8 survey respondents
Location: 60 Plato Blvd E Ste 400, Saint Paul, 55107 MN
EIN: 41-0719221
33%
67%
6 hours
Median
17%
83%
30%
70%
2017 Deadlines:
Types of Grants Awarded:
Geographic Focus:
For Fiscal Year
Total Assets:
Total Grants:
Change in Assets FY :
Amount of Grants to Minnesota Nonprofits:
Largest Grant:
Smallest Grant:
Average Grant:
Reviewer 827 - Professional in the field
It's literally impossible to email this foundation. I've tried sending emails from both my work account and personal gmail account multiple times over the past year, and their server must be set up to reject everything.
I've been advised by the foundation via a phone call that the best way to contact one of their program officers is to complete their "contact us" form. Even if you have a case idea you'd like to vet with them, they've told me that the best way to start the initial conversation is to submit that "contact us" form, their staff reads the forms and then passes on information/opportunities to the appropriate staff internally.
Doesn't "get" nonprofits and issues, Difficult to work with, Bureaucratic
Minnesota
Professional in the field
Other
2018
Bad
This foundation is among the worst for accessibility that I've ever experienced, and I've been working in the field for ten years.
Bad
Create more open, accessible, and transparent ways of interacting with the nonprofit sector and allow those conversations to influence and inform BOTH your strategic priorities and grantmaking process design. Recommended reading: GrantCraft's recent report on participatory grantmaking by Cindy Gibson and Jen Bokoff - http://www.grantcraft.org/guides/deciding-together
0
We're sorry you had a bad experience. It's not the experience we want for anyone to have. Let us say that we're aware that our processes on this need improvement, and we're working on them. I would invite you to contact Jessie Bower, who works on our program team. She can assist you in connecting with the team. Her number is 651-225-3885.
Grant Applicant - applied in 2014
Definitely need to have an 'in' at this foundation.
Idaho
Current or former grantee
Funded for amount requested
2014
Bad
Bad
This Foundation has such a narrow view of how it wants to make people more financially secure that it is missing opportunities to invest in some great work that needs more financial support. Its short attention span also means that it build initiatives and then allows them to wither and they die just when they are starting to get results.
Make longer term commitments and be more open-minded. Listen to communities and the nonprofit sector about what they need and what opportunities they see for programming, policy work, etc. Also partner with other funders to leverage bigger results.
It was painful to see the funder come to our community and tout some of our results (as their win) to stakeholders without divulging that they were ending our funding simply because they wanted to switch directions.
Reporting is not overly burdensome.
20
Grant Applicant - applied in 2017
I have found the program officers with whom I've worked to be straight-forward, transparent, and very knowledgeable. I realize they don't have many open processes, but their focus and priorities seem very clear.
Positive leader in the field, Culturally sensitive, Builds relationships
Minnesota
Current or former grantee
Funded for amount requested
2017
Good
Good
This funder is committed to asset building, entrepreneurship, and financial well-being - predominantly in under-served communities, and with a very specific commitment to native communities. I also appreciate that they highlight their grantees' work - storytelling and propping up grantees. I also am grateful, as they fund us partially with general operating support.
NA
General operating support is great!
Focused investments
15
Thanks for your kind feedback! It's heartening to hear that our program officers have responded to your needs.
Reviewer 506 - Did not apply
I would not spend a lot of time with NWAF as they apparently are not interested in hearing from agencies unless they currently fund them. They do provide place on web page to contact them, but they don't respond.
Difficult to work with, Bureaucratic
Minnesota
Did not apply
2017
Bad
Very difficult to communicate with this foundation. They don't respond to calls, inquiries, emails. Don't seem to be interested in perspective of agencies who directly serve people in need, or at least moderate/small size agencies.
Try to be more respectful of those who are trying to inform you of the work we are doing. Your reputation is one of arrogance and disconnect and i am sure that is not the intention or desire of the founding family.
Hard to say as only know from them what they post on web. If they are accomplishing their goals, they are getting info from somewhere other than front line providers, apparently.
