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Home | Opinion Exchange | Editorials

Editorial: Bush Foundation makes a smart shift

Charity changes giving approach to have greater impact.

Last update: July 29, 2008 - 7:29 PM

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A NEW APPROACH

"These are big goals. They are challenging ... we can't achieve them alone. We will look for partners who can help show us the way. We'll pursue a more active, strategic approach for the use of our resources. We will learn as we go.''

Bush Foundation President Peter Hutchinson

•••

To view a video and slide presentation on the foundation's new priorities, go to bushfoundation.org.

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In its proud 55-year history, the Archibald Bush Foundation has touched a lot of lives through grants to thousands of organizations. Now the board of the state's second-largest foundation wants to have a more direct and measurable impact on specific community issues.

Rather than spreading its resources among many recipients, Bush will concentrate more dollars, over longer periods of time, to develop effective leaders and help communities solve their own problems; to support the 23 Native American nations in Minnesota and North and South Dakota; and to increase educational achievement through improving teaching.

Those are broad goals, and exactly how the new approach will play out remains to be seen. But Bush, with $900 million in assets, is joining other nonprofits that have decided to become more strategic in selecting partners and funding causes. It's a pragmatic and potentially significant shift in charitable giving.

While the new approach is sensibly structured, it does involve change -- change that's likely to be difficult for some. Long-time Bush grant recipients from arts and environmental groups, for example, are understandably worried about losing funding because their missions are not mentioned in the foundation's new goals. Bush awarded $38.5 million in grants last year.

To help some current grantees, Bush leaders are wisely offering some transition funds to give groups time to adjust. And the charity will help encourage more giving from other sources in the three states. However, in some cases, previous Bush recipients will have to look for support elsewhere.

Other groups will be able to modify grant proposals to fit within the foundation's new direction. Arts or environmental organizations, for example, could create programs or work with other groups to develop community leaders or help improve the quality of teaching.

Bush is not alone among nonprofits in taking a more specific strategic approach. Earlier this year, the United Way announced the last of three phases in a five-year effort to refocus its work. Now the nonprofit's goals center on improving the lives of children and families by helping domestic violence victims, reducing hunger, increasing self-sufficiency and improving education and health care for low-income people.

Other major Minnesota foundations, as well as their counterparts across the nation, are considering new strategic directions, according to Bill King, director of the Minnesota Council on Foundations. Many philanthropic groups are reexamining their priorities and reorganizing.

That's not to say the programs funded in the past were without merit. Many of them helped launch important community-building efforts and leveraged other dollars for good causes. But to make even more progress and show measurable results in the future, the Bush Foundation deserves the community's support as it takes a smarter, more strategic approach to improving lives in Minnesota, North and South Dakota.

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