News

28 Jan Form 990 Request

A Form 990 is an annual reporting return that federally tax-exempt organizations must file with the IRS. It provides information on the filing organization’s mission, programs, and finances. The Community Foundation of Grant County is intentional in complying with this requirement in an open, honest, and direct manner to reach the broadest range of our constituents. The most recent 990 is available upon request or can be found online by registering for an account with to GuideStar.org. Contact Sherri Rush with questions at Sherri@GiveToGrant.org....

10 Jan Knox Box Info

A Knox Box is a small, wall-mounted safe that holds building keys for fire departments, emergency medical services, and sometimes police to retrieve in emergency situations. Trusted by thousands of fire and law enforcement agencies for over 40 years, Knox Boxes have provided first responders with immediate access into secure buildings, campuses, residences and commercial properties when it matters most. Removing barriers to entry reduces injuries to responders and minimizes property damage. The Community Foundation recently installed a Knox Box as a part of our Disaster Recovery Plan. And because we find the resource so valuable, we are now offering the opportunity for nonprofit organizations located in the City of Marion to receive funding to cover the expense of having a box installed on their property. Currently, we are only offering this opportunity to Marion, IN nonprofit organizations because Marion is the only city in Grant County that emergency personnel have access to Knox Boxes. We will review and approve Knox Box applications on a rolling basis every two months starting February 2022. To apply, Marion located nonprofits are required to submit a completed and board-approved disaster recovery plan by clicking the button below. Connect with Meagan@GiveToGrant.org if you need examples or help in...

03 Dec Lilly Scholarship FAQ

The Lilly Endowment Community Scholarship Program is designed to help raise the level of educational attainment in Indiana, increase awareness of the beneficial roles Indiana community foundations can play in their communities and encourage efforts of Lilly Endowment Community Scholars to engage with each other and with state leaders to improve quality of life in Indiana. The Endowment believes that education at all levels is important to the personal, civic and economic well-being of Indiana’s residents and communities. This program aims to encourage many of Indiana’s most talented students to attend one of the state’s higher education institutions and, ultimately, pursue careers in Indiana. The Lilly Endowment Community Scholarship Program is administered by the Independent Colleges of Indiana and includes significant participation by the community foundations serving each of Indiana’s 92 counties. Who: Grant County high school seniors, set to graduate by June 30, 2023 with a GPA of 3.5 or higher, and a minimum SAT score of 1200 or ACT of 25. Applicants must plan to pursue a full-time baccalaureate course of study at an accredited public or private college or university in Indiana. What: The Lilly Endowment Community Scholarship covers tuition, required fees, and provides a special allocation of up to $900 per year...

27 May Two Applause-Worthy Crowdfunding Campaign Goals Press Release

(Marion, IN – May 27, 2021) The Community Foundation of Grant County is excited to announce two crowdfunding campaign goals. Habitat for Humanity of Grant County (Habitat) and Community School of the Arts (CSA) launched their campaigns on May 17th. Habitat aims to crowdfund $20,000 to support the construction of a new Habitat home in Grant County. CSA aims to crowdfund $15,000 to expand programming and include community theatre outside of current programming offered at CSA. The Foundation will track all charitable contributions made by donors for each project. If the organizations meet their fundraising goals, the Foundation will award them a dollar-for-dollar matching grant to complete their projects for a total of $40,000 for Habitat and $30,000 for CSA. Any amount raised over these goals will also be awarded to the organizations. If either organization does not meet their goal by the deadline, they will not receive the matching grant. However, all donations raised will be awarded to the projects. Both campaign’s end on July 16, 2021 at midnight.   Habitat for Humanity of Grant County: The main goal of the Habitat campaign is to raise funds to be used for Habitat’s Homeownership Program, and specifically the 55th home build in Grant County. Habitat...

