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About the Campaign
The decisions we as a region make about housing, transportation, and development are critical to the future life of every person living and working here. These issues will always be important to us. Making the best decisions can be complicated.
The region needs an organization with the ability to stick with an issue over time, as well as seize opportunities when they present themselves.
That organization is MPC.
In recent years, MPC has been increasingly successful at advocating for policy changes that address many of the region's most basic needs — from education to housing to transportation choices — and that take advantage of numerous opportunities to accommodate growth in a sensible way.
At its Annual Meeting on June 23, 2003, MPC announced it had set an ambitious, new goal: a $14.2 million fundraising campaign called Bold Plans, Bright Future.
The campaign is anchored by an exceptional $4 million gift from the John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation — the largest single grant MPC has ever received. Our goal is to raise $4 million to match this grant, plus $6.2 million in annual funds for 2003 and 2004, for a total of $14.2 million. The Council has exceeded its goal, and has opened the campaign to all donors who wish to join in this historic endeavor or support a specific aspect of MPC's work by contributing to one of the special funds. To learn more about the funds, click here.
The $3.532 million in new money raised to date through this campaign consists of gifts designated by the donors for permanent endowment — the first in the organization's 71-year history — or MPC's Board Designated Reserve Fund for programmatic initiatives to be spent at a time and for an opportunity approved by MPC's Board of Governors.
For example, one of MPC's toughest, long-term challenges is to reduce Illinois' reliance on the property tax to fund education. With expanded resources, MPC could build on the substantial legislative victories achieved by mid-2003 and engage a full-scale, grassroots and media campaign to reform education funding and improve student outcomes. With funds from this campaign, MPC can also take its policy agenda from advocacy to implementation. These new funds could enable MPC to help more municipalities put in place policies that make them better places to live — expanding affordable housing, revitalizing downtowns, preserving open space, and clustering development near transit.
MPC is at a critical juncture in its history. The predictable funding from the Bold Plans, Bright Future campaign will allow the organization to maintain its independence and integrity, which amplifies its power as an advocate. The fund will allow MPC to look farther into the future and be less constrained by project-specific funding. It will also provide the resources for MPC to energetically take on the most pressing projects at the time when it can make the biggest difference.
The right time is now. Help MPC deepen its commitment to improving the lives, communities, and economic vitality of the Chicago region with a gift to the Bold Plans, Bright Future campaign.
Updated 11/29/05
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