Giving Forum Fall 2011 Resources

Source: Giving Forum Fall 2011 10/19/2011

Private independent foundations often fund research in order to further knowledge in their areas of interest. New reports funded by independent members of the Minnesota Council on Foundation include the following.

Broadband Toolkit: When talking to rural leaders about high-speed networks, they often ask, “What would we do with all of that bandwidth?” The Blandin Foundation Broadband Toolkit begins to answer the question. Blandin Foundation researched hundreds of cutting edge applications that require significant bandwidth in the business, government, education, health care and consumer sectors. The toolkit also includes sections on Market Development, Community Assistance and Community Networks.

Citizen Solutions: In July the Bush Foundation, in partnership with InCommons, convened three Citizen Solutions forums where participants talked about the state budget and tried to reach consensus.

Four key points emerged:

1. People of all ideologies share a universal desire to advance civil discourse, and to create long-term budget solutions.
2. Minnesotans want to find a comprehensive approach to budget discussions that includes spending cuts, tax increases and tax and service redesign.
3. Citizen participants almost universally reject one-time borrowing to solve Minnesota’s budget challenges.
4. Minnesotans believe that strategic and lasting public service redesign will ultimately be necessary to address the state’s long-term, structural deficit.

Soul of the Community: What makes a community a desirable place to live? Gallup and the John S. and James L. Knight Foundation launched the Knight Soul of the Community project in 2008 with these questions in mind, and found that three main qualities attach people to place: social offerings, such as entertainment venues and places to meet, openness (how welcoming a place is) and the area’s aesthetics (its physical beauty and green spaces). The report identifies strengths that all communities can leverage to improve.

Struggling to Make Ends Meet: This 2009 poll commissioned by Northwest Area Foundation asks how Americans see the struggle within their households and communities, what they’re doing in response, and what they expect their elected officials to do to reduce the number of people struggling to make ends meet. The findings reveal families have been hard hit, have made sacrifices, taken action and expect officials to do more to help. Data, summaries, and a Toolkit for Action can be used to apply the findings to work with community, policymakers and the media.

Toward Sustainable Agricultural Systems in the 21st Century: This report, supported by the W.K. Kellogg Foundation, assesses scientific evidence for the strengths and weaknesses of different production, marketing, and policy approaches for improving and reducing the costs and unintended consequences of agricultural production. It serves as a valuable resource for policy makers, farmers, experts in food production and agribusiness, and federal regulatory agencies.