role of Meyer funds, if appropriate for your project, can build a more compelling case for your grant proposal.

Reflect your organization's commitment to equity, diversity and inclusion

Every organization Meyer partners with is expected to share our commitment to diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI). As such, project budgets can also be a good place to reflect your organization's commitment to DEI in your external or program delivery as well as in internal work of the organization. When DEI is centered in a proposal, it can raise some additional costs for the organization, such as training consultation, compensating community partners, collaboratively sharing grant funds, or data management and evaluation to track DEI outcomes, to name just a few. You are encouraged to include these important costs in the project budget.

The bottom line? For complex or multiyear projects, don't overlook budgets as an opportunity to amplify the application narrative, strategically frame the project, build the case for Meyer funding and reflect your organizational values. Budgets are an integral part of the application and more than a mechanical exercise.

— Theresa

Meyer believes that we have to work better together in order to achieve our mission of a flourishing and equitable Oregon, and we know that working collaboratively to tackle complex issues together takes resources. We have structured our 2018 Annual Funding Opportunity to encourage and support collaboration across organizations in addition to funding the work of individual organizations. We do this in the following ways:

• Organizations may submit an additional grant application on behalf of a collaborative even if they are also applying for grant to support their own organization's work or they have an active Meyer grant.
• Organizations applying on behalf of a collaborative may request up to $250,000 for projects in order to accommodate the scope of work being tackled by large-scale collaborations and, in many situations, to support the participation of multiple organizations.
• Organizations applying on behalf of an emerging collaborative — meaning they are just getting started in their work together — may apply for a planning grant of up $35,000.

What do we mean by a collaborative?

To determine eligibility for collaborative grants (not the planning grants), we ask that organizations applying on behalf of a collaborative certify that the following three things are true:

• The collaborative structure and priorities are inclusive and demonstrate an equitable approach.
• The roles and responsibilities of collaborative partners are clearly defined and demonstrate an equitable approach.
• The decision-making processes demonstrate an equitable approach.

What qualifies for collaborative grants?

With the grant funds that are available to collaboratives, we are looking to support collaborations that have established partners' roles and responsibilities, that have clarity of purpose, and where all partners are committed and on the same page. We also want to support collaborations that have integrated equity into the way the collaborative operates in terms of who is at the table, how decisions are made and how power, resources and responsibilities are shared among partners. Although we don't have a hard definition of a "large collaborative," projects that will be competitive for grants at the top end of our scale generally have a large budget, a significant number of partners, a demonstrated history of successfully working together and are working on large-scale change.

As with all applications, strong collaborative requests demonstrate clear alignment with a portfolio goal and associated outcomes. We look for policy, systems change and movement building strategies that are grounded in the perspective of the communities and constituencies they represent, and we will assess collaborative requests based on our values and equity commitment.

If you are thinking about a collaborative proposal, consider attending our information session webinar on collaborative proposals on Monday, April 2. Finally, below you can find some answers to common questions about collaborative applications for those of you thinking about taking advantage of this opportunity.

What does Meyer mean by "roles and responsibilities of partners are clearly defined"?

When we say "roles and responsibilities of partners are clearly defined," we mean that the partners all have a clear understanding, in writing, for how the collaboration will move its work forward. This can include a defined decision-making process, defined membership and leadership levels (including how new membership will be determined), which partners will bring specific resources to the table (staff, financial, etc.), and how resources will be shared among the partners. Unless you are requesting a planning grant, we ask you to share your Memoranda of Agreement (MOA), letters of commitment or similar documents that your collaborative has in place to capture your joint agreements and understandings.

What exactly does Meyer mean by the phrase "demonstrates an equitable approach"?

There are a number of ways that different collaboratives do this. Examples of ways that collaboratives demonstrate this are:

• Clarity about a shared purpose and goals for the collaborative and that communities most affected by the issues you aim to address have informed and shaped this.
• All partners have a voice in decision-making.
• Clarity about resource sharing. Even if the request is for Meyer funds to only go to one partner, we will consider the collaborative's overarching approach to sharing resources. We trust the collaborative to determine how grant funds can best support its collaborative effort, but we will look for some indication that the different needs of partner organizations to participate as full partners have been considered.
• Co-creation of work plan and budgets.
• Clarity about ownership of work products and credit for work completed and accomplishments.
• Commitments of different partner representatives to participate and commitments of resources they are contributing.

How does Meyer define the difference between a collaborative, a partnership and a contractual relationship?

