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As leaders working alongside your communities, Michigan philanthropy is well-poised to engage in deep listening with your community members and partners and lift up pressing issues. As funders you can provide the clarity and calm to meet this moment, leveraging all that we have learned throughout the pandemic – relationships built, practices shifted, collaborations strengthened – to be more effective and even more committed to the equity-centered approaches that can create a truly thriving Michigan.  

We've compiled several resources to help you schedule meetings with policymakers and plan for productive and engaging conversations together.

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What can you do?

  • Center Humanity  
    Without a doubt, one key support we can all offer is to center humanity in times like these. Check in with your nonprofit partners as well as your colleagues, especially those most impacted by these actions. Remember, too, the airplane safety practice of putting on your own oxygen mask first, creating space for self-care. CMF Philanthropic Practice Expert in Residence Jen Heymoss also encourages building formal or informal systems of community care within your influence.  
  • Communicate  
    Maintain open communication lines with your nonprofit partners, with multiple channels and flexible opportunities to share challenges and innovations. Center their input and community voices in understanding what is needed and how you can be of support. Work with your partners to gather data and stories to communicate the value of our sector's work and its impact, particularly in areas that depend on public sector funding. Keep your staff and trustees informed with these insights.
  • Convene
    Lean into your convening power. Re-establish the funder and nonprofit tables developed during the pandemic and share intelligence. Support nonprofit organizations to hold briefings for policymakers’ staff on the issues and impact of your nonprofit partners.
  • Invest
    Explore and plan for the full suite of options available to your organization (i.e., general purpose grants, pooled funds, loans, impact investments, bridge grants) to deploy when needed to create timely solutions. Consider opportunities to provide flexible and less restrictive funding, as well as capacity building and technical assistance you can support through funding and by leveraging your networks.
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