Initiative Foundation

“The loan committee carries out the policies approved by the board of trustees. The committee approves applications up to certain dollar amounts for various loans. It also reviews monthly and quarterly status reports on loans, including review of delinquent loans, provides input on charge-offs and other adverse action which may be necessary, and participates in evaluation activities of the fund. The loan committee consists of at least five and generally no more than eleven members, with approximately half of the members serving on the board of trustees. The board of trustees appoints members annually. The executive loan sub-committee approves or denies any loan applications that were tabled for more information at a prior loan committee meeting. The sub-committee consists of three loan committee members, including the chair, vice-chair, and one other member appointed by the chair unless other arrangement were approved by the loan committee. The business finance committee is composed of up to eleven individuals (approx. 1/2 from the board). It meets as needed to oversee the business financing portfolio and to review and approve business loan and investment applications over $75,000.”

“This task is delegated to the investment & audit committee who reviews the 990 during the audit presentation prior to filing. In addition, a copy of the 990 is provided to board members for their review at the next regularly scheduled meeting.”

“Members of the board or committees will not participate in discussing or voting upon any proposal or business agreement in which they have a direct or indirect personal or financial interest without informing the board or committe of a potential conflict as soon as it becomes apparent. Staff will not promote proposals or initiate business agreements that would financially benefit them or members of their family without informing the president. The board will be notified if the president has a potential conflict. If the conflict is determined to exist, options to be employed, at the discretion of the chair and/or president would include, but not limited to: 1) the board member, committee member or staff member would not be permitted input on the decision, 2) the member in question may respond to specific inquiries regarding the decision, but not participate in making the decision, 3) the member in question shall leave the room while the item is under discussion. Board/committee/staff members complete a conflict of interest disclosure form at the beginning of each calendar year or upon appointment.”

“Compensation of organization's president: the governance committee of the board is charged with coordinating the president's annual review and for recommending a compensation package to the full board of trustees. The process includes review of a written report prepared by the president on the accomplishments and achievements of the agreed upon annual goals; conducting confidential informal interviews with all trustees, selected staff and key constituents whom the committee identifies; and gathering general observations from the full board of trustees on an ongoing basis. The governance committee reviews executive compensation data from the other mifs, mcf and the national cof and prepares a confidential report for the board summarizing the performance and its recommendations. The board reviews and takes action on the report and after which time the board chair documents changes in compensation and benefits and submits to appropriate staff. This review was last performed in 2015. Compensation of organization's officers: positions are grouped in like classifications. Salary ranges are established based on market, mif and mcn surveys. Compensation is determined by a number of factors including level of responsibility, education, prior experience, longevity, number of direct reports, and risk associated with the type of work performed. The president conducts annual performance reviews and sets compensation levels. This review was last performed in 2015.”

“The organization's financial statements are made available within the annual report or upon request. The organization's governing documents and conflict of interest policy are not available to the public.”

