Access Philanthropy is a hands-on research institute focused on the giving preferences of foundations and corporate donors. We work with for-profit and non-profit organizations who want to make better use of their limited research, marketing, and grantseeking budgets.

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Our funder databases give you quick, easy and cost-effective information you need to select great new funding prospects. More than 100 sure-fire lists in every state and on every topic you’ll need – arts, health, education, international, environment, children, human services, special populations—the list goes on...

Our consulting and research uncovers where our clients REALLY stand in the local and national grantmaking communities and provides both grantseeking prospects and positioning advice. We get our clients’ proposal systems up and running (or back on track). When necessary, we also provide grant-writing and proposal production assistance. Download our Five Star Fundamentals brochure

Our workshops are highly provocative, highly interactive and always informative briefings and skill-building seminars. Our most popular topics are "Top 100 National Funders" (in your state), “Patterns and Profiles of Corporate Funders," and "Developing Your Organization's 30 Second Elevator Speech." We partner with local and regional organizations around the country to present the workshops. Current topics

Access Philanthropy is the point at which an organization's vision, programs, leadership, and fund raising come together. We provide the strategic fund raising that integrates the real world of your current organization with the place where you want to be and where you know you should be to accomplish your organization's vision and mission. Call us. 612-886-1362

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in the News

July 28, 2010: Damage from the BP Oil Spill Seeps Further than the Gulf

Today marks Day 100 of the BP Deepwater Horizon crisis. While the world has been inundated with news about the progress (or lack thereof) of the oil spill containment and cleanup, news has also been emerging about the effects of the spill on BP’s philanthropic partners.

In recent history, the BP Foundation has been pouring money into the arts in London. Cultural establishments such as the Royal Opera House, the Tate Britain and the National Portrait Gallery all enjoy sponsorships from BP’s philanthropic arm.

Although it’s clear that BP is committed to supporting the arts, it remains to be seen how committed the arts will remain to BP.

Already, major artists such as Lady Gaga are coming out against BP, saying that they will boycott BP-sponsored venues in response to the oil spill. Other groups, both artists and environmentalists, are organizing protests and picket lines at the BP-sponsored cultural institutions.

The situation begs the question of where nonprofits draw the line in terms of public and corporate responsibility. BP’s twenty-year partnership with Nature Conservancy calls this point into question. Although most large nonprofits, including Nature Conservancy, claim to have a vetting system for potential donors, this seems like a case where the risks were not analyzed closely enough.

Phil Buchanan, President of the Center for Effective Philanthropy, argues that nonprofits have the right and the duty to put their missions first when embarking in fundraising. From this point of view, a partnership between an environmental group and an oil company seems questionable.

As Buchanan mentions, the blurring of the corporate and nonprofit sectors is inevitable at this point. However, as the nonprofit sector grows more prominent and more powerful, it needs to assert itself to protect important nonprofit missions and to hold corporate entities, such as BP, accountable.

The unfortunate reality is that the more financially enmeshed the sectors become, the more difficult it will be for nonprofits to put their missions first and foremost.

For a current profile of the BP Foundation click here.

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