2023
SNAPSHOT
OUR APPROACH
The Margulf Foundation was created in 1977 by Martin Flug and has a long history of supporting innovative approaches to education and other family interests. Since 2018, Margulf has supported leaders and organizations in education that provide youth with the learning opportunities they need and deserve across Colorado and beyond. Over the past six years, Margulf grew from a team of one to a team of seven, increased grantmaking significantly, and launched efforts to build connection and community among grantees.
Our work is grounded in the understanding that K-12 public education is not currently designed to meet all youth needs. While the world we live in has changed dramatically over the past 150 years, our approach to school and learning has changed very little at scale. We believe that grantees who understand the strengths and needs of youth and continuously iterate to deepen their impact are best poised to help all youth thrive academically, socially, emotionally, and physically. Whether our grantees are exploring a new idea, scaling a proven practice, or sustaining a longstanding effort, we aim to support them at every step in the innovation cycle.
As a funder, we strive to build relationships and act in partnership with our grantees in ways that ensure they are seen, valued, and understood. We work to build reflection and iteration into the fabric of our being as an organization, striving to break down funding barriers in our own practices by designing, piloting, and reflecting on new approaches. This Snapshot provides a glimpse of our work and our grantees...enjoy!
OUR GRANTMAKING
In 2023, Margulf granted approximately $7.9M across its Learning Environments and Talent grantees.
Our Grantees are a Diverse Group of Leaders:
LEADERS OF COLOR
WOMEN
LGBTQIA+
1/3
OVER
LATINX
Our Grantees Serve Many Communities:
113,903
YOUTH
16,267
TEACHERS AND SCHOOL LEADERS
2,671
EDUCATION INNOVATORS
10,820
PARENTS/ GUARDIANS
Our Grantees Reach Far and Wide:
52%
COLORADO-FOCUSED ORGANIZATIONS
36%
NATIONAL ORGANIZATIONS WORKING IN COLORADO
12%
NATIONAL ORGANIZATIONS
OUR 2023 GRANTEES
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OUR INITIATIVES
Below are a few examples of how the relationships we build with our grantees lead to iterations on our approach to better meet their needs.
Wellness
In early 2021, our grantees shared with us the emotional, mental, and physical toll the COVID-19 pandemic had on them as both leaders and humans. We were so inspired by the unique ways grantees responded with creativity and empathy to care for their teams that we created a new grantmaking area called Wellness Grants to further assist our grantees in tending to their needs. Between 2021 and 2022, Margulf disbursed approximately $2.5 million to support the health, wellness, and sustainability of over 50 leaders and their teams. Our grantees used the funds for a variety of purposes, including covering the costs of activities related to their mental, physical, and overall wellness; pursuing coaching or training; and embarking on personal or professional development journeys.
These funds helped grantees put personal wellness into practice, prompted organizational culture shifts, and helped teams and leaders feel valued beyond their work. After two rounds of piloting Wellness Grants, we now include an annual Wellness Allocation in every Learning Environments and Talent grant we award. It is our hope that this focus on wellness will ensure talented leaders feel supported in their roles, encourage adoption of practices to sustain grantee work, and deepen grantee impact.
“It continues to be incredibly valuable
and meaningful for our team to receive a specific Wellness Allocation. Given the work we do to transform and sustain education leaders, it is also core to our organizational values that we invest in the development and wellness of our team. We are grateful for the Foundation’s prioritization of this through the gift of these funds.”
— ANONYMOUS GRANTEE
Collaboration
In 2022, after seeing the ways in which Margulf grantees were naturally connecting and building on one another’s strengths and endeavors, we launched a grantmaking area called Collaboration Grants. This pilot provided more than $700,000 to current grantees interested in working and learning together. The grants were an attempt to spur community building and support the creative ways our grantees suggested partnering with one another.
Through these collaborations, organizations were able to bring new and valuable learning experiences to youth, educators, and communities; develop a stronger network of like-minded leaders in thought partnership; and design, test, and incorporate new insights, mindsets, and skillsets to move their missions and visions forward. Buoyed by the impact of these collaborations, we continue to intentionally create spaces and provide resources for grantees to build relationships, share learnings and challenges with each other, and deepen their impact together.
“The Margulf Foundation’s generous collaboration grant allowed us to realize a unique opportunity to work more closely with peers to spark actionable learnings across all participating organizations.”
— ANONYMOUS GRANTEE
Grantee Gatherings
Our grantee leaders have often asked us to make connections among them. In response, grounded in our belief that the collective genius of our grantees has even greater potential for impact than their individual genius, we created Grantee Gatherings for them to connect with the larger group more regularly. These Gatherings provide an opportunity for Margulf grantees to share space with each other in order to build relationships, grapple with current challenges, and learn from each other. They also allow us to surface topics and opportunities for new ways we as a foundation can meet their needs.
At each Gathering, 3-5 of our grantees volunteer to share about an aspect of their work as prompts for small group conversations with their peers. Topics can include everything from a challenge they’re sitting with to a meaningful experience they want to share with others. Attendees report feeling an increased sense of connectedness to other grantees as a result of the Gatherings. They also report that what they have learned at these Gatherings has increased their knowledge and efficacy as leaders. Given this feedback from our grantees, we continue providing these optional virtual opportunities to gather 3-4 times per year and will host an in-person Convening in 2024.
“I like the community gatherings, [which have] led us to establish partnerships and relationships with lots of leaders. This has given me access to peers and mentors to talk through things I often feel siloed around. I’ve gotten helpful advice and guidance and have followed up for additional guidance…There is face time with leaders who I would otherwise not get face time with – large organizations to small community orgs…[and I can] get [our organization’s] name out there.”
— ANONYMOUS GRANTEE
