The Minnesota Council of Nonprofits has released a new report: State Grants to Minnesota Nonprofits: Increasing Effectiveness, Transparency, and Accountability. Written by two law students, with contributions from MCN staff, this report provides an excellent overview of grantmaking authority in Minnesota.
To address the set of issues involved in the grantmaking process, this report seeks to describe the context of grantmaking in the state of Minnesota; identify the current grantmaking process and the role of the Office of Grants Management; look to Feeding Our Future as a counter example to help illustrate weaknesses in the current system, analyze the barriers and issues currently challenging the grantmaking process; and propose grant system reforms and useful further inquiry.
In addition, State Grants to Minnesota Nonprofits shares reviews of grants systems from Minnesota and other states, outlines problematic practices that result from these systems, and provides recommendations for both nonprofits and the state to improve this form of partnership between the state and nonprofits.
Our nonprofit sector is unusual in that we welcome outside oversight of our work – we need the trust of the community and of government in order to advance our missions. This new report will help us to understand what oversight already exists, bolstering our knowledge base as we advocate for best practices in state grantmaking.