Minnesotans are known for our resilience. The cold winters and summer storms keep us nimble and prepared, looking out for our neighbors, and setting our shoulders against any bad weather ahead. That resilience – and the hearts – of Minnesotans was evident this past year, when we chose solidarity over fear and division. Nonprofits helped to develop creative solutions to meet folks’ needs. “Neighboring” became our unifying call to action.  

Minnesotans have long done the work to build community, unite around shared goals, and tackle problems, creating the state of Minnesota we know today. We believe people closest to the challenges are best able to shape the solutions. That belief shows up in Minnesota’s culture of neighbors stepping up for neighbors, and in the work of nonprofits that listen, respond, and build solutions from the ground up to meet the needs of their communities.

It’s Minnesota’s nonprofit organizations’ missions and values that articulate the visions for our shared future, while their services are essential to ensuring all can build vibrant and stable lives.  

But with a tightening state budget outlook and deep federal budget cuts, Minnesota’s future is stormy. Without intentional and additional investment in our state's future, our neighbors, and the nonprofits that strengthen their lives, could bear the brunt of these funding challenges.

As we face threats to our stable future, we must step up and boldly meet this moment. That means remembering the collective power we have in creating a tax system that delivers for everyone, not just the powerful few or those with the most resources. In our country today, too much of our tax system and economy primarily benefits those who already have wealth and power. The public policies that impact our lives and shape our futures have skewed too far from the priorities of everyday folks trying to work, go to college, care for their families, or retire with dignity.  

In Minnesota, we can see a different course. We think public policies should make life and work easier for Minnesotans, and in doing so, ease the burdens carried by nonprofits all across this state. By coming together, nonprofits can call for changing our state’s tax system so that it raises additional tax revenues, with a focus on individuals and corporations that can afford to pay more to meet what this moment demands. That way we will have more resources to truly care for our neighbors and families, preserve environmental essentials like clean water and air, build strong schools in every community, and ensure Minnesotans have the health care, housing and other resources to live full, thriving lives.