For our Annual Funding Opportunity, we will prioritize funding for collaboratives tackling systems change work and problems that can't be accomplished by organizations working in isolation and doing "business as usual." An application generally won't be considered a collaborative for our purposes when one or more organizations are signing on to support a policy agenda of a lead organization. We also don't consider contractual relationships between nonprofits as "collaboratives" where one organization has hired one or more other organizations as contractors to provide specific services.

Do the following types of applicants meet the criteria for collaborative proposals?

• Collaborations between separate programs that operate independently but are part of the same umbrella organization? (A: No)
• Coalitions that have come together around a specific short-term project or campaign? (A: Yes, if power-sharing and working together toward a shared goal — not just signing names onto a list of supporters)
• Coalitions that function as a program of one organization? (A: Yes, if involving multiple organizations, power-sharing, collective decision-making and working together toward a shared goal)

How can funds be used?

Although we are open to considering a variety of uses, most often funds support the time of partners to participate in collaborative activities, staffing support to coordinate communication and the work of the collaborative and/or consultant support to advance the collaborative's agenda.

Still have questions? Please join us at our April 2 virtual information about collaborative proposals (RSVP here) or contact us at questions [at] mmt.org (questions[at]mmt[dot]org).

— Mike

A crowd gathers near Dawson Park in North Portland for a climate justice rally lead by a coalition of Meyer grantees: OPAL, Oregon Just Transition Alliance, APANO, Beyond Toxics, Environmental Justice Oregon, PCUN, Unite Oregon & Rural Organizing Project.

The Building Community portfolio is excited to share this year's open call for applications between March 15 and April 18. Approximately $4.3 million in funding has been designated to advance three goals:

• Community connection and belonging.
• Strong nonprofit leaders and organizations.
• Civic engagement and systems change.

Our portfolio's goals for this coming year represent an adjustment from what we had been using over the past two years. The adjustments were made, in part, based on feedback we received from grantees and applicants and are an attempt to more clearly communicate the focus of the portfolio. Arts and culture aimed at encouraging inclusion, for example, had been a distinct goal in the past. With the new changes, arts and culture organizations are eligible to apply in any of the goal areas. More information on these three goal areas can be found in the Goals and Outcomes section of our website. Additional insight on arts organizations can be found here.

This portfolio is focused on both creating opportunities to equitable outcomes and removing barriers that make these outcomes difficult to achieve. Equitable outcomes for communities that have been and continue to be marginalized are of particular interest to us as are the different ways in which these communities have a voice in decisions that impact their lives. We believe that when people are part of inclusive and supportive communities — when they can see promising paths for themselves, influence decisions that affect them and connect with others and express their shared humanity — they can truly thrive. And we all benefit.

Put another way, the Building Community portfolio is interested in who is served and how they are involved in achieving equitable outcomes for themselves. Through our investments, we hope to encourage a sense of shared responsibility for creating a multicultural society in which all people can thrive and realize their full potential. More insight on how we think about determining whether or not there is a fit between your work and Meyer's goals can be found here.

Learning from the past two years

With the benefit of two years of grantmaking as a program, the Building Community team and board of trustees have tried to learn from applicants and grantees about how the priorities of this portfolio are understood and how the work toward equitable outcomes takes shape. We always appreciate feedback!

In our 2017 round of funding, we received 284 applications or roughly $31 million in requests. With a budget of $4.6 million, we were able to make 66 grants — about 23 percent of all applicants. Notable characteristics from last year's batch include:

• An increase in the percentage of applicants from rural communities (from 30 percent in 2016 to 37 percent in 2017) and from those who work statewide (from 14 percent to 20 percent over the two years).
• A slight increase in the percentage of first-time applicants (15 percent in 2016 to 18 percent in 2017).
• An increase in applicants seeking capacity building support (from 30 percent to 42 percent).
• A drop in those requesting operating support (from 15 percent in 2016 to 10 percent in 2017).
• About 60 percent of applicants in 2017 reported that they were in the early stages (i.e., Not Yet Started, Ready to Start or Launched) of our diversity, equity and inclusion spectrum tool.

Get more information

Over the next month, Meyer staff will be traveling the state to share information about the 2018 funding opportunity and our four portfolios. A list of information sessions can be found here. The Building Community team will be hosting two portfolio-specific webinars on April 3 and April 6, where we will provide more details about our grantmaking and respond to specific questions.

Of course, you can also visit our new Applicant Resources page for more information. And feel free to contact us at questions [at] mmt.org (questions[at]mmt[dot]org).