“Early childhood initiative highlights: fourteen early childhood coalitions are currently active within the foundation's fourteen county region. A large number of communities continue to face significant economic challenges with higher than average numbers of children and families living in poverty in benton, cass, crow wing, kanabec, mille lacs, pine, todd and wadena counties. Each team (when the coalition began) has participated in coalition-building, leadership, and strategic planning trainings and has developed an action plan to increase the quality of early care and education in their respective areas. Each has a highly committed team made up of parents, business leaders, educators, elected officials and health care providers. Primary activities focus on early childhood literacy, social emotional adjustment and school readiness. Staff participated in the statewide pre k-3 grade literacy design team to recommend best practices to early childhood educators. The greater st. Cloud area thrive initiative, which focuses on early childhood mental health issues has expanded their focus to help support young families in the immigrant and refugee communities as they learn english as a second language and other challenges to successful integration. Thrive offers numerous professional development opportunities as they relate to children's mental health along with co-learning opportunities with immigrant and refugee parents of young children. Regional early childhood initiative coordinator meetings were held with training on fundraising ideas to support coalition goals, adverse childhood experiences (aces), vista opportunities, scholastic books purchasing opportunity and updates on the early childhood dental network. Staff participated in statewide pre k-grade 3 design team meetings to provide recommendations for best practices to early childhood educators and policy makers. Our early childhood dental network (ecdn) was expanded with support from the otto bremer, delta dental, centra care, and medica foundations. The ecdn program supported local projects in cass, wright, and isanti counties targeting children in poverty, and providing culturally appropriate education (often in spanish, somali, or ojibwe language). Service groups like the african women's alliance, casa guadalupe, indian health services (both mille lacs and leech lake bands of ojibwe) deepened and often culminated with mobile dental clinics operated by apple tree or children's dental services (accredited nonprofit dental clinics based in the twin cities). Emerging leaders highlights: in 2015, the initiative foundation piloted the emerging leaders (el) program to enhance thirty-six individuals' leadership capacity, increase intergenerational and cultural understanding while deepening social, professional and political networks. Program participation consisted of a balance of gender and a diverse cross-section of individuals including race (more than 30% people of color), geography and sectors representing nonprofit, for profit, education and government/ tribal entities. The foundation's regional niche was a program tailored to individuals between the ages of 18-35 that lived, worked or attended school in our 14-county region in central minnesota. Program content was delivered using a mix of platforms including, virtual on-demand learning, in person training and peer lead, small group sessions. The program was designed to connect participants to the foundation's three main bodies of the foundation's work (community, economy and philanthropy) and other opportunities offered by region partners. The first cohort will officially conclude in april 2016. Thriving communities initiative (tci) highlights: in 2015, thriving communities initiative (tci) leadership training and programming was delivered in foley (benton county), rush city (chisago county), and little falls (morrison county). Over 25 communities are currently receiving technical assistance, resource referral and grant”

“Economic development highlights: the foundation funded 31 loans totaling $2,153,082 from its revolving loan fund in 2015, which leveraged over $14 million in private financing and equity investment. The financing projects resulted in the creation of 126 jobs and retention of 132 jobs. Technical assistance was provided to 11 businesses through a combination of external consulting programs or scholarships for training, resulting in improved skills or tools to operate their business. Focused outreach with community banks, chambers of commerce and volunteer business groups through our thriving communities work remains a priority in order to increase loan deal flow in all communities. We also focused on partnerships and capacity building for local economic development organizations. Support includes strategic planning, linking to other funders and job creation opportunities, challenge grants to spur membership growth, and development of technology tools (a web portal) and/or programs to develop, attract and retain skilled workers.”

“Marketing and communications highlights: the foundation in 2015 published four editions of iq magazine. Circulation for the year averaged 13,453 per edition (against a 15,000 goal) with an estimated "pass-along" readership of up to 60,000. Iq advertising sales continue to stabilize and are on an upward trend with a renewed emphasis on publishing consistency and new business development. A 10-page story marking the 30th anniversary of the minnesota initiative foundations was included in 4th quarter edition (supported by the mcknight foundation). The initiative foundation website at ifound.org saw an average of 3,105 users each month against a goal of 2,598. Additional website work in 2015 included beta testing ifoundtraining.org, an online learning site; development of an ecommerce website for donations and events; and the launch of a new minnesota initiative foundation site in partnership with our sister organizations at greaterminnesota.net. Social media activity showed a 24 percent increase in 2015 across all active platforms (facebook, twitter, linkedin). More than 14,300 individuals received information through email marketing, a 22 percent increase over the past year. The foundation also published 20 news releases in 2015 against a goal of 24, resulting in 341 stories/mentions (294 print/47 online)-translating to 4.95 million impressions. Planning is under way for a 30-year celebration on october 7, 2016 at the river's edge convention center in st. Cloud. As many as 500 attendees are expected.”

“Fund development highlights: the foundation saw outstanding results in fundraising efforts in 2015, achieving 110% of our annual endowment campaign goal and 219% of our turn key fund (designated endowment) goal. Eight new turn key funds were added, for a total of 83 funds. Program grant funding of $1.2 million was awarded to the foundation, excluding $1 million received from the mcknight foundation.”