National Foundations

Virtual Workshop – Live/Online

Fee: $95 for MCN members / $135 for nonmembers

Register Now

Join Steve Paprocki and the Access Philanthropy team for an in-depth session profiling national funders, including mega-funders, corporate foundations, and family foundations eager to support missions like yours.

Fundamentals of National Grant Seeking

Understand the roadmap to get your nonprofit ready for national funding. We’ll cover:

• Key steps to ensure your nonprofit is “funder-ready”
• Crafting compelling pitches that align with funders’ strategic goals
• Fine-tuning your organizational profile to stand out in competitive national grant pools

Connecting with Program Officers and Stewardship

You’ll learn practical advice on finding the right contact people, reaching out, and creating memorable introductions that open doors for future funding. Gain insight into maintaining positive, ongoing relationships with funders, from thoughtful updates to impact reports, ensuring your nonprofit remains top-of-mind for renewals and future funding opportunities.

Funder Profiles: Mega-Funders, Corporate Foundations, and Family Foundations

Uncover potential supporters that invest in Minnesota, including insights into major players and lesser-known family foundations with regional interests. Learn what each funder prioritizes and their application guidelines. Areas covered:

• The top national foundations that fund in Minnesota
• Family foundations who’ve moved but are still interested in Minnesota
• Corporations with local plants or offices in Minnesota
• Corporations with high Minnesota sales volume funding in the state
• Midwest/regional funders
• National/international mega-funders
• New Era Funders: Many newer funders take a different approach to giving

Who Should Attend?

This workshop is ideal for executive directors, development staff, board members, and grant writers at Minnesota nonprofits interested in securing national foundation support.

Registration Includes: 

Event Details

This virtual event will take place on the Zoom platform. Your access link will be emailed to you the day before the event after 12 p.m.

This session will be recorded. The recording will be made available to registrants after the live event.

Captioning is provided automatically through Zoom. For information on requesting CART, ASL, or another accommodation, please visit our Registration Policies page.

To learn more about events, registration, and payment, visit our Event & Registration FAQ page.

Speaker Information

With more than 20 years of fundraising experience and more than $100 million raised for Minnesota’s nonprofit community, Kirsten Gulbro is deeply passionate about supporting mission-based work. She’s worked for organizations with a variety of missions, from basic needs assistance to workforce development to environmental conservation. Kirsten holds a Master of Nonprofit Administration Degree from Metropolitan State University and a Bachelor of Arts Degree in Sociology from Augsburg University. Her professional experience includes grant writing, corporate sponsorships, major gifts, special events, nonprofit communications, and prospect research.

A California native, Patricia O’Brien has led and supported the growth of a myriad of organizations, from health to youth development, to environmental nonprofits, with a particular emphasis on BIPOC-led organizations. As a nonprofit leader and fund development consultant, she has raised more than $100 million. As a highly experienced nonprofit executive director, she brings tremendous experience in evaluation and redesign of processes, development and strategic planning, board-building, and capacity building.

Steve Paprocki has spent his entire professional career in philanthropy – as a foundation director, fundraiser, trainer, donor consultant, author, researcher, and lobbyist. He knows his stuff. He draws on his diverse experience and extensive network to help nonprofits meet the right people, at the right time, and meet their goals.