Margaret A Cargill Foundation

13 survey respondents

Location: 6889 Rowland Rd, Eden Prairie, 55344 MN

EIN: 20-5434405

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14%

86%

What was the overall relationship with the funder?

How many hours did the grant application process take?

0 hours

Median

19%

81%

How would you rate this funder's accessibility?

25%

75%

How successfully do you think the funder is accomplishing its current philanthropic goals?

Important Information

2017 Deadlines:

Types of Grants Awarded:

Geographic Focus:

Interests/Priorities

Key Personnel

Financial Summary

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Total Assets:

Total Grants:

Change in Assets FY :

Amount of Grants to Minnesota Nonprofits:

Sample Grants to Minnesota Nonprofits in

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Top descriptors for this funder

6Bureaucratic5Inadvertently exerts negative influence in the field4Difficult to work with4Doesn't "get" nonprofits and issues4Risk averse2Culturally incompetent2Worth the time to pitch1Not worth the time to pitch1Unclear objectives1Likes site visits

Advice from a Friend

Margaret A Cargill Foundation

Jun 05, 2019 2

Professional in the field

A collective groan went up when this foundation was mentioned in a Dec. 2018 gathering of several hundred Twin Cities grantseekers. And given their lack of response to the overwhelmingly negative comments on this site, it's obvious the people running this foundation couldn't care less about their public persona.

Cons

Doesn't "get" nonprofits and issues, Culturally incompetent, Bureaucratic

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Response from Margaret A Cargill Foundation

Feb 06, 2020

Thank you for sharing, and we are sorry to hear about this reaction. While we are happy to call Minnesota home, and about 10% of our grantmaking goes to Minnesota nonprofits, our programs have a regional, national, and international focus.

We have programs with an explicit focus on the Upper Midwest, and several of our domains at Margaret A. Cargill Philanthropies (MACP) fund organizations within Minnesota. We also support local organizations through donor advised funds at The Minneapolis Foundation and the Saint Paul and Minnesota Foundation. These community foundations support local work that is aligned with our mission but is often smaller in scale than our direct grantmaking.

Another way we work to make a difference close to home is through our employee matching gift program. We match all employee donations to qualifying charities 2-to-1, and we match gifts to Minnesota-based organizations or for work that takes place within Minnesota on a 3-to-1 basis.

If you have additional questions, you are welcome to contact me directly at [email protected].

Thank you again for your feedback.

Leeanne Huber
Communications Director
Margaret A. Cargill Philanthropies

May 03, 2019 5

Did not apply

Although the grant officer we worked with was personable and did a site visit, the application and reporting process as well as the amount of influence over programming and strategy the foundation expected in return was excessive. We elected to pursue more trusting partners.

Cons

Inadvertently exerts negative influence in the field, Bureaucratic, Risk averse

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Apr 25, 2019 3

Grant Applicant - applied in 2017

This is a potentially important funder that has alienated many worthy organizations with their relentlessly bureaucratic approach. The notion that we were working together to improve an issue was never carried out in practice. Instead, we filled out report after report -- with no feedback. Another person described their reporting process as "cruel" That was exactly our experience.

Cons

Inadvertently exerts negative influence in the field, Doesn't "get" nonprofits and issues, Difficult to work with, Bureaucratic, Risk averse

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Nov 08, 2018 1

Grant Applicant - applied in 2014

Not worth spending time on - it is a closed process that remains a mystery. We received funds out of the blue and were told not to reach out for more funds.

Cons

Inadvertently exerts negative influence in the field, Difficult to work with, Bureaucratic, Risk averse

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Response from Margaret A Cargill Foundation

Jan 23, 2020

Thank you for sharing, this is very helpful feedback.

Each year our board and committee members have the chance to recommend funding to individual nonprofits, and we match employees’ donations to qualifying nonprofits as well as make awards in recognition of staff milestone anniversaries.

