Mankato Free Press (January 18, 2026) — MANKATO — For Brittany Wojtowicz, the “Navigating Philanthropy” sessions come at a great time as she expands her knowledge base as the new executive director of CADA in Mankato. Although not in crisis, like most nonprofits CADA’s funding is constantly changing.
Mankato Area Foundation is presenting the four-part series of free sessions to help organizations recognize potential opportunities for increasing revenue in different areas: Philanthropy 101, Individual Giving 101, Grant Making 101 and Earned Income 101. The first session on Tuesday has strong enrollment; registration is required.
It brings together a professional in the field with various nonprofits that may need to find alternate or additional sources of funding that will help determine what services they continue to provide and at what level. How successfully they are able to do that will determine the effects on those who utilize their services.
The first session lays the groundwork for navigating philanthropy by exploring origins and purpose of the nonprofit sector and its role in the community. All four will be led by Kim Snyder, founder of Excelsior Bay Group, whose experience and advice may be financially out of the reach of many organizations, said Nancy Zallek, MAF president and CEO.
“In order to have strong communities, we need to not only invest in the programs we have, but the health and sustainability of the organizations behind them,” Zallek said. “Nonprofits have significant impact on the health and well-being of our community.”
Despite the truth behind that statement, many people don’t understand they rely on nonprofits for many of the services they receive and activities they enjoy, said Jean Keenan, executive director of Life-Work Planning Center. It is a decades-old organization whose mission is to help women and families navigate life transitions through skills training.
“The Minnesota Council of Nonprofits just recently did a survey, and of those they surveyed only 5% of people thought they had interacted with a nonprofit,” Keenan said.
To show the value that nonprofits play in Greater Mankato, she listed the CityArt Sculpture Walk, Scouting, Mankato Symphony Orchestra, Kiwanis Holiday Lights and the Greater Mankato YMCA, among others, as nonprofits with significant impact here.
“Nonprofits are an integral foundational piece of what makes Mankato a great place to live, work and play,” Keenan said. For that reason, and because of her involvement with Mankatononprofits.org, she is thankful for the MAF philanthropy sessions and plans to attend all four.
Open Door Health Center gets a large share of its operating revenue for the affordable health care it provides through Medicaid and insurance reimbursements. And while only 1.2% of its revenue comes from donations, because it has a $10 million budget, that small portion represents about $120,000, said Emily Heinis, director of communications.
“When we are looking at things that are threatening our budgets, (such as) the changes to Medicaid that will result in a loss of coverage for our patients, they will not not become our patients anymore. They will still be our patients (but) without insurance coverage,” she said.
“So, instead of getting, say, $300 reimbursement from Medicaid, we will charge them the sliding-fee scale based on their income and household size. The lowest amount for that is $25. So our revenue is going to change significantly,” Heinis said.
The information provided in the sessions is structured so it can be utilized by all types of nonprofits, Zallek said, noting there is no one-size-fits-all solution. Open Door gets additional funding from city, county, state and federal sources, Heinis said, but that is not true for everyone.
“The people we’re serving couldn’t afford even a minimal sliding-fee scale,” Keenan said. “If we can’t offer our services at no cost, we can’t offer our services.”
Life-Work Planning Center is one of six organizations that receive funding for these services through the Minnesota Department of Employment and Economic Development, with the rest coming through private foundations, grants, United Way, individual contributions and board fundraisers.
“There are women who don’t qualify for those state-eligible services. They may be someone who is, maybe they’re an empty nester and they had a job skill for work (that) they haven’t used for a while,” Keenan said.
Those who come to CADA for assistance may be in a crisis situation, so assistance they receive there can help right the ship and get them sailing in a better direction. Wojtowicz has worked there for 12-13 years, she said, but she’s very new to the area of development, so she looks forward to learning.
“I like to get a lot of different types of information about what best practices are or good ways to connect with the community,” she said. “And a benefit that this one is local is that then I can connect with other local professionals and network and hear more about what’s happening in our region.”
Federal funding coming to Minnesota has been threatened by President Donald Trump, Wojtowicz said, and donations from individuals have been threatened by perceived untrustworthiness.
“We are spending a lot of time and resources internally making sure we’re prepared for anything that might happen, so that we don’t have to cut services and that we can be responsive and still be available for survivors,” she said of CADA’s work.
And Heinis said Open Door has worked to be ready for any “what-if” that might come along. Now is a good time to gather with other nonprofits, share ideas and connect on ways they can help each other, representatives said, whether through sharing sources of funding or services.
Keenan said donors can be assured their gifts are going to good places within Mankato’s nonprofit community.
“You’re not gifting me the funds,” Keenan said. “It is an investment in our community, and we know we have a significant return on investment.”