General Guidelines

Introduction:

Founded in 1944, The Jay and Rose Phillips Family Foundation continues the legacy of its founders by sharing resources and exercising leadership for the public good. Today and throughout our history, our work reflects the interests of the family members who serve as its trustees, and who respond to the needs of communities in which they live.

Realizing there are more good ideas and community needs than we have the funds to support, we focus our funding on five priority areas:

• Strengthening Families
• Supporting Education and Training for Lifelong Success
• Improving Health and Wellness
• Promoting Independence and Inclusion for People with Disabilities and for Elders
• Fostering Good Relations and Civic Participation 

Values:

Our decision-making is guided by these values:

• Our resources are available to organizations that serve the public without discrimination on the basis of race, culture, creed, gender, religion, age, disability, sexual orientation, marital status, or national origin.
• We believe in creating opportunities for those who do not have access to resources.
• We believe that a healthy community requires that all individuals have equal access to services without discrimination, and are treated with fairness and respect.
• Every individual and community has assets that can be built on in order to strengthen their self-reliance and develop their potential.
• Communities are best served when constituents are partners with nonprofits in program development, planning, service delivery, and evaluation.
• Collaboration among our many grantees and among our fellow funders is critical to addressing the many needs of our communities and to getting things done.
• We value the relationships with our grantees and strive to continuously deepen our understanding of ongoing and emerging community issues.

Interests:

We provide funding to a variety of programs, services, and institutions—both well-established and emerging. These funds/grants are awarded in two ways:

1. Grants which are made through a competitive application process focused on the Twin Cities 7-county metropolitan region in Minnesota and,
2. Grants directed by the Trustees in response to the needs of their own communities across the country. Unsolicited requests are not accepted for these funds.

We support: 

• Direct service and systems change.  Both are essential to finding real solutions to our communities’ most pressing problems.
• Projects that foster innovative strategies, build the capacity of nonprofits, spur policy improvements, and that may be replicated in other settings.
• Work that builds on established best practices and is evidence-based.
• Efforts to develop individual or organizational leadership around issues that are central to the Foundation’s funding priorities.

Additional Considerations:

We encourage you to contact a member of the Foundation’s staff to discuss your request or organizational needs, or if you have questions about our Application Guidelines. Also, please consider the following before applying to the Foundation.

• We award grants only to organizations that are tax-exempt and publicly supported under Section 501(c) (3) of the Internal Revenue Service Code.
• We make a number of grants annually at the direction of the trustees, many who live outside of Minnesota. Unsolicited applications are not accepted for these funds.
• We award grants to nonprofits based in Minnesota and for work that benefits constituents or communities located in the Twin Cities 7-county metropolitan region (Anoka, Carver, Dakota, Hennepin, Ramsey, Scott, and Washington Counties).  We have indefinitely suspended any grantmaking to efforts in Greater Minnesota.
• We have limited capacity to entertain requests for support from organizations that do not have an active or recent funding relationship with us, and give highest priority to those organizations that have received a grant during the last three years.
• We give lowest priority to emergency services and crisis response efforts, preferring to focus on efforts with systemic or long-term impact.
• In general, we make one-year, targeted grants, but are open to considering funding for multiple years. We will consider recurring grants for the same purpose based on demonstrated progress toward expected outcomes.
• We prefer to not be the only funding source for a program or project, and encourage applicants to seek additional funding from other sources.
• We may occasionally choose to initiate special projects outside of our normal grant cycle and/or invite applicants to submit their applications in alternative formats.
• No application from an organization previously funded by the Foundation will be reviewed until a final report or progress report on the previous grant has been received.

Types of Grants:

In general, we make one-year, targeted grants, but occasionally consider funding for multiple years.  Organizations can request Program Support, Organizational Effectiveness Support, or Capital Support.  We will consider recurring grants for the same purpose based on demonstrated progress toward expected outcomes.  Click one of the above links for more information on how to apply for a grant. 

We do not make grants in support of:

• individuals,
• lobbying efforts to influence specific legislation,
• political campaigns,
• and in general, we do not support requests for endowment campaigns.