Pay Justice

Pay
Justice		  

Join the fight for funding that works for our workforce, our organizations, and our communities.

  
     
 
  Join a listening session to share your experiences       Sign up for updates about the MN Council of Nonprofits State Grants & Contracts Coalition  
     

 

Pay Justice: Pay Justice is about investing equitably in the people and organizations doing the hard, vital work of building community wellbeing. Nonprofits are powerful tools for our communities to access the resources to build healthy, abundant, connected, equitable communities. The status quo has left nonprofits trapped in grants and contracts where they can't negotiate the terms and that pay for poverty-level wages for the essential work of building community wellbeing. Systemic government and philanthropic funder underinvestment in our nonprofit workforce and our state's nonprofit infrastructure limits our human and economic potential as a sector and as a state.

Pay Justice is about nonprofits and funders coming together to build an honest, mutual understanding of the full resources it takes to drive the outcomes we all want for our communities. Our relationship with funders is not just a business agreement – it’s about the change we’re trying to make together. MACC is partnering with the Minnesota Council of Nonprofits to build an inclusive movement that uses our collective negotiating power to push funders to do better and combat the inequities within the system.

 

Upcoming Pay Justice Actions:

MACC Network Listening Sessions:

Join your network for one of two virtual conversations. Learn about the early work taking shape for the newly formed State Grants and Contract Reform Coalition and share your own experiences with State grants and contracts. Your voice and perspectives as MACC members are critical inputs into shaping the strategy and direction of this coalition.

Virtual MACC Network Listening Sessions: 

  • Thursday, May 30th 1 pm-2 pm
  • Monday, June 3 11 am- 12 pm

 

Neither date work for you? Reach out to trisha.reinwald@macc-mn.org and we'll follow up 1 on 1 with you! 

 

 

 

Background on the MN Nonprofit State Grants & Contracts Coalition:


Background on the state of nonprofit grants and contracts in Minnesota and why this coalition is taking action.

 

Nonprofit organizations are a critical partner for the state of Minnesota in strengthening our state's workforce, strengthening our state’s economic infrastructure, and strengthening the well-being of our communities. Many state investments in local communities through programs and services would be more costly, and less effective if provided performed by the government. As an alternative, Minnesota invests hundreds of millions of dollars into the community through the nonprofit organizations who are embedded within communities around the state.

 

The nonprofit sector, as a whole, earns about a third of its total revenue by providing services under contracts and agreements with governments. For some areas of the nonprofit sector- the financial implications of the partnership with government are even more dramatic. On average, human service nonprofit budgets are made up of about 70% government funds- these are called “grants” in Minnesota- but the majority of which really behave as contracts. Most community-based nonprofits operate with high financial risk as a result of their government funds, in particular:

  • Operating deficits due to government contracts which do not recognize full costs to deliver services
  • Few or no reserves, leaving no margin of error for delayed payments, budget renegotiation, or administrative capacity to manage the burdensome regulation
  • Milk

 

 

This deep partnership between nonprofits and the state is currently fraught- the state funding compliance environment that nonprofits must operate within is built on inefficient, duplicative, outdated, and often archaic systems. For both nonprofit organizations and government agencies alike- administrative burden is limiting the potential for transformational work in community that is possible through state funding.

 

Our work is to advance the interests of nonprofits that partner with the state through grants and contracts- with particular focus on those who have historically had disproportionate challenges accessing these types of funds for whom managing government funds represents an inequitable burden- greater Minnesota rural organizations, small organizations, and BIPOC-led and –serving organizations.

 

We recognize that reform of our state/nonprofit partnership could potentially be beneficial for state agencies and their staff- reducing administrative burden while strengthening our mutual capability to focus on improving outcomes and strengthening our communities’ well-being across the state.

 

If policy provisions are developed without input from nonprofits or without consideration of how nonprofits will be impacted, it’s likely the provisions will be at best ineffective and at worst harmful.

We need you to advocate with us for positive reform!

RSVP for a listening session OR sign up to receive updates on the MN State Grants & Contracts Coalition

 

 

 

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