McKnight Foundation awards $19.3M to nonprofits

[from Philanthropy News Digest] The Minneapolis-based McKnight Foundation has announced third-quarter grants totaling more than $19.3 million to eighty-six nonprofit organizations. Grant recipients include the Local Initiatives Support Corporation, which was awarded $1.8 million for implementation, integration, and knowledge-sharing efforts aimed at building sustainable communities in the Twin Cities region; the University of Chicago, which received $1.22 million to boost its capacity to provide technical assistance and professional development; Ducks Unlimited, which was awarded $480,000 to conserve critical wetlands and promote policies that benefit the Mississippi River; and Emerge Community Development, which received $300,000 to create the Emerge Career and Technology Center.


The foundation also awarded $1 million to the Nonprofit Finance Fundin support of ArtPlace, an initiative of eleven U.S. foundations, theNational Endowment for the Arts, and seven additional federal agencies that is designed to accelerate "creative placemaking" — an approach to shaping the physical and social character of a neighborhood, town, city, or region around arts and cultural activities. The grant for ArtPlace was in addition to funding the foundation had already allocated for arts programs this year.

For a complete list of the foundation's third-quarter grantees, visit the McKnight Foundation Web site.

“McKnight Approves Over $19 Million in Third Quarter of 2011, Including $1 Million to Support Creative Placemaking.” McKnight Foundation Press Release 9/27/11.