The Mission Sustainability Initiative (MSI) at Forefront is here to help you explore a wide range of approaches to sector connections and partnerships. This page features answers to our most common questions. If your question is not addressed, please reach out to the MSI Director at MSI@MyForefront.org.
The Mission Sustainability Initiative (MSI) at Forefront is dedicated to helping nonprofits thrive by providing the resources for leaders to regularly and thoughtfully explore collaboration and partnership strategies. Strategic partnerships and collaborations may take the form of a co-location, a back office collaborative, a joint venture, a merger or acquisition, or other long-term or permanent partnership that changes the way of doing business of the organizations involved. The MSI provides holistic support solutions to nonprofits, including confidential conversations, educational programming, community convening, vetted consultant lists, toolkits, and opportunities to apply for funding.
Long-term or permanent partnerships can sometimes be a good choice to respond to a rapidly changing external environment or to increase the effectiveness or efficiency of nonprofit work. Several other regions across the country operate similar programs dedicated to long-term or permanent strategic partnerships and collaborations, and their positive experience has helped to inform the development of the MSI.
All of the MSI resources, including grants, are available to organizations regardless of their Forefront Membership status. Grants are currently only available to organizations in Cook, DuPage, Kane, and Lake Counties.
Although actual grant amounts depend on the specifics of the proposed transaction, we make three types of grants:
No. Each type of funding request is considered independently (as opposed to being part of a formal continuum from pre-exploratory to exploratory to implementation). Some organizations may receive an implementation grant following an exploratory grant. It is also anticipated that after conducting thorough exploratory work, some collaborative projects will not proceed to implementation based upon the findings of the exploration. No organization or potential partnership will receive more than $75,000 in cumulative funding regardless of which types of grant(s) they receive.
Grant support is available to cover the necessary one-time, out-of-pocket costs incurred in exploring or implementing a strategic collaboration. These costs may be modest compared with the potential benefits of the collaboration, but they often become stumbling blocks because most funding is tied to programs and unavailable for process-related costs. MSI grants will not support the ongoing programmatic, operational, or capital costs of the grant applicant or proposed partner(s). Due to our partnership with the Chicago Lawyers’ Committee for Civil Rights and the availability of pro bono legal support, the MSI will not fund legal costs.
Grant guidelines and a sample grant application are available on our website. Grant applications may be submitted at any time, but the MSI Funders Committee reviews grants six times per year, with deadlines listed on the website. We are committed to getting responses within 30-40 days to applicants who submit by the posted deadlines. Potential applicants must be invited to apply by having an initial conversation with the MSI Director. Please contact us at MSI@MyForefront.org to schedule a time. Potential applicants should be aware that there is a particularly high demand for appointments leading up to the posted deadlines. Based on the initial conversation, our team will provide guidance as to next steps, which may include suggesting that the applicant take additional steps before submitting an application.
The members of the Funders Committee believe that nonprofit boards, leaders, and funders should routinely consider strategic partnerships. Organizations that make the decision to undertake the hard work of exploring strategic partnerships should be acknowledged, encouraged, and supported by funders. Recognizing the sensitive nature in general of partnership negotiations, initial conversations with the MSI Director are confidential. When and if the Director recommends a grant proposal to the Funders Committee, the names of the applicant and potential partner(s) will be disclosed to the Funders Committee. Grants are made public only once the grantees announce their partnership or give the MSI permission to publicly disclose the grant.
All of the MSI resources are available to organizations regardless of their Forefront Membership status. While in-person MSI events are generally held in Chicago, recordings and notes are shared after the fact for those unable to attend. Most other MSI resources are available digitally to nonprofits across the state.
The MSI has assembled a set of resource materials that should help you get started with considering and planning a strategic restructuring. You can find them here.