MINNESOTA INDEPENDENT SCHOLARS FORUM

aka MISF   |   Minneapolis, MN   |  www.mnindependentscholars.org/

Mission

The Minnesota Independent Scholars Forum (MISF) exists to foster scholars, whatever their formal credentials or academic involvement. MISF strives to be both encouraging and critical, always aware of what distinguishes good scholarship. We encourage all projects of disciplined intellectual inquiry. Our membership is open to anyone who supports these goals. MISF provides scholars with 1) opportunities to collaborate with other scholars of similar interests 2) opportunities to exchange ideas on designated topics in small groups 3) opportunities to present, to other scholars and the public, the fruits of study, in oral and written form 4) fiscal agency for scholarly grant submissions. MISF promotes face-to-face interaction among scholars as an irreplaceable means to scholarly excellence.

Ruling year info

1990

President

Steve Miller

Main address

PO Box 80235

Minneapolis, MN 55408 USA

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EIN

36-3406556

NTEE code info

Education N.E.C. (B99)

Other Art, Culture, Humanities Organizations/Services N.E.C. (A99)

IRS filing requirement

This organization is required to file an IRS Form 990-N.

Programs and results

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Our programs

SOURCE: Self-reported by organization

What are the organization's current programs, how do they measure success, and who do the programs serve?

MISF Regular Meetings

We meet monthly September through November and January through June with a different speaker featured at each meeting. Some recent topics: Ignatius Donnelly, The Power of Landscape Art, The Romansh in Minnesota.

Population(s) Served

This special interest group has been a part of MISF almost since the beginning of MISF. While it exists to support scholars who are working on philosophical topics, in practice it mostly is an assortment of people who are intensely interested in philosophy and who share in choosing discussion topics.

Population(s) Served

A special interest group of MISF, it was initially used by an historian to further her research and has continued as an assorted group of people who select and discuss historical topics and readings.

Population(s) Served

Most grant-making organizations will not confer grants to unaffiliated individuals. MISF provides fiscal agency for independent scholars who seek grants for their work. We also will help scholars to locate appropriate grants. Being an all-volunteer organization, we charge only a 10% commission.

Population(s) Served

The MISF Journal, The Minnesota Scholar, was previously named Practical Thinking (2005-2015), and The Forum (1989-2005). It is published semi-annually, normally in the spring and fall of the year. The purpose of the journal is to provide a publishing venue for independent scholarship. As such, it generally consists of one to three essays, book reviews, and reports of MISF monthly programs, but does not actually exclude any type of scholarly writing, including poetry and artwork.

Population(s) Served

Where we work

Goals & Strategy

SOURCE: Self-reported by organization

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Charting impact

Four powerful questions that require reflection about what really matters - results.

Continue to provide quality programs for our monthly meetings by offering a significant honorarium
Finalize new website development
Continue to develop a "how to" for prospective independent scholars
Seek more and better ways to identify grants for our members and help them to obtain them

Use Meetup.com to enable non-members to participate in our meetings and programs
Enhance our website to make it more compelling
Get more members to seek grants in order for us to get more experience in helping them
Colaborate more with other similar groups
Continue to use Give to the Max Day for our primary solicitation
Continue to offer fiscal agency for independent scholars to help them receive grants

We do not have a big enough budget to hire any staff, so we rely 100% on volunteers. But we have some exceptionally intelligent, well educated members. Many of them have worked in executive positions. Many are willing to -- and do -- contribute to the organization in many ways. However, since we are a small organization, the number of members who actively work to help us reach for our goals is small. We need to be careful not to burn these people out. Outside of the organization we have numerous very capable people and organizations who are not only ready, but enthusiastic, to put on programs and help MISF in other ways. With the passing of the Legacy amendment a few years ago by the state of Minnesota, we have a new source of grants we can make available to members.

We anticipate a new website by the beginning of the year. We have been dealing with some of our historians to obtain Legacy grants from the state of Minnesota. One has been completed, but we are beginning to question if these grants are worth pursuing because of publication restrictions. We continue to put out our semiannual journal on a regular schedule. Attendees at our meeting generally praise the quality of the programs. We rewrote our mission statement and are using it to plan a campaign to attract more members, but we need to convince someone to take responsibility for it.

Financials

MINNESOTA INDEPENDENT SCHOLARS FORUM
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Operations

The people, governance practices, and partners that make the organization tick.

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MINNESOTA INDEPENDENT SCHOLARS FORUM

Board of directors
as of 11/07/2019
SOURCE: Self-reported by organization
Board chair

Steve Miller

Lucy Brusic

Emily Pollack

Evelyn Klein

Steve Miller

Mike Woolsey

Barb Sommer

Charles Yancey

Charles Roger