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Meyer Memorial Trust
office in Portland
Grants Administrator
Phoebe O’Leary
Communications/Knowledge
Officer Marie Deatherage |
Meyer Memorial Trust is all about
getting the most bucks to the most deserving
Portland metro area nonprofits in the most
timely manner possible. As a Mac-based
office with streamlined IT operations, the
organization found in MacForce an ideal
partner to come in, evaluate the situation,
get them on track and then remain a guiding
force when it comes to all things that
compute. This includes products and
applications, software deployments, support,
classes and more.
Meyer Memorial Trust
(hereafter referred to as MMT) began life in
1982, bequeathed by the will of local retail
giant Fred G. Meyer. The private,
independent foundation, which represents
Meyer’s personal philanthropy (there’s no
connection to Fred Meyer Inc.), operates
four programs: General Purpose Grants,
Program Related Investments, Small Grants
and Support for Teacher Initiatives. Its
current assets stand at approximately $600
million. Since inception, it has awarded
5,139 grants for $397,910,270 — impressive
numbers that continue to grow.
Phoebe O’Leary, MMT’s grants administrator
and unofficial overseer of matters IT
(employees often wear several hats
simultaneously here), recalls coming aboard
five years ago to witness staff running
numerous versions of OS 9 and various
software, and without regularly backing up
their work.
says O’Leary. “They brought us
up to speed, looked at our technology, told
us which way to go and what needed to
change. There was a lot of wasted staff time
with crashing computers and incompatible
software. MacForce really came in and put us
in shape.”
Phoebe O’Leary talks about MMT’s migration
from OS 9 to X. View clip
According to Marie Deatherage, MMT’s
communications/knowledge officer and
responsible for first bringing MacForce
aboard: “Price and total cost were huge
factors, because foundations have to be
really sensitive about administrative costs
— every dollar we spend on doing our own
office work can be seen as a dollar taken
away from providing a grant to an
organization in the community.” |
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