Protect Direct Appropriations for Nonprofits: Fight the False Fraud Narrative

A proposal to ban direct appropriations to nonprofits would cut off vital funding that many organizations and communities rely on. This would disproportionally impact smaller, culturally specific organizations, and organizations that serve greater Minnesota who are most often excluded from institutional power structures. Tell your legislator to oppose the ban on direct appropriations to nonprofits:

Take Action now:

• Organizational Sign On: add your organization to MCN's letter opposing the Direct Appropriations Ban!
• Email your Legislator: Use this template email to get you started
  • ​Find your legislator: Who represents me?
• Boost this Alert: share this alert to your network and colleagues!

Provide input to improve state grantmaking policies

The Office of Grant’s Management is asking for input by May 8 on three areas: payments, reports, and monitoring. Sharing your feedback is an opportunity to help the State understand the real impact challenging policies have on nonprofit's ability to do their work with their communities. 

Take these surveys to share your experiences and suggest better policies:

Grant Payment Survey: provide feedback on the current policy 08-09 Grant Progress Reports about the state's reimbursement prefered approach for payments, their policy for justification for advanced payments, and weigh in on important definitions and proceedures related to grant payments.  

Provide feedback now! Survey deadline: May 8th

Grant Report Survey: provide feedback on the current Policy 08-10 Grant Monitoring on requirements related to wirtten progress reports by grantees.

Provide feedback now! Survey deadline: May 8th

Grant Monitoring Survey: provide feedback on the current Policy 08-10 Grant Monitoring about the states current process for monitoring and conducting financial reconcillation before final payments to grantees.

Provide feedback now! Survey deadline: May 8th

The Streamling Federal Grants Act holds excellent potential for streamlining federal grant administration, reducing administrative burdens, and ensuring equitable access to vital resources for nonprofits and communities nationwide!

The Streamlining Federal Grants Act addresses critical issues in managing federal grant programs. The legislation seeks to improve the effectiveness and performance of federal grants and cooperative agreements, simplify the application and reporting requirements, and facilitate greater coordination among federal agencies responsible for delivering services to the public. Notably, the bill promotes consultation with charitable nonprofits and governments and calls for improving services delivered to communities and organizations that historically have been unable to access federal grants or cooperative agreements.

Time is running out, and legislators need to hear from YOU about the immense importance of a state-funded Nonprofit Relief Fund. 

The Nonprofit Relief Fund, which would provide $200m in relief grants to Minnesota nonprofits, has been excluded in the large proposals coming from the legislature. Without strong action now, relief designed specifically for nonprofits will not happen. Voice your support by simply emailing the conference committee members. They have the power to decide what is included and we have the power to make our voices heard.

From the Minnesota Council on Nonprofits: The Minnesota State Senate has passed legislation that would be harmful to nonprofits, specifically those whose annual revenue is 50% or more state funding. Among other things, this legislation would impose a salary cap of $127,000 on employees of these nonprofits, prohibit state agency employees from serving on these nonprofits’ boards, mandate a financial audit for these nonprofits, and require these nonprofits to run background checks on all board members and submit them to the state. 

The legislature has named 10 members to a conference committee, which will determine if these provisions are included in the bill that they send to Governor Tim Walz to become law. It is very important that these members, called conferees, hear clearly from our sector that these provisions cannot be included in that final bill.    

This report from the National Council of Nonprofits provides Principles recommendations, and models for investing Coronavirus state and local fiscal recovery funds. These are the funds from the federal American Rescue Plan Act (ARPA) for state and local governments to spend at their discretion.

Additional Resources:

Join MACC and several other MN nonprofits in signing on by 2/24 to support the The Nonprofit Sector Strength and Partnership Act! The Act ensure that nonprofit expertise is at the table by implementing mechanisms that leverage the mission, knowledge, and impact of nonprofits to help government and the sector work together more effectively in pursuit of shared goals.   

Over the past two years many nonprofits faced exploding demand, a decimated volunteer force, and had to made quick (and often expensive) operational and safety changes during the pandemic. It’s no surprise that nonprofits play a critical role supporting Minnesotans. What may be a surprise is that with hundreds of billions of dollars distributed to states, local governments and businesses over the past two years, nonprofits have been largely left out of state and federal relief programs designed to support organizations providing jobs and services throughout the pandemic.  

Nonprofits across Minnesota are calling for lawmakers to create a one-time Nonprofit Relief Fund, which would provide $200 million for nonprofits statewide.

To date, nonprofits have been largely left out of state and federal relief programs. To continue providing the support our communities need during COVID‐19 and to accelerate a more equitable recovery, Minnesota needs to invest in our nonprofits and we need your help.

How you can support relief funding for nonprofits:

• Sign the Statement of Support that will be sent to lawmakers to show the growing support of this fund.
• Tell lawmakers how COVID-19 has impacted your organization and communities you support by testifying in a committee hearing. Email Ileana to learn more.
• Learn more about the Relief Fund so you can educate others about why this critical, nonprofit-specific funding is needed.

Additional Resources: 

Last Monday, more than 60 national nonprofit organizations sent a letter to President Biden and Congressional leaders calling for “urgently needed pandemic and workforce shortage relief that will enable charitable organizations to fulfill their roles in our nation’s relief, recovery, and rebuilding.” nonprofits across Minnesota are calling for lawmakers to create a one-time Nonprofit Relief Fund, which would provide $200 million for nonprofits statewide.

The letter identifies nonprofit-specific policy solutions that would provide disaster relief, address nonprofit workforce shortages, and promote volunteerism to aid our communities.

Lets make sure that Minnesota's voice is heard at the U.S. Capitol! 

Tracking how to access ARP dollars AND potentially how to influence how those
dollars are spent is a bit of a moving target. For most of these dollars- the time horizon is
quite long for when they can be spent.

This document is a collection of what we know as of mid-July 2021, collected via MACC’s advocacy
partners. It is by no means exhaustive and is likely out of date as soon as we share it with you all.

Additonal actions you can take to influce how ARP Dollars are spent:

Read the proposal for using MN ARP dollars for a Nonprofit Resilience and Recovery Fund:

Use these social media templates to amplify the ask for a Nonprofit Resilience and Recovery Fund:

MACC members continue to meet the exponentially growing pandemic-driven needs in our communities while simultaneously facing funding shortfalls, workforce challenges, and massive COVID-19 related operating costs. Investment in stabilizing and strengthening our nonprofit infrastructure is non-optional.

MACC recently partnered with the Minnesota Council of Nonprofits and Greater Twin Cities United Way to co-author an Op Ed calling for a nonprofit resilience and recovery fund.

In March a coalition of nonprofit partners including MACC co-authored and submitted a letter to Governor Walz and our Minnesota legislative leaders. This letter made an urgent recommendation to establish a COVID-19 Nonprofit Resiliency & Recovery Fund.

Read the letter.

In April MACC and our coalition of partners co-authored and submitted a second letter to our Minnesota legislative leaders.  This letter zeroed in on a few key outstanding issues facing nonprofits focused on ensuring that the conversation about resources and priorities remained forward looking and inclusive.

Read the letter.

In response to our March letter to legislative leaders, in April MACC and our coalition of partners had the opportunity to host two virtual town halls with Minnesota leaders: one with Majority Leader Representative Ryan Winkler, and the second with Deputy Majority Leader Senator Michelle Benson. 

On March 19th MACC co-authored and submitted a letter to our Minnesota legislative leaders that laid out a unified set of recommendations to ensure that nonprofits can continue to respond to the rapidly changing and emerging needs in our communities.

Read the letter.