— Dahnesh

The Equitable Education portfolio is excited to announce our 2018 Annual Funding Opportunity! Meyer will invest approximately $3.4 million to advance our vision of ensuring meaningful public education for all students in Oregon through focusing on the urgent needs of today's students and reshaping the system to eliminate gaps before they begin.

This is the second round of annual funding for the Equitable Education portfolio. At the end of 2017, we awarded 50 grants out of 167 competitive applications. These grants reflected a mix of rural and urban organizations offering both a vision and approach to directly address educational disparities. Of primary importance was their collective belief that for Oregon to flourish, each student — regardless of race, ethnicity, family income, geography, disability, sexual/gender identity or language — must have the opportunity to succeed in school. We are excited to see how this work flourishes over the next few years!

The Equitable Education portfolio will begin accepting Initial Applications on March 15, with a deadline of 5 p.m. April 18, to advance one of the following Equitable Education funding goals:

1. Build a movement to align community + education institutions to create systems- and policy-level impact.
2. Improve student achievement and college and career readiness.

Meyer has identified several intended outcomes under each of these two goals, and we invite you to take a deeper look at our funding goals, strategies and outcomes as you consider how your work aligns with the vision for this portfolio.

What did we learn from last year's Annual Funding Opportunity?

The 2018 Annual Funding Opportunity represents a refinement of last year's framework based on current data as well as feedback we received from nonprofit and education partners. It's also designed to create what we believe to be the greatest opportunity to leverage Meyer's investments in education.

Although there might be modest adjustments to this year's Equitable Education goals and outcomes, equity remains central to all portfolio grantmaking. In 2018, successful applicants will continue to demonstrate a clear commitment to diversity, equity and inclusion. Through this lens, organizations will propose a vision and approach to analyzing and directly addressing education disparities experienced by our priority populations across Oregon. These students include:

• Students of color
• Indigenous students
• English Language Learners
• First-generation college students
• Students who identify as lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender and/or other sexual/gender identities
• Students with disabilities
• Students living on low incomes
• Students in foster care

After our experience last year, we decided to create a visual guide to clarify what fits within the scope of our portfolio. We designed a "fit flowchart" that gives a broad-level glance to see if your work would generally fit with the scope of the portfolio; a companion piece to this is a one-page "insights" document that answers some common questions addresses application competitiveness. You can view that resource here.

What doesn't fit within the Equitable Education portfolio

The Equitable Education portfolio team values the essential work occuring every day across the education continuum, and we recognize that preparing an application requires a considerable investment of time and resources by an organization. Insights from last year have provided us with a clear perspective on what doesn't fit within the Equitable Education portfolio:

• Education programs with universal, one-size-fits-all strategies not specifically designed for priority students, regardless of school, district or regional demographics.
• Direct early education services; we will, however, support students during the transition between early education programs and kindergarten as well as preparing public schools to offer a smooth transition from home to school.
• Strategies to address college retention and completion; however, we are interested in supporting efforts that smooth the transition between high school, or equivalent, and college and/or career.
• K-12 private schools.
• New or expanded programming developed without meaningful engagement with the priority population it's intended to impact.
• Environmental education programming not specifically designed to meet the academic, social or cultural needs of priority students.

Learn more

Over the next month, general information sessions will be held across the state. In addition, two Equitable Education webinars will be conducted March 19 and March 23. You can sign up for the Equitable Education webinars here. If you're unable to attend any sessions, or if you have questions about a specific project, please feel free to contact us at questions [at] mmt.org or 503-228-5512. You can also check out our Feb. 27 "Get to know Meyer's Equitable Education portfolio" webinar where we shared insights into what fits within the scope of our portfolio, offered our strategy for investing in the "gap," introduced our priority populations and much more.

Finally, we've organized a set of Applicant Resources to make the process easier. You'll find additional information, tools and advice on topics ranging from diversity, equity and inclusion to Meyer's definition of collaborations.

We look forward to working with you in the coming year!

— Matt

I am pleased to announce Meyer's 2018 Annual Funding Opportunity. Through this opportunity, Meyer will invest approximately $3.6 million to advance the Healthy Environment portfolio vision of nurturing a resilient natural environment, while supporting the well-being of Oregon's diverse cultures and communities.

