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- Last Updated 07/29/2011 -
Minnesota State Bar Foundation 2011 Annual Report
The Minnesota State Bar Foundation was formed in 1932 and exists for the express purpose of providing monetary grants to law-related programs and activities. Areas of emphasis include legal assistance to the disadvantaged, improvements in the administration of justice and law-related education.
The Minnesota State Bar Foundation is organized as a 501(c)(3) nonprofit corporation in the state of Minnesota and operates independently of the MSBA. The members of the Assembly of the MSBA serve as the members of the Foundation and elect the Foundation’s directors. The directors of the Foundation for 2010-2011 were Linda C Barbe, Duluth; James P Barone, White Bear Lake; John R Bultena, St Paul; Bruce P Candlin, St Paul; Brenda S Denton, Duluth; Jacqueline A Dorsey, Northfield; Hon. Bethany A Fountain Lindberg, Anoka; Richard L Hendrickson, Osseo; Nancy J Kleeman, Minneapolis; Erin E O'Toole-Tomczik, Elk River; Warren H Ortland, St Paul; Jill LeBow Prohofsky, Minneapolis; Alan K Ruvelson, Jr, St Paul; Patricia A Trask, Deerwood; Gary L Voegele, Faribault.
The Foundation Board meets to consider grant requests in March, June, September and December. The grant application form is available on the MSBA website at http://www2.mnbar.org/barfoundation/. The deadline to submit a grant application is by 5:00 p.m. on May 15, August 15, November 15 or February 15.
MSBA members and others are encouraged to promote applications to the Foundation. Those interested in pursuing funding should check the Foundation’s mission statement to determine whether the proposed project is of the type that the Foundation is likely to support.
The Foundation’s ability to fulfill its charitable purposes depends on the generosity of its donors. The Foundation has an optional $25 check-off on the MSBA’s annual dues renewal statement and the majority of the Foundation’s contributions come through this source. For the 2010/11 bar year, only 17% of MSBA members made a contribution to the Foundation.
| Bar Year | Total # of MSBA members | # of members who made a contribution to the MSBF | Total $ amount of contributions | % of MSBA members who contributed to the MSBF |
| 2010/11 | 16,995 | 3,015 | $74,206 | 17.74% |
| 2009/10 | 16,057 | 3,146 | $78,218 | 19.59% |
| 2008/09 | 16,101 | 3,618 | $86,744 | 22.47% |
| 2007/08 | 15,675 | 4,396 | $106,058 | 28.04% |
As more employers are processing dues payments through a central administrative office, the optional $25 donation on the dues statement is being removed without the knowledge of the attorney. We are making two requests to you as a bar leader. First, make sure that the people who process the payments are not removing the donation without specific direction from the attorney. Second, spread the word to your co-workers that we should all support the work of the Foundation with, at least, the $25 suggested annual donation.
MSBA members are encouraged to consider making a donation at other times of the year, not just during the dues renewal period. A gift to the Foundation is a thoughtful way to commemorate the work, value or retirement of another lawyer. In memoriam gifts are excellent tributes. All gifts are tax deductible as charitable contributions. Donations can be made to the Minnesota State Bar Foundation, 600 Nicollet Mall, Suite 380, Minneapolis, MN 55402 or online at
http://www2.mnbar.org/barfoundation/donate.asp.
From July 1, 2010 to June 1, 2011, the Foundation received 37 grant applications totaling $128,517 and awarded $45,400. The lowest grant was $300 and the highest grant was $4,000.
| All Parks Alliance for Change | to support a statewide manufactured mobile home park tenant hotline and to offer translating and interpreting services to the Latino population for in-person contacts, workshops, hotline calls and materials through the MN Legal Outreach Project |
$2,500 |
| American Civil Liberties Union Foundation | to support printed and electronic materials to teachers regarding the Constitution and Bill of Rights that the teachers can use in conjunction with Constitution Day |
$500 |
| Battered Womens Legal Advocacy Project | to promote justice for battered women and their children by providing legal information, consultation, training, litigation support and policy development assistance to advocates and battered women, in particular those from underrepresented populations |
$1,000 |
| Civil Society | to support direct immigration legal screening for human trafficking & emergency immigration legal services that provide safety and stability while human trafficking victims are here providing evidence to convict human traffickers who have victimized them |
$1,500 |
| Dispute Resolution Center | to provide free and low-cost alternative dispute resolution services to lower-income individuals, families and communities in the East Metro Area |
$1,000 |
| Domestic Abuse Project | to support free legal & community advocacy services to victims of domestic violence in Hennepin County |
$1,000 |
| Farmers Legal Action Group | to provide the broad range of legal services and resources that low-income family farmers need to maintain their livelihoods and stay on their land |
$2,500 |
| Hands of Hope Resource Center |
to provide legal advocacy services to victims of domestic violence, sexual assault, child abuse and general crime in Morrison and Todd Counties |
$1,000 |
| Home Line | funding for law-related educational presentations to high school students, police officers, shelter residents, landlords and social service providers about the rights and responsibilities of renting |
$500 |
| Indian Child Welfare Act Law Center | funding to provide legal services to low-income Indian families impacted by the child protection system and to be a comprehensive legal resource regarding the mandates and intent of the Indian Child Welfare Act |
$1,000 |
| Koochiching County Sexual Assault Program | to support the Legal Advocacy Program which provides services to victims of sexual assault and domestic abuse in Koochiching and Lake of the Woods counties |
$1,000 |
| Lao Advancement Organization of America Inc | to provide bilingual Naturalization Application Preparation assistance to Lao speaking individuals living in the Twin Cities |
