Over the past 15 years, the Nonprofit Management Fund has built the capacity of more than 500 local nonprofits to achieve their missions more effectively.
"Milwaukee is fortunate to have a great community of nonprofit organizations," said Doug Jansson, president of the Greater Milwaukee Foundation, which along with the Faye McBeath Foundation and the Helen Bader Foundation played a critical role in the Fund's inception. "In 1994, several funders realized that local organizations could benefit from assistance beyond our regular grantmaking that would improve their management capacity and governance effectiveness, which in turn would benefit the clients and the agencies as well as the entire community. From those discussions, the Nonprofit Management Fund was created."
The Nonprofit Management Fund supports efforts to build organizational capacity through Board Development; Staff Training; Strategic/Annual Planning; Mergers; Marketing; Corporate Restructuring; Organizational Assessment; Financial Management; Human Resources; Earned Income Strategies; Technology; and Fundraising.
Using a two-pronged approach, the Fund increases the efficiency and effectiveness of individual nonprofit organizations through technical assistance grants, and also strengthens the nonprofit sector as a whole through initiative & new idea grants.
The Fund is celebrating several accomplishments in conjunction with their 15th anniversary.
v Over $7.5M committed to strengthening the nonprofit sector in the greater Milwaukee area.
v Nearly 1,600 applications reviewed, resulting in funding awards to an extraordinary 75% of applicants.
v Sector-wide initiatives, such as BoardStar provides nonprofit directors and boards with governance tools, educational programs, and recruitment opportunities to enhance their governance practices; ENTECH increases technology efficiency at nonprofits; and, diagnostic clinics comprehensively assess an organization's strengths and challenges.
v Key support in the development of entities that assist the nonprofit sector such as the Helen Bader Institute for Nonprofit Management at UWM; the Milwaukee Legal Initiative for Nonprofit Corporations at Marquette University; and, the Wisconsin Nonprofits Association.
In 2009, the Fund is comprised of eleven partners encompassing foundations, corporations and the United Way representing diverse grantmaking perspectives. The Fund serves as a model for collaboratives across the country and abroad.
"Northwestern Mutual Foundation has taken great pride in being one of the founding corporate partners of the Nonprofit Management Fund," notes Lynn Heimbruch, manager of philanthropy and community relations for the Northwestern Mutual Foundation. "We consider this initiative to be a phenomenal investment in the health of the nonprofit sector. We also value the collaborative spirit of all the other funders at the table."