Starting March 15 — with a deadline of 5 p.m. April 18 — the Healthy Environment portfolio begins accepting Initial Applications that advance one of the following portfolio goals:

1. Support efforts that mutually achieve community well-being, economic vitality and environmental stewardship.
2. Ensure that environmental impacts and benefits are equitably distributed among communities.
3. Support a movement for a healthy environment that is effective and relevant for all Oregon's diverse communities.
4. Ensure that natural systems are healthy and able to adapt to changing conditions and long-term impacts.

This is the third round of annual funding in Meyer's new program structure. Last November, we announced the 2017 grants supporting a broad range of forward-thinking efforts for a healthy environment in rural and urban communities across Oregon. This year, we will continue to look for partners who share our commitment to disrupting the extractive systems that are harming the environment and our communities across Oregon and implementing programs and policies that are just, sustainable and work for all.

There are no big changes to the application process this year, but we made some refinements to streamline the application and make it easier for you to navigate. We also created information resources to help clarify areas where we received a lot of questions. Following is our "top seven list" that we think are most relevant to Healthy Environment portfolio applicants for the 2018 funding opportunity.

1. How to pick a portfolio goal for your application. We get a lot of questions about which goal applicants should select for their request. We recommend that you not only assess the alignment of your request with one of the portfolio goals but that you also zero in on the outcome categories connected to each of the goals. Consider your project-specific outcomes and how they fit into the one or two outcome categories for any one of the portfolio goals. In addition, take a look this list of what doesn't fit specific to this funding opportunity to help guide you.
2. If you select "organizational capacity" as an outcome for your request in Goal One or Goal Four make sure you also make the programmatic connection to our goals clear. Strong applicants for capacity building grants in these two goals will be those whose core programmatic work advances one of the other outcomes in that goal. For more details, check out our goals and outcomes information.
3. What's a "collaborative grant" for the purposes of Meyer's annual funding opportunity? We know that organizations are partnering with other organizations in many informal and formal ways, and we believe that this is a valuable strategy for making change in our communities. However, for the purposes of a collaborative grant application, we've got something specific in mind. Check out this new information to help you understand how we are defining collaboratives for the purposes of a collaborative application and answer other common questions about Meyer's collaborative grants.
4. Demographic data collection from your staff and board — let's make it happen! Last year we simplified our demographic data request to applicants, and the new process seems to be working better for groups. However, last year we found that demographic data collection by Healthy Environment portfolio applicants was substantially lower compared with our other portfolios. Here's the data from our 2017 grant applicants:
   

5. We encourage applicants to take this request to heart, and we hope to see more complete results this year. One way this information is important is to establish a baseline of how your organization reflects the communities you serve. Here is a tip sheet that D5 Coalition put together on how to do this. And, if you are successful with your grant, we will be looking for how you plan to address this issue during the grant period.

6. More on what we mean by diversity, equity and inclusion. We continue to have a robust discussion with prospective grant applicants and others about what Meyer means by equity and what our expectations are for applicants. Although we expect the dialogue to continue, we've also put together some new resources in an effort to answer your questions. These include The DEI Journey, Is Your Organization Ready? and Understanding Meyer's DEI Spectrum Tool.
   
   In addition, our Applicant Resources page includes tools and resources to help you understand how we think about and assess diversity, equity and inclusion in the context of organizations' internal operations and their mission and programs.
7. Clearer direction on what dollar amount to request and what support type to pick. This year, the request amounts for the different grant types (capacity, operating, project or capital) are more consistent across all the portfolios. We've also clarified our support type definitions and provided more guidance on what amount to request by sharing the average size of 2017 grants.
8. Operating support candidates are very specific. For the Healthy Environment portfolio, operating support grants will primarily be awarded to organizations working on public policy and systems change; key intermediaries and networks that serve the interests of many organizations working for a healthy environment; or key organizations or networks that play a unique role in the field and that have wider impact for the sector (e.g. is a field leader in Oregon or nationally). All operating support grantees will have demonstrated internal and external commitment to diversity, equity and inclusion; the strongest candidate organizations will also demonstrate diversity, equity and inclusion leadership in the context of the community and field where they work. Please contact us at questions [at] mmt.org to discuss whether your organization is a good fit for operating support.

Getting more info

If you'd like to discuss the 2018 Annual Funding Opportunity and your proposal plans, please participate in one of the upcoming information sessions or contact us at questions [at] mmt.org. Make sure to also review Candy Solovjovs' recent article about the funding call, which offers guidance and tips relevant to all the portfolios.

Our work together is now more important than ever. Please don't hesitate to get in touch to discuss your ideas and questions.