Not sure
0
I'm sorry that you had this experience and feel this way. But, we are absolutely interested in hearing from nonprofits. I'm curious about your experience with the contact us form, and in fact, your mentioning this has alerted us to a technical problem: we have NOT been receiving notifications that have been coming to us via our form. So, I would like to apologize to you and to any others who've been trying to use the form. And, I also have to thank you because we had not been aware of this until now. I invite you to reach out to me directly. I'm the communications director, Paul Bachleitner, and you can email me at [email protected] or phone 651-225-7704. Additionally, if you or anyone else experiences problems with the form, I encourage you to also try our general Foundation phone line, which is printed on the form and on the website--651-224-9635. Thank you.
Professional in the field
Completely unresponsive to calls, emails, including the contact form they provide on their web. Will not respond to inquiries to general questions. Any communication is ignored, even though we are a 30 year org with long history very consistent with their priorities.
Inadvertently exerts negative influence in the field, Doesn't "get" nonprofits and issues, Difficult to work with, Bureaucratic
Minnesota
Professional in the field
2017
Bad
Bad
Listen to and respond to basic inquiries. Non profits are trying to serve in challenging times. We see most funders as partners, but NWAF unresponsive.
0
I'm sorry to hear you've experienced this. It's certainly not something we want anyone to have to experience. I can't help but think there is some kind of technical error occurring in this instance because it's certainly not typical of our service or responsiveness as a foundation. Quite the opposite. I'm also at a disadvantage in responding to your concerns because I don't who you are or to what contact you're referring. I do invite you to email me at [email protected] or to phone 651-225-7704, and we can address your concerns directly. Appreciatively, Paul Bachleitner, communications director.
Reviewer 970 - Grant Applicant
Set up a meeting with the program officer in advance so you don't jump through hurdles and know that you are a good fit with the foundation.
Doesn't "get" nonprofits and issues, Difficult to work with, Bureaucratic, Risk averse
Current or former grantee
10 to 15 hours
We're sorry to hear your interaction with the Foundation caused you to feel this way. It's certainly not the kind of experience we want grantees to have. We have been doing a lot to actually work with nonprofits to serve their needs and understand their issues. Your observation about meeting with a program officer in advance of applying is a good one. We definitely want to be sure there's a good fit before anyone applies. It's for this reason that most of our application process is by invitation only. We have actually done much, especially in the past couple of years, to not be difficult to work with, bureaucratic, or risk averse. Although you might've had a different experience, it's not a typical one had by our grantees. We invite you to take a look at our grantee listings: http://www.nwaf.org/grant-listing/. You'll find that we're working with all kinds of organizations, and especially those that are innovative and cutting edge.
Reviewer 438 - Grant Applicant - applied in 2014
Northwest Area Foundation is very focused in its mission and scope. They are quite serious when they seek 40% to Native-led organizations and the rest to organizations that are "culturally anchored."
Gives more than money, Risk taker, Builds relationships
Minnesota
Current or former grantee
Funded for amount requested
2014
Bad
If you provide culturally-anchored economic opportunity for under-resourced communities, Northwest Area staff will talk with you, provided you can get their attention. Having a website that does not provide emails for staff is a clear indication that the Foundation prefers to do its own homework rather than hearing from the community about what organizations are doing.
Average
Northwest Area has a history of "co-creating" programs with grantees. For me, this indicates a Foundation that does not trust those organizations working in community to "co-create" equitable, effective programs with the people they serve.
Provide better information for those organizations trying to approach for the first time.
For my organization, they challenged us to grow, to look at our programming more critically (we came out better for it) and were very supportive throughout the process.
Thanks for the kinds words! We're glad to see that this is coming through.
Grant Applicant - applied in 2010
You need to know if you are a priority to them and who do you know who has some contacts in the foundation
Program officer was helpful, Funding received on time
Applied for funding
2010
Thanks for pointing this out. You're absolutely right! We encourage interested nonprofits to get to know us and be sure of a good fit.
