2024 Annual Report
Policy
CMF seeks to fortify the field through public policy action and champion the policy leadership of CMF members.
In 2024, CMF shared and initiated sign-on letters around critical policy issues and expanded our touchpoints with policymakers in Lansing and D.C. With the support of the CMF membership, we have continued to share with policymakers the importance of philanthropy having the tools and resources necessary to partner with communities. CMF also coordinated an extensive advocacy and media campaign in an effort to restore the Michigan Charitable Tax Credit and equipped CMF members with resources and opportunities for collective action. Learn more about our advocacy efforts in action.
Building an Equitable Future Together
CMF recently released our updated Building an Equitable Future Together (BEFT) policy framework following a series of feedback-gathering efforts, including listening sessions in 2024 with CMF members and our national sector partners.
At CMF, the BEFT features one lane of our multifaceted approach to remain responsive and agile in the current policy landscape and prepare for tax reform, among other critical policy issues facing our communities and our sector.
The framework will help guide how CMF supports convening and informing our members in the policy and advocacy space, through these domains and priorities:
- Education (P-20): Priorities by age and system-wide priorities.
- Health: Accessibility and affordability, public health and climate and environmental justice.
- Economic Prosperity: Workforce and population investments and community and economic development.
- Civic & Community Engagement: Grassroots and cross-sector engagement, equitable data and information systems.
The priorities highlighted in the framework exemplify where CMF may engage – as an organization serving as the collective voice for Michigan philanthropy – and where you might see opportunities for your own organization to advance aligned advocacy efforts and grantmaking practices.
Foundations in Lansing
CMF members and staff engaged in meetings with members of our state Legislature during our May 2024 Foundations in Lansing event focused on mental health supports.
CMF members and staff engaged in meetings with members of our state Legislature during our May 2024 Foundations in Lansing event focused on mental health supports.
CMF members and staff engaged in meetings with members of our state Legislature during our May 2024 Foundations in Lansing event focused on mental health supports.
In 2024, CMF members participated in our third annual Foundations in Lansing (FIL). This series of events provided curated conversations between CMF members and policymakers from the state Legislature around key policy areas, including early childhood education, before and after school programming, mental health, workforce and talent development and attraction and centering community voices to shape government resources. Our 2025 FIL events are underway, check out CMF’s Events Calendar.
Foundations on the Hill
CMF members and staff participated in 16 meetings with policymakers, three department meetings and a meeting with White House staff during the 2024 Foundations on the Hill.
CMF members and staff participated in 16 meetings with policymakers, three department meetings and a meeting with White House staff during the 2024 Foundations on the Hill.
CMF members and staff participated in 16 meetings with policymakers, three department meetings and a meeting with White House staff during the 2024 Foundations on the Hill.
Every year, CMF members and our staff continue our storied tradition of engaging in Foundations on the Hill (FOTH) in Washington, D.C. FOTH, hosted by United Philanthropy Forum in partnership with Independent Sector and the Council on Foundations, is our sector’s opportunity to speak with a unified voice before members of Congress. During FOTH, we educate Michigan’s delegation about the importance of philanthropy, inform them of the work that foundations are leading in and with communities in their districts, and advocate on behalf of issues impacting the sector and the communities we serve.
Featured Stories
CMF Members on Capitol Hill
Members of our CMF community engaged with policymakers last week during Foundations on the Hill (FOTH) 2024, presented by United Philanthropy Forum and in partnership with the Council on Foundations and Independent Sector.
CMF Members Engage with Policymakers on Capitol Hill
Members of our CMF community engaged with policymakers last week during Foundations on the Hill (FOTH) 2025, presented by United Philanthropy Forum and in partnership with the Council on Foundations and Independent Sector.
CMF/DNR Spark Grant Program Partnership
In July 2024, CMF and the Michigan Department of Natural Resources (DNR) announced that 29 Michigan communities whose economic opportunities and public health were hardest hit by the COVID-19 pandemic were receiving a total of $24.2 million in Michigan Spark Grants funding designed to remove barriers to creating, renovating or redeveloping community-informed public recreation opportunities.
Administered by CMF in partnership with the Michigan DNR and through the CMF Statewide Equity Fund, the CMF/DNR Spark Grant program partnership was established to equitably guide resources to communities and expand access to healthy indoor and outdoor recreation projects where there has been little or no previous parks and recreation investment. A core component of the partnership, designed and brokered by the Governor’s Office of Foundation Liaison, is centering community voices and engaging a diverse array of community residents in all aspects of the visioning, planning and execution of the parks projects.
Several community foundations are leading as trusted local conveners, working with their local units of governments, residents and other stakeholders in their identified “opportunity community” to provide support to ensure the successful completion of the community-identified projects.
You can read more about this work in action, how it’s taking shape in the City of Muskegon Heights, and the role the Community Foundation for Muskegon County is playing in our Community Features.
Projects are underway; with some slated to be completed in 2025, with all due for completion by September 2026.
Partner Spotlight: Governor’s Office of Foundation Liaison
In 2024, the Governor’s Office of Foundation Liaison (OFL) welcomed a new Foundation Liaison, Dana Linnane, following the retirement and celebration of Karen Aldridge-Eason.
The OFL also released a Grantmaking Guidebook featuring insights and learnings from the Michigan Department of Natural Resources (DNR) Spark Grants program design. The resource provides state officials with a roadmap to improve their grantmaking process and more effectively serve under-resourced communities.
Pictured left to right: Dana Linnane and Karen Aldridge-Eason
“The opportunity to have a direct audience with legislators is so important for our work. New legislators don't fully understand the work, and continuing conversations with returning legislators is vital for maintaining knowledge of the field. Taking this opportunity to meet face-to-face is a privilege, and all the coordination is done through CMF, which makes it simple.”
Rachel Osmer
Associate Director
Cook Family Foundation
“For over 50 years, CMF has been a trusted resource, advocate, champion and partner for Michigan’s philanthropic community. Central to their efforts and the advancement of our sector have been policy and advocacy – not because it is something nice to do, but because it is necessary. Policy and advocacy aren’t subjects or topics that exist in isolation. They should be viewed more as strategies. Strategies that move beyond the size of a particular grant or announcement of a new program and lean more towards leveraging our various forms of capital to influence policies and practices at the local, state, and federal levels. This is how we effect and affect change.”
David McGhee
Executive Vice President & Chief Operating Officer Finance and Operations
Community Foundation of Greater Flint
“Engaging in advocacy efforts for philanthropy and nonprofits in our community always seemed like something that I would try to do when I had time. Participating in Foundations on the Hill (FOTH) made me realize that, especially now, it is imperative for all of us to let our representatives in Congress know the vital role of philanthropy and nonprofit organizations in caring for their constituents.”
Lisa Cripps-Downey
President
Berrien Community Foundation
2025 FOTH Attendee
