Impact Story: Northside Funders Group

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February 2013

Three strands of McKnight's work are woven together in the efforts of the Northside Funders Group (NSFG), consisting of 19 private, public, and corporate funders in north Minneapolis pushing beyond the traditional approach to grantmaking to strategically align investments for greater impact and to achieve real and sustainable change.

The first strand is McKnight's Region & Communities grantmaking, which aims to increase efficient and sustainable regional metropolitan development that creates livable communities and expands opportunities for all to thrive. The second is the integrative approach we use to link people, place, and possibility, as detailed in the "Our Niche" section of our 2012 Strategic Framework. The third is our organizational value of innovation, which we define as collaborating with others to test and develop new ideas and pathways to address complex problems.

Historically, NSFG member funding activity has resulted in a total of $10-$15 million in grants to nearly 146 organizations each year in north Minneapolis. Amid this significant financial support, challenges persist and some investments do not lead to sustainable change. The NSFG members are working with a sense of urgency to develop and implement a collective investment frame that calls for greater focus, and includes co-targeting, alignment, or pooling investment strategies.

NSFG is positioning itself to collectively improve outcomes by significantly changing the way we work; we recognize that we can do more together than any one of us can achieve alone.

Related resources

Northside Funders Group factsheet (PDF)

Member organizations

Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Minnesota Foundation
Carlson Family Foundation
City of Minneapolis
General Mills Foundation
Greater Twin Cities United Way
Headwaters Foundation for Justice
Hennepin County
Jay and Rose Phillips Family Foundation
Liemandt Family Foundation
LISC Twin Cities
The McKnight Foundation
The Minneapolis Foundation
Mortenson Family Foundation
Nexus Community Partners
Pan African Community Fund
United Health Group
Wells Fargo
Xcel Energy Foundation
Youthprise