— Jill

We're open! The Housing Opportunities portfolio is pleased to begin accepting applications for a third cycle of our Annual Funding Opportunity. In 2018, we will be deploying about $3.9 million to open doors to opportunity and strengthen communities through safe, affordable housing.

The application process kicks off March 15, 2018, and will continue for almost five weeks, closing at 5 p.m. April 18, 2018. In that time, Meyer will be hosting information sessions at seven sites around the state. Two additional virtual information sessions, March 20 and April 4, will focus on the Housing Opportunities portfolio. Attending a live or virtual session will give you the most up-to-date information on our process and the details of the Annual Funding Opportunity.

Initial Applications should advance one of our overarching Housing Opportunities funding goals:

1. Preserve + increase the number of affordable housing rental units.
2. Support the housing stability + success of Oregonians living on low incomes.
3. Strengthen the housing sector by building capacity, diversity, equity and inclusion + collaboration.

Each of these goals has intended outcomes, and you are encouraged to review the funding goals, strategies and outcomes as you consider how your work aligns with the vision for this portfolio. Click here to find a visual representation of Meyer's goals, outcomes, funding ranges and types to help you assess the best fit. Equally important is the shorter list of what doesn't fit well with the portfolio.

In 2017, the Housing Opportunities portfolio received 78 applications in the Annual Funding Opportunity and ultimately awarded 39 grants in a competitive process (a 50 percent funding rate). These grants reflected a range of approaches, united by a common understanding that housing is key to flourishing and equitable communities and a vision that every Oregonian has a stable, safe and affordable place to call home. More information on the 2017 housing grant slate can be found here, and all of last year's Annual Funding Opportunity grants are listed here.

What we've learned

With two annual funding cycles under our belt, we can share a few observations about the process.

• Showing an equity commitment. Meyer's grantmaking centers around equity principles, such as understanding and working to address the disparate housing outcomes experienced by seniors, people with disabilities, people of color and other marginalized populations. All applicants must demonstrate a commitment to ongoing growth through the integration of diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI) principles into both their external programming or services and internal structures and operations.

Although we don't expect perfection from our partners (nor do we have it ourselves!), we do expect to see commitment to advancing DEI principles in your work. Conversely, a proposal that mentions no specific efforts to advance your organizational commitment to DEI will be challenged to succeed in the competitive batch.

• Timing for capital proposals can be tricky. The Initial Applications we see can be at all stages of the development process, from firm concept to nearly completing the fundraising process or breaking ground. If your project is on the more nascent side — indicated perhaps by a lack of site control, the design is far from ready and the financing plan is still unclear — it is hard to be competitive against projects farther along the development path.

Think about when these pieces might be coming into place. If you expect important legal decisions, site control or design features finalized soon, and major funding decisions determined by late summer, it probably makes sense to apply in this year's cycle. If many of these pieces are not expected until late 2018 or beyond, we'd likely counsel you to consider waiting. At a minimum, you should feel free to consult with housing staff by emailing questions [at] mmt.org (questions[at]mmt[dot]org).

• General operating support has a high bar. As noted in our funding guidelines, we have heightened expectations from organizations that are awarded unrestricted operating support. First and foremost, they should be housing organizations (do a majority of their work in affordable housing) and strongly advance the core funding goals in our Housing Opportunities portfolio. Additionally, they should play a unique and/or important role in the field and have wider impact for the sector (e.g., as an intermediary, is seen as a field leader in Oregon or nationally); demonstrate leadership for diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI) in the context of the communities where they work; and have DEI strategies as a meaningful part of their work plan for the grant period. Reach out if you have questions about whether to apply for this funding type.

• Multiple grants and organizational capacity. Two rounds of annual funding opportunities and multiple Requests for Proposals over the past four years mean that some organizations are managing multiple Meyer grants, in either the housing portfolio and/or other portfolios.

We allow these multiple grants and encourage them if the organization has sufficient capacity to advance multiple projects and collaborative efforts at the same time. During the review process, we look at capacity concerns and also consider how much of an organization's overall financial support may be coming from various Meyer grants, including collaborative grants. We wouldn't want an organization to inadvertently bump up against the "tipping" rules of the Internal Revenue Service (which seek to ensure nonprofits have a diversified funding base and do not "tip" over to be treated as private foundations).

As a reminder, if you received a multiyear grant from a previous annual funding opportunity and that grant is ending this year, you can apply again in the 2018 round. If you are in doubt, reach out and we'll confirm your eligibility.

