2012 MN Foundation Outlook Partly Sunny

Today the Minnesota Council on Foundations (MCF) released its annual Minnesota Grantmakers Outlook Report for 2012. The results? Grantmakers expect relatively stable giving in 2012. The majority expect to remain flat or increase by one percent. The report was developed based on survey responses from 104 Minnesota grantmakers, which represent seventy six percent of grantmakers in the state.

Key findings from the report include:

• Giving by the largest grantmakers – those that give more than $10 million annually – is estimated to remain relatively flat in 2012.

• Many foundations anticipate that assets will rise in 2012: 45 percent expect their assets to increase, while 39 percent predict they will stay the same. Most grantmakers who expect higher assets forecast increases to be less than 5 percent.

• A strong majority (70 percent) of grantmakers expects to continue with current grantmaking priorities and programs in 2012, compared with 61 percent in 2011 versus 2010, as reported in MCF’s 2011 Outlook Report.

• Twenty-three of 77 education funders surveyed predict they will increase their giving to education in 2012. Arts, culture, and humanities is the only subject area to which more grantmakers expect to decrease funding than plan to increase it.

What does this data mean for your cause? With more and more organizations looking to diversify their funding streams by seeking out grants from private donors, the grants environment remains extremely competitive in Minnesota. One grantmaker quoted in the report shared: “The demands on our grantmaking funds continue to increase…..the decisions become more and more difficult.”

Stay tuned to this blog for grant writing tips that will give your proposal the competitive edge so you can focus on what’s important: your mission.

-Katrina

 Print This Post