If you did not expect your gift, it is possible that your organization received funds through one of these programs. These gifts are sometimes separated from the accompanying letter, and we apologize for any confusion we may have caused. We have recently updated the letters that accompany each grant to better express how and why a grantee was given these types of funds.

If you have additional questions, you are welcome to contact me directly at [email protected].

Thank you again for your feedback.

Leeanne Huber
Communications Director
Margaret A. Cargill Philanthropies

Oct 26, 2018

Grant Applicant - applied in 2014

We received an out of the blue large gift from them, we think because of press coverage we received - no application. Not able to engage them at all for ongoing funding at all, though. We were delighted to receive it but their process is a mystery.

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Oct 22, 2018 3

Reviewer 5016 - Grant Applicant - applied in 2017

I can't speak to the process of getting on MACP's radar, but as a staffer who inherited the burden of reporting - I can honestly say this is the most time-consuming, bureaucratic grantmaker I've encountered in the nation. I understand that they give big $ but it's almost cruel - the level of catering your non-profit staff must devote in order to report is breathtaking; we had to devote 3 FT people to monitoring JUST the MACP reports every - single - quarter. They want phone calls, online dashboards, narrative reports, attachments that crept close to 50.

Cons

Inadvertently exerts negative influence in the field, Doesn't "get" nonprofits and issues, Difficult to work with, Bureaucratic

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Response from Margaret A Cargill Foundation

Feb 21, 2020

Thank you for sharing your experience, we really do appreciate it.

Margaret A. Cargill Philanthropies (MACP) has spent the last several years substantially expanding our grantmaking, implementing a new grants management platform, and making changes to integrate our strategies and unify our processes. With that work largely completed, we realize this is an area where there is significant work to be done.

We heard comments on this topic in our recently-completed grantee perception survey, where a key theme involved the intensive nature of MACP’s processes. While not all grantees felt our processes were overly burdensome, enough grantees shared your concern that it represents one of our most important areas of focus in the coming year.

Thank you again for sharing, and we hope that our grantees will notice positive changes in the future. If you have additional comments to share, you are welcome to contact me directly at [email protected].

Thank you again for your feedback.

Leeanne Huber
Communications Director
Margaret A. Cargill Philanthropies

Feb 07, 2018 2

Did not apply

This is a completely inaccessible foundation. There website says you can contact them but the bounce back says they don't accept unsolicited proposals. There seems to be no way to get in front of them, even if you fit their guidelines/interests.

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Response from Margaret A Cargill Foundation

Jan 10, 2020

We appreciate your feedback, and I hope we can provide a little more context.

While we acknowledge and appreciate that many deserving nonprofits do important work within our priority domains, our programs have very specific strategies and geographic priorities, many of which are national and international in scope. Our invitation-only process focuses on organizations that our program teams have identified through extensive field work, site visits, and other research as those which have relevant expertise, infrastructure, and people in the field to address our program strategies.

As a sizable philanthropy that strives to have impact at a community level, we work most frequently with larger nonprofits that maintain relationships on the ground within communities our funding is intended to serve. In many cases, these partners serve as re-granters of our funds. This approach allows us to develop strong, long-term relationships with our grantee partners, but we realize it can make us a tougher match for smaller nonprofits seeking funding.

If you have additional questions, you are welcome to contact me directly at [email protected].

Thank you again for your feedback.

Leeanne Huber
Communications Director
Margaret A. Cargill Philanthropies

Oct 04, 2017 3

Did not apply

Best of luck trying to understand this foundations process or priorities.

Cons

Inadvertently exerts negative influence in the field, Doesn't "get" nonprofits and issues, Difficult to work with, Culturally incompetent, Bureaucratic, Risk averse

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Jun 15, 2016 4

Other

This funder does not have an application process.

Pros

Likes site visits

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Jun 15, 2016 3

Grant Applicant - applied in 2014

It was very confusing to approach them- they did not seem to know who I should talk to, or what their funding priorities were, or if we were even eligible.

Cons

Not worth the time to pitch

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Margaret A Cargill Foundation