$500 |
| Lawyers Concerned for Lawyers |
funding to support LCL's peer and professional support services for lawyers, law students and judges in Minnesota who need help with chemical and other addictions and dependencies, mental health, stress, family, financial and work related problems |
$3,000 |
| Legal Assistance of Olmsted County | funding to help defray the cost of providing interpreters for low-income, non-English speaking clients who need translation during consultations with attorneys and when reviewing legal documents |
$600 |
| Legal Rights Center Inc | funding for the ADR services that LRC provides to the Co-Parent Court pilot project in the 4th Judicial District which aims to improve family court processing of paternity and child support orders in situations in which there has been no marriage |
$1,000 |
| LegalCORPS | requests funding for LegalCORPS ongoing efforts to connect pro bono business lawyers with low-income entrepreneurs and small nonprofits that cannot afford the transactional legal assistance they need for success |
$500 |
| Loan Repayment Assistance Program | funding to make education loan repayment assistance awards to attorneys providing legal assistance to low-income and disadvantaged Minnesotans |
$3,000 |
| Mediation Works North Inc | to support the Parents Forever program for parents involved in litigation over children, custody, parenting time or divorce |
$1,000 |
| Minnesota Fathers & Families Network | to print copies of The Unmarried Fathers' Guide to Paternity, Custody, Parenting Time and Child Support in Minnesota, soon to be revised edition (2010) |
$500 |
| Minnesota Justice Foundation | to support two summer law clerks (one in the Twin Cities and one in Greater Minnesota) who will work full-time at legal aid offices and public interest organizations during the 2011 summer and to support the Private Attorney Student Service |
$4,000 |
| Missions Inc Programs | to support the Home Free Community Program which provides legal support to victims of domestic violence |
$1,000 |
| MSBA Civic Education Committee |
to support efforts to educate youth about the legal system thru the Lawyers in the Schools, Operation Mediation, and MN Supreme Court Traveling Oral Arguments programs |
$500 |
| MSBA Mock Trial Program | to support the Mock Trial Program, which is a law-related education program involving high school students, teachers, judges and attorneys statewide |
$1,500 |
Neighborhood Justice Center |
funding to provide comprehensive criminal defense and crime prevention services to low-income persons emphasizing outreach through the Legal Representation & Advice, Education and Expungement programs |
$1,000 |
| North Shore Horizons Inc | to provide legal assistance and criminal justice intervention to domestic and sexual violence victims in Lake and Cook Counties, and, also, training for staff and law enforcement |
$1,000 |
| Oromo Community Inc Minneapolis / St Paul | to support activities associated with assisting Oromo refugees with their immigration status in collaboration with the Legal Aid Society |
$1,000 |
| Range Women's Advocates | funding to support court advocacy, staff education and training to facilitate access to the legal system for victims of domestic violence |
$1,500 |
| Reentry Clinic of William Mitchell College of Law | funding to provide legal assistance to men residing at the 180 Degrees halfway house in Mpls during three family law clinics, specifically assisting with child support modification, paternity, parenting time, and obtaining free credit reports |
$300 |
| Restorative Justice Community Action Inc | to support efforts to improve community livability through restorative justice practices by allowing RJCA to sustain, expand and enhance their current services throughout Mpls |
$1,000 |
| Sexual Assault Program of Beltrami Cass & Hubbard Counties | to provide legal advocacy to sexual violence victims in Beltrami, Cass, Clearwater, and Hubbard counties and the Leech Lake Reservation |
$1,500 |
| Sexual Assault Program of Northern St Louis County | to support legal advocacy services and staff education that will assist victims of sexual violence, some of whom suffer from mental illness, a disability, clinical depression and/or post traumatic stress |
$1,500 |
| Southwest Minnesota State University | funding for training and interpreting services by SMSU Somali students to help improve communication between the staff of the 5th District Public Defenders Office and their Somali-speaking clients |
$500 |
| The Innocence Project of Minnesota | to provide free legal services to indigent and potentially wrongfully convicted prisoners and to educate community members and representatives from the justice system about strategies to prevent such injustices from occurring |
$1,000 |
| The Refuge Network | to help fund supportive legal services and training for legal advocates to help women who seek assistance in leaving abusers or abusive relationships |
$1,000 |
| Volunteer Lawyers Network | to support for general operating expenses so that VLN can continue to provide legal services to low-income people, primarily in Hennepin County, through volunteer lawyers |
$2,000 |
| WATCH | to support the presentation of the Providing Feedback to Your Courts webinar in November 2010, for development of a companion guidebook and to provide direct assistance to programs via phone, e-mail and onsite training |
$500 |
| Women in Need Depending on Other Women |
to provide court ordered Parents Forever curriculum in Hinckley where no such program exists in all of Pine and Kanabec Counties | $1,000 |
Fulfillment of the Foundation’s mission also depends on wise stewardship of our endowment resources. The Foundation has developed, adopted and implemented a prudent investment policy. This fiscal year, the Foundation’s investments have increased in value. As of June 1, investments totaled $1,265,521.
I want to express sincere thanks not only to our donors and the MSBA staff, but also to the Foundation Board members who have given generously of their time and talents during the past year.
Respectfully submitted,
James Patrick Barone, President
Minnesota State Bar Foundation
