MINNEAPOLIS, Minn. (January 24, 2001) "Building Business Investment in Community" (BBIC), a new collaborative project to strengthen Minnesota business philanthropy, has received a $320,620 grant from the Forum of Regional Associations of Grantmakers' New Ventures in Philanthropy initiative in Washington, D.C. BBIC will use the grant over the next three years to help Minnesota businesses, business leaders and employees build, expand and sustain their contributions and investments, so that more resources will be available to improve the vitality and health of communities statewide.

"Although Minnesota continues to be blessed with businesses that contribute to community organizations and with business leaders who are actively engaged in the community, there is a sense that the changing economy is affecting the state's tradition of strong business philanthropy," said Marina Muñoz Lyon, chair of BBIC's newly formed steering committee. "We feel an urgency to understand how businesses of all sizes and types, in all parts of the state, invest in their communities so that our tradition can be sustained. We also want to help ensure that businesses understand the important role philanthropy can play in addressing such bottom-line needs as customer and employee loyalty and workforce development. The New Ventures grant will help us conduct this important work. On behalf of all the organizations involved in BBIC, I'd like to thank the Forum for its generous support of our efforts."

Founding coalition members of BBIC are the Minnesota Council on Foundations, the project's fiscal agent; the Center for Ethical Business Cultures; the Greater Minneapolis Chamber of Commerce; the Minnesota Chamber of Commerce; the Minnesota Keystone Program; The Collaborative; United Way Associates; Initiative Foundation; Northland Foundation; Northwest Minnesota Foundation; Southern Minnesota Initiative Foundation; Southwest Minnesota Foundation and West Central Initiative. BBIC's steering committee will be led by chair Lyon, vice president of Pohlad Family Charities and board member of the Minnesota Council on Foundations, and co-chairs Bill Blazar, senior vice president of the Minnesota Chamber of Commerce, and Sherry Ristau, executive director of Southwest Minnesota Foundation in Hutchinson.

BBIC has hired Jackie Reis, retiring president of the Minnesota Council on Foundations, as its project manager. "We are extremely pleased that Jackie Reis has agreed to work on this project," said Blazar. "Her many decades of experience in philanthropy and her strong understanding of the state's business philanthropy field will help ensure that BBIC meets its goals."

BBIC plans to gather information and conduct research on Minnesota's current business philanthropy environment and the barriers and motivators to business giving. The project will develop and implement strategies to sustain and increase business involvement in the community, including a mentoring program for business leaders, a toolkit for business giving, and educational programs.

BBIC was selected for the New Ventures grant from a pool of applicants from 21 states and territories, and received the largest award of New Ventures' 13 grant recipients in 2000. The grant to BBIC will be supplemented with local funds. The Minnesota Council on Foundations also received a grant from New Ventures in 1998 to support the Minnesota Toolkit for Giving project (www.minnesotagiving.org).

The Forum of Regional Associations of Grantmakers (www.rag.org) is a national philanthropy association of 28 regional associations that represent more than 3,400 foundations and corporate giving programs nationwide. The Forum's New Ventures in Philanthropy initiative, launched in 1998, supports local and regional coalitions that are learning new ways to encourage individual and corporate philanthropy. In three annual rounds of grantmaking, New Ventures has awarded a total of nearly $6 million to 32 coalitions involving more than 300 organizations.

CONTACT: David Biemesderfer, director of communications and external relations, 612/335-3597, dbiemesderfer@mcf.org.

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