Policy & Advocacy Highlights
Cultivating and deepening relationships with policymakers as the collective voice for Michigan philanthropy.
As CMF continues to champion the policy leadership of members of our community of philanthropy, our team is sharing highlights of our recent policy and advocacy efforts to advance equitable and transformative change in our state and beyond.
With the leadership of the Government Relations Public Policy Committee (GRPPC) and CMF’s Government Relations Public Policy (GRPP) team, we have focused on cultivating and deepening relationships with policymakers as the collective voice for Michigan philanthropy by sharing best practices, actionable resources and impactful ways that philanthropy is partnering to address complex issues.
These efforts were all done in alignment with the CMF member-adopted Government Relations Goals and policy priorities anchored by our policy domains of education, economic prosperity, health, civic & community engagement and the health of the sector.
Highlights of our 2024 advocacy engagement efforts by the numbers:
- Over 30 CMF members and the Michigan Nonprofit Association joined CMF staff in Washington D.C. for Foundations on the Hill, attending 16 meetings with lawmakers, departments and White House staff.
- Hosted 33 CMF members, engaging in a total of 25 lawmaker meetings over the course of four Foundations in Lansing events.
- CMF joined six sign-on letters, initiated 2 sign-on letters and submitted 7 public comments before legislative bodies.
- Made 56 connections with our federal delegation and their staff through emails, letters, in-district town halls and scheduled meetings.
- Made 98 connections with state policymakers and their staff through emails, letters, in district coffee hours and scheduled meetings.
- Plus, we made countless connections with policymakers during the Detroit Regional Chamber Mackinac Policy Conference, where CMF’s Statewide Equity Fund Strategic Support pilot was featured in Crain’s Detroit MPC edition.
Below are additional 2024 highlights in alignment with our policy domains:
Education
CMF continues to leverage opportunities to participate in state and national conversations on scholarship displacement and financial aid transparency. CMF hosted several Scholarship Learning Community meetings to discuss the impacts of the Michigan Achievement Scholarship on foundation scholarship programs and scholarship displacement. We also connected with foundation peers nationwide to learn from their efforts to mitigate scholarship displacement, including peers in states that have successfully adopted laws banning scholarship displacement.
Economic Prosperity
With the support and leadership of CMF community foundation members, the GRPP team led an extensive advocacy and media campaign for the reinstatement of Michigan’s Charitable Tax Credit, which received bipartisan support in both the Michigan House and Senate. CMF sent a letter signed by over 35 community foundation CEOs to Michigan House and Senate leadership and the Governor’s office highlighting the value of the tax credit in incentivizing working families to give and boosting support for local nonprofits working to improve lives and strengthen communities and the economy. The media campaign included coverage across nearly a dozen news outlets. While Senate Bill 127 was not enrolled into law, the campaign deepened relationships between state policymakers and community foundations and demonstrated the power and influence of Michigan philanthropy.
Civic & Community Engagement
In November 2024, CMF and MNA co-hosted the first-ever Civic and Community Engagement Summit. The gathering brought together members of the charitable sector to discuss the importance of centering community voices and ways to ensure a healthy democracy. Additionally, we were able to share lessons learned from SEF Strategic Support Pilot by sharing our SEF playbook with attendees. CMF and MNA hosted a post-summit convening with Michigan funders to discuss past successes and future challenges of the decennial census, share insights and collaborate on strategies to amplify community voices, strengthen partnerships and promote meaningful civic engagement.
CMF has been a part of disaggregated data policy discussions at the state level and a member of the disaggregated data campaign “Do You See Us?” spearheaded by The Dorothy A. Johnson Center for Philanthropy at Grand Valley State University. The campaign is designed to support policies that enable communities to see themselves in state data. Related resources for the charitable sector and partner advocates (i.e., a campaign toolkit) were developed for CMF members and other partners.
Related resources for the charitable sector and partner advocates (i.e., a campaign toolkit) were developed for CMF members and other partners.
These are just a few highlights of our ongoing efforts in service to our community of philanthropy and the communities we work with and in across the state. In 2025, we continue to identify new partnerships and opportunities to foster connection and learning for CMF members to advance their policy and advocacy efforts.
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