You may have seen GiveMN’s recent leadership announcement that Jake Blumberg, Executive Director of GiveMN since 2016, is transitioning to a new role as the managing director of the Itasca Project, and Jenna Ray, GiveMN’s Deputy Executive Director and Chief Community Impact Officer, is stepping into the Interim Executive Director role. While the GiveMN team is sad to see Jake go, we are so grateful to him for the past nine years he has spent stewarding GiveMN’s impactful work, and we're excited to see this new chapter in his career and in GiveMN's story unfold!
Before his last day, Jake took some time to sit down with me and share reflections on his time with GiveMN, his dedication to the public sector, and how community needs continue to motivate him, both in his work at GiveMN and in this new phase of his career. I hope you enjoy our conversation!
GiveMN: How have you seen GiveMN change since you started nine years ago?
Jake Blumberg: It turns out a lot can happen in nine years, particularly the past nine years, where it feels like the landscape for nonprofits, and the work that we do has really shifted and had to be really responsive to a lot of moments in time and events. And, you know, when I came to GiveMN, we were a three-person organization. I’m leaving now with us being a 13-person organization. That alone is a really good illustration of the way that the organization has grown over those nine years, and that's probably one of the things that I'm most proud of: the amount of impact we've been able to have as we've grown to meet community needs. Because why we've grown has been because the community's asked us to so I'm really proud of that. And I think [that growth to meet community need] is a nice way to describe the difference nine years can make.
The premise of our mission statement – [“We ignite generosity and grow giving. Using creative ideas and innovative technology, we connect more people with more causes than ever before] – is something that I've been going back to a lot as my time at GiveMN winds down. The word “ignite” means that a spark can lead to something much greater. And I think when things are dark, sometimes just a spark can be the difference between it remaining dark and there being light. And we're at a time right now where sparks of light are really crucial and important. I think GiveMN and the people who make GiveMN special, the staff and the board, are that much more important for our neighbors and our community because providing that spark is often what it takes to create light out of the darkness.
JB: As I look at what makes me want to get up and get out of bed in the morning, it's the opportunity to help people who I'll never get a chance to meet. What drives me is thinking, “How can I make a positive difference in the lives of folks who are not necessarily in my orbit but are absolutely part of the community that I hope to make stronger and better?”
Getting to be in the public sector, and particularly getting to help lead GiveMN, has been just such a unique opportunity to have a positive impact on so many people, organizations, donors, individuals, and communities that I'll never get to personally know, but knowing that I've made a positive impact on some of those folks really makes me proud.
JB: There are a couple of moments that really stick out. One of the things is a tough moment, but, it’s the 2016 Give to the Max Day, which was the first Give to that Max that I was fully a leader of. And, we had some technology issues, and it was really something that was tough for our community and for the folks that relied on us. We really had to look ourselves in the mirror honestly after that and figure out: what does the community need from us and how do we better deliver on it? Because we were falling short, and ever since that moment, we have not had a time where our platform has gone down or had any technology issues for more than even a couple of minutes because we recommitted to finding the right technology partner. We made that a priority because that's what the community told us first and foremost they needed from us at that time. And so I'm really proud that what was a hard time resulted in now eight years of stability and growth for the platform and for our partners.
The other moments that stuck out were when we launched and piloted RaiseMN, which started with the idea of “How do we help organizations become more confident in their fundraising?”. We started with five organizations, and now that program has served more than 1000 organizations. And that, to me, was a major risk and endeavor that we undertook to try something completely different than what we were doing as an organization because the community asked us to, and now it's grown into something that I think is a really strong model, not just for us, but for other organizations across the country.
JB: It feels like the move to be the managing director of Itasca Project is an opportunity to – from a different seat at the table, and maybe from even a different table [than GiveMN]– still have a chance to make a leveraged impact and help people in a large scale way, impact that I won't necessarily ever get to personally experience, but I know will be making a difference. The Itasca Project is definitely a different flavor of the same idea [of serving folks I’ll never meet], and something that I'm looking forward to is getting to be a part of that experience.
GM: Do you have any parting wisdom or message you’d like to share with the GiveMN community?JB: In our communities, our neighbors are never not going to be in need of each other's support. We're always going to need to be able to step up and help our communities and our neighbors. During dark times, whether it was during, you know, technology issues with our platform, or the COVID-19 pandemic, or the uprising after Mr. Floyd was murdered, of the people who come together to help one another, there are more of us than the people who don't get up and help one another. If we can continue to remember that and show up every day with a focus on helping our neighbors, then we're going to make the world a lot better. And I think the nonprofit sector and certainly the folks at GiveMN are great examples of the difference that we can make when we focus on the question of “how do we make our neighbors' lives better?”
Thank you, Jake, for leaving the GiveMN community with these meaningful reflections and for your nine years of service and dedication to igniting generosity and growing giving in Minnesota. It’s a bittersweet “see you later,” and the GiveMN team looks forward to cheering you on in your new role!