Minnesota charities spreading the word

When the Hennepin County Medical Center launched a foundation last month, the first grant did not go to a traditional target such as a "safety net fund" for poor patients or promising medical research. Instead, the $30,000 grant went to a public information campaign calling attention to the impact that roughly $43 million in state budget cuts will have on the medical center.

Like many foundations across Minnesota, the Hennepin Health Foundation has found that public advocacy has become as critical as services to the public -- especially in this economy.

Advocacy doesn't necessarily mean the tactics that got the community-organizing group ACORN into hot water. But organizing and educating citizens and political leaders -- and even supporting an occasional demonstration -- are no longer considered fringe activities for many foundations.

"Even though we normally would focus on program improvements [for patients], you need to preserve the mother ship first," said Emily Fuerste, president of the new Hennepin Health Foundation. "Then we can go on to support ... the people we serve."

Minnesota is home to about 1,400 philanthropic foundations, which spend more than $1 billion a year to keep rivers clean, residents fed and children educated -- among other things. But the recession and government budget cuts have many eyeing the power of the people.

A five-year study of 15 Minnesota advocacy groups funded by local foundations showed that for every dollar invested in advocacy and community organizing, $138 was gained in the form of affordable housing, health care and other tangible results.

"Historically, many foundations have been reluctant to take risks," said Aaron Dorfman, executive director of the National Committee on Responsive Philanthropy in Washington, D.C., which released the study last month.

"There is more of an appetite for this in the past five, 10 years," King said. "As the social contract has changed and government has changed, more foundations see that public engagement is a tool for addressing their missions."

How it works

Sign up for a church workshop about how to combat racism, and it's likely to be funded by the St. Paul Foundation.

Attend a working group strategizing on how to protect the Mississippi River, and it's likely to be funded by the McKnight Foundation. Join a demonstration advocating health care reform, and its participants are likely to include members of a large Minnesota religious coalition called ISAIAH, which gets funding from the Otto Bremer Foundation and others.

Foundation money can't be used for protests or lobbying, but it can fund the organization in general. It's sometimes a fine line.

It makes sense for foundations to fund such groups as ISAIAH, said Schrantz, because it can build citizen support for foundation priorities.

Some of Minnesota's largest foundations have long funded community organizing and advocacy. They acknowledge it presents both rewards and risks.

"You have to have a bit of a spine as to where you might go," acknowledged Neal Cuthbert, vice president of program at the McKnight Foundation, Minnesota's largest foundation. "But funders need to take risks."

Getting foundation directors on board can also be a challenge, Dorfman said. "Sometimes advocacy is good for what the foundation cares about, but not good for the social status of their trustees," he said. "If you're friends with the mayor, and you fund an organization holding him accountable, there's a tension there."

It's also tough to measure the "success" of community organizing, and funders want to see the numbers, said Sue Abderholden, executive director of the Minnesota chapter of the National Alliance on Mental Illness. "It's hard to evaluate a movement," Abderholden said.

Another hurdle is that many foundations continue to recoil from activities that look like lobbying, which for the most part is prohibited by law, foundation leaders said.

However, as social problems become intertwined -- such as educational attainment, poverty and race -- linking the various leaders to create a united front makes sense, foundation leaders said. And that requires funding.

"There's a growing understanding that solutions are multifaceted," said John Couchman, vice president of grants at the St. Paul Foundation. "In some cases, it involves public policy change; in some cases, community understanding; in some cases, community action."

Hennepin Health Foundation leaders intend to fund programs for patients and staff as the foundation grows. "The people we care for clearly are our priorities," said Art Gonzalez, CEO of the Hennepin County Medical Center. But without advocacy work, "we might be raising money for something that won't exist."

Jean Hopfensperger • 612-673-4511