INDIANAPOLIS, IN (September 24, 2015) – The Indianapolis Foundation board of directors approved and awarded $956,000 in grants to 16 projects and not-for-profit organizations serving Marion County residents at its September 8, 2015 board meeting.
Grant requests were approved by The Indianapolis Foundation board of directors and made possible by generations of community donations to the Endowment for Indianapolis (an unrestricted endowment). Supplemental funding for these grants come from two “Field of Interest Funds” of The Indianapolis Foundation: F. R. Hensel Fund for Fine Arts, Music, and Education as well as The Indianapolis Foundation Library Fund.
Projects and organizations considered for a grant exhibited a commitment to quality of life, education, vitality of the community, connectivity of neighborhoods, and/or community assets. Not-for-profit organizations receiving the grants promise to address these themes as means of moving Central Indiana to become a more livable community.
“The Endowment for Indianapolis is one of our biggest assets as a community foundation,” says Cindy Simon Skjodt, chair, The Indianapolis Foundation board of directors. “It’s what allows us to be responsive to our community’s most critical and changing needs year after year, and it’s all because of generations of generous donors—many of whom never witnessed the impact of the gift they made decades ago.”
Earlier this year Lilly Endowment announced The Indianapolis Foundation’s eligibility for its sixth phase of Giving Indiana Funds for Tomorrow (GIFT), a financial commitment that would significantly increase the Endowment of Indianapolis by means of a match program. Donor gifts made to the unrestricted endowment will be matched $1-to-$1 through March 31, 2016 by Lilly Endowment. Participation in GIFT Phase VI enables The Indianapolis Foundation to resourcefully award grant allocations to not-for-profit organizations Marion County’s most pressing needs now and in the future.
For more information about contributing to the Endowment of Indianapolis and the match program, contact Rob MacPherson, vice president for development and philanthropic services, Central Indiana Community Foundation at robm@cicf.org or 317.631.6542 x199.
ABOUT THE INDIANAPOLIS FOUNDATION: Established in 1916, The Indianapolis Foundation was one of the first community foundations in America. The Foundation is a public charity and an affiliate of Central Indiana Community Foundation (CICF), a collaborative effort between the community foundations serving Marion and Hamilton Counties. As Indiana’s oldest and largest community foundation, The Indianapolis Foundation was created to ensure that the quality of life in Marion County continuously improves; to help where the needs are greatest and the benefits to the community are most extensive; and to provide donors a vehicle for using their gifts in the best possible way now, and in the future as conditions in the community change.
It awards approximately $7 million annually to support current and future community needs, and is governed by a board of six publicly-appointed directors (Two are appointed by the Mayor of Indianapolis; two by the Marion County Circuit Court Judge; and two by the United States District Court presiding over Indianapolis).
ABOUT CENTRAL INDIANA COMMUNITY FOUNDATION: Central Indiana Community Foundation (CICF) is a $720 million public foundation transforming the lives of central Indiana residents in three ways: consulting donors, family foundations and their professional advisors on charitable giving; awarding grants to effective not-for-profit organizations; and providing leadership to seize opportunities and address community needs. CICF was established in 1997 as a partnership between The Indianapolis Foundation, serving Marion County since 1916, and Legacy Fund, serving Hamilton County since 1991. For more information about CICF, visit cicf.org, or contact Mike Knight at mikek@cicf.org.