Other funding opportunities this year

In addition to the 2018 Annual Funding Opportunity, the Housing portfolio expects to release two Requests for Proposals (RFPs) that tie to the Affordable Housing Initiative, Meyer's focused five-year effort to catalyze outcome-oriented, transformational strategies that will move the dial on affordable housing in Oregon.

These RFPs will be tied to the Cost Efficiencies Strategy (an effort to develop models for creating and preserving affordable units as cost effectively as possible over the units' lifespan) and the Private Market Strategy (efforts to expand low-income renters' access to safe, decent, affordable housing through existing private market units). Both of these RFPs are expected to be released around July 2018, and organizations that apply to the 2018 Annual Funding Opportunity are not precluded from applying to a targeted RFP (assuming it has sufficient capacity, as described above). Sign up for the Meyer newsletter to make sure you hear about any RFP releases.

Additional resources

Want more information about what we look for? We've gathered a set of Applicant Resources, with everything from building a budget to understanding our definition of collaborations and learning more about diversity, equity and inclusion. You are encouraged to review those resources at any time.

Final thoughts

One of the best parts of our year is seeing all the amazing work across the state to bring affordable housing to our neighbors. Your work is deeply impressive and energizing. We're excited to see what you're working on and connecting in the 2018 Annual Funding Opportunity and the coming year!

— Theresa

I’m thrilled to announce that Michelle J. DePass will be joining Meyer Memorial Trust as our new president and chief executive officer. After an extensive search that brought us a pool of outstanding candidates, Michelle rose to the top because of her broad experience and career-long commitment to equity and social justice. On April 30, she replaces Doug Stamm, who has guided Meyer through enormous growth, innovation and change for 16 years. 
 
Michelle was an early leader in the environmental justice movement, and throughout her career she’s been an influential voice for equity and social justice in the governmental, academic, philanthropic and nonprofit arenas. She served in the Obama administration as assistant administrator of the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, as a program officer at the Ford Foundation and, most recently, as dean of the Milano School of International Affairs, Management and Urban Policy at The New School in New York, inspiring and educating the next generation of leaders.
 
For nearly two decades, Michelle has sought out and excelled in roles where she can make a difference and shift the power dynamic to improve life for people of color, women, indigenous peoples and low-income communities. Now, she brings that dedication to Meyer, where she’ll lead the charge forward on the equity journey we began under Doug’s leadership.

Here’s how she explained why a New York-based national leader with roots in academia, public service, philanthropy, civil rights and the environment was drawn to this opportunity in Oregon: “Meyer Memorial Trust believes that everyone in Oregon deserves to live in a safe place, that the educational experience that we provide for our children will provide a world of opportunity, that the environment surrounding us should be a source of strength and health, and that our communities sustain us with a sense of belonging and possibility, regardless of race or class,” Michelle said. “For this to happen and make Oregon an equitable place, we must dismantle systemic oppression and have the discipline to ask ourselves over and over again: does this decision remove barriers or reinforce them? Together, I believe Meyer’s dedicated board, committed staff and fellows, and innovative grantees can pull down those barriers. That’s why I am joining the foundation, to expand opportunity by eliminating barriers.”

Then she added: “I do not want our communities to simply be resilient; I want them to thrive.”
 
Michelle has strong family ties to Oregon: Her husband, Joshua Paulson, is a civil rights and defense attorney from western Oregon and a graduate of Crescent Valley High School in Corvallis. In our conversations, she’s expressed a particular interest in bridging the painful divide that exists between our urban and rural populations. 

“The educational, cultural and political divides between Portland and the Willamette Valley on the one hand and the rest of the state on the other are vast,” she said “If we can begin to close these divides in Oregon, perhaps we can do so nationally as well.”
 
She plans to relocate with her family to Portland; her first day is set for April 30. Doug will remain with Meyer in an advisory capacity for up to six months while Michelle settles in. We are sincerely appreciative of Doug's significant contributions to the Trust during his 16-year tenure, and we will build upon the great work that he led.

Michelle’s appointment culminates a broad-based national search that began last summer. Through The 360 Group, partnering with Murphy, Symonds & Stowell of Portland, Meyer received an sizeable response to the CEO position; a diverse pool of more than 140 candidates applied, about 50 of them from Oregon, and applicants represented many types of equity perspectives and identities as well as leadership across private industry, public health, academia and the philanthropic and nonprofit sectors.

