Program areas at Council of Michigan Foundations
As a membership association of Foundations & corporate giving programs, cmf provides resources to members through its website, seminars, conferences and publications. Cmf is actively involved in advocacy on behalf of Foundations & corporate giving programs regarding legislative & regulatory issues that affect charitable giving & the nonprofit sector.
Launch Michigan is a bi-partisan, multi-sector organization formed for the purpose of improving educational outcomes for every student and every school in the state of Michigan. Cmf was the fiscal sponsor of launch Michigan. In late 2022, launch Michigan became its own 501 (c)(3) entity.
Cmf has an office in lansing that works directly with the governor of Michigan. The office of foundation liaison was established in 2003 to manage strategic partnerships between Foundations and state government to improve the lives of Michigan citizens. Funded by Foundations, the office of three staff is located in lansing with direct access to the governor.
In 2021, cmf launched the statewide equity fund to allow members to have collaborative opportunities to strategically pool resources toward systemic equity-centered approaches to address short-term, intermediate and long-term inequities in Michigan.
Cmf, in partnership with several members, has developed a two-year fellowship program to introduce recent diverse college graduates to the field of philanthropy, with the long-term goal of increasing the diversity of foundation staff. Under this program, fellows work approximately four days per week with member Foundations and one day per week with cmf.