Spread of the Community Foundation Model
The first community foundation (CF) was founded in Cleveland in 1914. There are more than 700 CFs in the United States today—and the model is particularly popular in the Midwest. Indiana has the distinction that every county is served by a CF or affiliate fund. The CF model has spread throughout the world. Recent estimates put the global number at over 1200 CFs in 46 countries outside the US. It has been called the fastest-growing form of philanthropy.

Founding and Growth of Our Community Foundation
The Bloomington Community Foundation was incorporated in 1990 through the efforts of Ilknur Ralston, its first board president, and other enthusiasts. (It was later renamed the Community Foundation of Bloomington and Monroe County.) Our CF has long benefited from the leadership of caring and knowledgeable residents with diverse backgrounds, including board presidents such as Ray Tichenor, Viola Taliaferro, Lloyd Olcott, and Joyce Claflin Harrell.

Local leaders responded to the Giving Indiana Funds for Tomorrow (GIFT) program launched at that time by Indianapolis-based Lilly Endowment. Matching funds were offered to Indiana communities interested in establishing community foundations and building local endowments. Indiana communities jumped at this opportunity!

Growth highlights, 1990-1997:  GIFT I matched every $2 given to any endowment with $1 for our unrestricted fund. There were also matching programs for project funds (pass-through) and CF operating dollars. Our CF eventually obtained all the available match dollars for GIFT I. The endowment reached $1 million in 1994 and $5 million in 1997. Major gifts from 1990-1997 included a portion of the Showers building, funds established by the City of Bloomington (the Bloomington Housing Trust Fund) and Monroe County (for preservation of the courthouse building), $425,000 endowed for health education as the Precision Health Network dissolved, gifts from businesses (such as Thomson RCA, TIS, Cook Group). Board members provided leadership in giving, with Bill Brown (pictured at left with his wife, Patty) establishing the first named fund. The grantmaking program began in 1991, with funds distributed in accordance with the intentions of donors to each endowment fund. Small grants were awarded to a diversity of organizations and projects, with the aim of touching multiple areas of community need through the “open grant cycle.” Jack Mulholland, retired as IU Treasurer, volunteered as the CF’s first executive director. Kathleen Wissing took over as the CF’s first paid director and served with dedication for over a decade.

Growth highlights, 1998-2000:  Through our Community Partners program in GIFT III, local agencies raised money which was matched for projects, as well as funds that were matched for agency endowments. Through the Endow and Grow program, other permanent fund types were also eligible for the match. A portion of the match generated from Lilly Endowment by this fundraising was directed to the CF’s own operating endowment. In GIFT IV, similar strategies were used to benefit agencies through both project grants and agency endowments, as well as building funds of donors’ choosing; some match was used to add to the CF’s operating endowment, as well as to the unrestricted endowment. Agencies and donors were very responsive to GIFT III and GIFT IV programs and all match dollars were captured. It was also during this period that Latimer Woods (pictured at right) was donated, completing GIFT I. We have administered the Lilly Endowment Community Scholars program for our county since 1998. The CF continued its responsive style of grantmaking in this period, accepting proposals and funding projects for a variety of charitable purposes, from human services to arts to recreation and more. After GIFT IV, Lilly Endowment next funded “Taking Stock,” a self-assessment process for CF leaders. This process was also a way for the Endowment to learn what the next step might be in helping the growing CF field in Indiana. One priority uncovered was the need for more unrestricted endowment to support community grantmaking programs.

Growth highlights, 2001-present:  GIFT V, the final challenge from Lilly Endowment to Indiana’s community foundations, offered a 1:1 match on gifts to the unrestricted endowment, as well as an operating funds match. The Twenty-First Century Visionaries program was created to recognize donors to unrestricted endowment. All of the operating match dollars were drawn down, and the matching program helped build unrestricted endowment as well. Our CF also successfully competed for a $5 million Community Alliance to Promote Education (CAPE) grant from Lilly Endowment in 2001. The award consisted of a $4 million grant and a $1 million endowment for future sustainability of CAPE. The year-end appeal, Friends of the Foundation, began in 2001 and has continued since. The Decorator Showhouse was a special fundraising event in 2004 which raised awareness of the CF.  During this period, staffing was gradually expanded, reaching its present level of five professionals in 2005.

Lilly Endowment’s most recent initiative for Indiana CFs is Sustaining Resource Development (SRD). Announced in 2004, SRD provided impetus and technical support for CFs to develop three-year endowment-building plans, and offered $250,000 of funds to support implementation of our CF’s plan for the period 2006-2008. With this initiative, Lilly Endowment has given a clear signal to Indiana CFs that it is time to become self-sufficient in building endowment and covering operating costs. No more GIFT challenge programs will be offered in the future. The CF field in Indiana is maturing.

Building on the success of the GIFT matching programs, our CF developed a program that uses this effective technique to help agencies diversify their funding mix through endowments designated for their organizations. The Matchstick Endowment Initiative was launched in the spring of 2006. Matchstick provides a 1:3 matching of funds; $1 from the Community Foundation’s own grant pool for every $3 donated to the agency endowment. All four Phase I and all five Phase II partnering agencies met their endowment goal and collectively raised $$225,500 in endowment contributions and matching monies. There are a record nine agencies participating in Phase III. The CF’s capacity-building efforts for agencies also include sponsoring training sessions for staff on volunteers. In addition to its open grant cycle and the Matchstick program, the CF has also begun to explore proactive grantmaking through a middle schoolers initiative.