We look forward to the fresh perspective, innovative spirit and energy Michelle will kindle in Meyer’s work to create a more flourishing, equitable Oregon. Please join us in welcoming Michelle to Meyer, and read her full bio to learn more about Michelle and her experience.

— Charles

Michelle J. DePass becomes Meyer's new president and chief executive officer, succeeding Doug Stamm on April 30. Photo credit: Michael Rubenstein Photography

A brand-new year begins, filled with possibility and change. 

At Meyer, we are excited about the transitions before us as we prepare to welcome a new chief executive officer. On the one hand, we recognize that foundation leadership transitions can be times of vulnerability, for foundations and their nonprofit partners alike. On the other hand, we also know that leadership change is an opportunity for fresh perspectives, deepening commitments and continual growth. We are primed to make the most of these opportunities to advance our work toward a flourishing and equitable Oregon! 

Meyer has been through a lot of change over the past several years, and you’ve been right there with us. We now have our portfolios and grant programs solidly in place, an excellent staff, and trustees who are capably stewarding our strategic direction. Our trustees are excited by the opportunity to bring on the next CEO to advance our strong equity-focused vision. By all accounts, we are in a great position to launch this next step of our journey with confidence and stability in Meyer’s role as funder, partner, convener and leader. Our trustees and staff are and will remain deeply committed to our portfolio areas, our partnerships and our equity journey. And our voice will continue to get stronger in our work to help make Oregon a more equitable state for everyone who lives here.

We thank you for your ongoing support, and we hope to soon be announcing our next CEO!
 
— Candy

We interrupt your regularly scheduled programming to talk about Drupal 8, the tool we used to build this website. What on earth is a tech article doing on Meyer's site? Well, we believe in openness and knowledge sharing, including on the tech side.

When we built our last Drupal site, we shared the full recipe of all the modules and themes we used, and it was quite popular. We planned to do this again with this site, but developing on the Drupal 8 bleeding edge meant using early solutions rather than the best ones, making that less useful or even misleading. We still want to share knowledge, and I decided to focus on an oft neglected area, namely admin modules. Here are some useful modules that site owners and maintainers love having but all too often don't get.

 

Modules I think should always be in a site

Pathauto

This module automatically generates URL/path aliases for content (nodes, taxonomy terms, users). It builds the URL from the title so that you don't have to manually type it, including leaving out noise words such as and and the (configurable). It also follows rules you set up that help you make URLs more descriptive, for example automatically adding the /news/ part of this article's URL. You can see how closely this page's URL aligns with this article's title. This allows you to have URL aliases such as /news/amazing-news instead of ugly ones such as /node/123, and it removes hassle and human error from other approaches. A usable site really can't do without this module, and this one is usually included in new sites.

The image shows an example taken from the edit screen of this article.

 

Metatag

This module lets you automatically provide structured metadata, aka "meta tags," about a website, which helps with SEO. It also helps you to control how shared content appears on social media (e.g. by using Open Graph Protocol for Facebook and Twitter Cards for Twitter) by letting you configure how your content should be interpreted by those services, including drilling down by content type if needed. This module is a tad cumbersome because of all it lets you do and it could use some better default values, but it is vital if you care about search engine ranking and social media control and therefore it is regularly included in new sites.

The image shows an example of the Metatag options for Twitter as associated with a particular content type, namely news articles.

 

Redirect

I've yet to receive a site or be involved in a vendor-built site that was delivered with a module like this one installed and that baffles me. It lets you add redirects for incorrect URLs (e.g. I've added a redirect to fix issues caused by a newsletter URL typo) and for an aliased URL (e.g. redirect common URL guesses/mistakes to the intended page). It removes case errors, tracks redirect usage and errors, helps you easily fix 404 errors and helps in a number of other ways with reducing URL noise, which in turn helps with SEO, efficiency, errors and more. Alternatives to this module usually require risky .htaccesss changes or, in our case, cumbersome settings file changes. This is faster, is easier to maintain, gives you some awesome power and flexibility, has plenty of useful reporting and is doing so much for you out of the box that I think it is a must have, particularly since it is also the D8 successor to the awesome Global Redirect module.

The image shows the main redirect admin page.

 

Diff

This module shows site maintainers the differences between revisions in their content revision history for any given piece of content (assuming a content type where you have revisions turned on). At the time of writing, this module was still in RC status, but it is backend only, works very well out of the box and is also configurable.

The image shows an example of revision differences for this article being highlighted.

 

Admin Toolbar

​Those of you who have been patiently waiting for a D8 version, then this is the replacement you're looking for. This module improves the default Drupal administration menu at the top of your site by transforming it into a mouse-over drop-down menu, meaning much faster access to all administration pages. No more multiple clicks and page loads to get to some admin screens. It's really a must-have for modern sites. Note: Many folks use the Adminimal Theme to improve the overall administrative backend (we do), and if you do too, then you'll also need the Adminimal Admin Toolbar module to fix a number of CSS issues.

The image shows an example of menu mouse-over going three levels down. Note that the blue color is ours, not the module's (indicates production, see more about the Environment Indicator module below).

 

Linkit

I've only just added this module to our site, and it was love at first sight for our Communicorns. Site maintainers are tired of the default method of adding links from a WYSIWYG editor, namely: open another tab, find that page, copy the URL, come back into their editor sesion and paste the URL, while also remembering to remove the domain part of the URL to ensure it's a relative link. It would be so much easier if there was a friendly interface with an autocomplete field to help you find links to content on your site — be it for a page, a file or even an image — and which saves relative links automatically. That's what this module does and why site owners love it.

The image shows an example of the Linkit popup where typing the word Housing has revealed loads of matching pages, images and files.

 

Quick Node Clone

Site builders are probably more familiar with Node Clone, but the old module is currently either dead or dormant. This module was added by a team that had to rewrite it for their own D8 needs and decided to freely share their work. Thanks folks! It allows you to clone existing content, even complex content. I could clone one of our involved Portfolio pages as easily as an article. Site maintainers always want this kind of functionality, but strangely they rarely get it. And why not? They are plug and play and usually have little or no configuration. Add it and it just works.

The image shows an example of us cloning this article where you can see that all fields are being cloned.

 

Module Filter

This module simplifies the ever-so-long modules page with vertical tabs and improves the search features on that page. It also adds useful search capability to the available updates page and the permissions page. This is only for site developers, but it still gives you enough UX improvement to always have it.

The image shows an example from the modules page, where you can see how the list is compressed, the search filter and options for the search. For more examples visit the Module Filter page.

 

Modules I think should mostly be in a site

Environment Indicator

This is a terrific module for anyone with a professional site tech workflow that includes the usual development, test and live versions of your site. Have you ever accidentally changed your live site instead of your test one or some similar mishap? It's easy to do. Our web host provides dev, test and live sites automatically, but I still want to work locally so I now have four environments to get confused between. The problem I had before was having several browser tabs open for each site as I worked on a problem, and they all looked identical and had identical favicons on the browser tabs. It was a struggle to find the tab I wanted, and then mistakes were easy to make. This module helps with cutting that down by giving you some visual cues for logged in admins about which version of your site you're on. Each environment has a different colored admin menu bar and a site name (I imaginatively named mine local, Development, Test and Live). Additionally it sets an optional overlay over the favicon in your browser tab with the first letter of whatever you named your environment and the color you specified for that environment. This helps you find the right tab quicker because when I look at my tabs I can see at a glance which environment that tab is for. Further I have a grey version of our favicon set for our admin theme so I can differentiate frontend pages from backend ones in addition to the above. This module is super helpful to devs and admins alike, really to anyone with access to more than one environment.

The image shows how my four environments are given different colors and how they appear on tabs, including having an admin favicon, plus the ability to switch between environments that reinforces the color choices (I chose not to include my localhost site as it only affects me).

 

Coffee

At the time of writing, this module was still in beta, but it's admin only and I have had few problems with it. I also love it to bits, and so do our Communicorns. It speeds up getting to Drupal admin screens even more than the Admin Toolbar moduleby letting you navigate between admin screens without using a mouse. You type alt and d and a popup appears with a search field, then you start typing and an autocompleter will show you all the available admin screens that match your text. You can then use arrow keys to navigate to the desired option and press enter to select it. The module allows you to include nonadmin menus too, but so far I haven't needed that. You can watch a short demo video of the Drupal 7 version of the module if you'd like to see it in action.

The image shows an example of the popup where I've typed "add co," and Coffee has shown me all the admin options that match.

 

File Entity Browser

Sometimes finding files and images already uploaded to the site is a real pain. Frustrated site owners end up uploading the same image multiple times. This module lets you browse and select from your existing files using a friendly, attractive, mobile-ready interface. You can also upload new files. It makes the experience of finding a file/image so much better.

The image shows the file browser with options to restrict to files that include the word housing sorted by name.

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That's it. Let me know of any notable omissions or if you have thoughts about any of the above modules.

— Grant