09 Mar Community Foundation Launches Third Path Capacity-Building Cohort, Awards Three Grants Totaling $149,167

The Community Foundation of Grant County challenged local nonprofit organizations to co-apply with one or more organization to be included in a three-year capacity-building cohort. Organizations approved for this cohort will also receive up to a $50,000 grant annually to deepen the relationship with their co-applicant and strengthen their missions. The purpose of this implementation grant is for nonprofit organizations in Grant County to build back better following the COVID-19 crisis and deepening the relationship between two or more organizations while simultaneously increasing the capacity of Grant County nonprofit leaders. “The concept of “third path” comes from the book Happiness Advantage by Shawn Achor. We’ve all experienced crises, some worse than others. Will we go back to “normal”; will we regress? Or will we use the opportunity to take the third path? One that leads from setback to resilience” said Meagan Mathias, Community Investment Manager at the Community Foundation. “We at the Community Foundation believe that “we’re all in this together” and the only way we’ll get through this time in our history is by building, and deepening relationships.” Partners receiving a grant to participate in The Third Path Cohort: Carey Services and Grant County Society for Crippled Children and Adults  Grant amount: $49,167 Grant purpose:...

23 Feb Today We Celebrate Progress

Happy THANKuary! JANuary and FEBRuary are months for making intentional THANK YOUs—and we couldn’t be more thankful for YOU and your commitment to investing your charitable giving in Grant County! THANK YOU! Even with the coronavirus, this has been a BIG year for us here at the Community Foundation—and it’s all because of donors like YOU! In a safe a socially-distanced manner, we were able to serve our donors, serve local nonprofits, and serve as a catalyst for positive change in Grant County once again. THANK YOU! Consider our entire 2019-2020 Punctuation Annual Report as an enormous THANK YOU from us, emphasized by the ever-faithful, ever-true Exclamation Point! There's no better symbol than this tall, dark, and handsome punctuation giant to express the gratitude we have for everyone involved in the achievements we've had this past year. On Pages 24 - 25, you can find a few of the Highlights & Milestones & Successes, Oh My! One additional milestone we are thrilled to announce is that after spending the past three years as #1 in child poverty in the state of Indiana, we have now moved down to 7th. The data shows that we graduated to 22.7% of our children living in poverty from 31% when the data was...

30 Oct Launching Thriving Mill Township

275 people living in poverty. 100 residents. 45 influencers. 18 leaders. One word. Why? That question, asked of leaders in the for-profit, non-profit, education, and church sectors has driven every inquiry, every activity, every meeting across our community for the past year as we engage in community-led strategies for systems change. It is what has led to this day, these conclusions, and this proposal. Why? Why does Grant County have the highest state child poverty rate? Why is child poverty the most challenging and important systemic issue our community faces? Why? Our Story: Grant County, Indiana, is caught up in what it used to be. False narratives paralyze us into believing plant closings, brain drain, and the twists and turns of a changing economy preclude our county from becoming a thriving place to live, work, and raise a family. “Grant County is always looking in the rearview mirror, managing demise instead of envisioning a future,” says one frustrated resident. The Result: Community values set long ago have not shifted to today’s reality. Grant County ranks among the worst counties in: child poverty (#1); food insecure children (#1); mothers who smoke during pregnancy (#1); single parent families (#2); students passing IREAD at 3rd grade (#6),...

30 Sep Community Leadership Grant – Press Release

The Community Foundation of Grant County has received a Community Leadership Grant of $150,000 as part of the seventh phase of Lilly Endowment Inc.’s Giving Indiana Funds for Tomorrow (GIFT VII) initiative. With the grant, the Community Foundation will grow its community leadership footprint by launching Thriving Mill Township – an initiative designed to drive systems change and solutions to alleviate child poverty. “Every day, 4,469 Mill Township residents living in poverty – or just beyond it – face a resource desert for needs such as food, childcare, and transportation,” Community Foundation President and CEO Dawn Brown said about the Grant County township, which encompasses Gas City, Jonesboro and parts of rural Marion. “This grant will allow the Community Foundation to launch Thriving Mill Township in a community well suited for scaling impact and promoting sustainable solutions.” The Community Foundation of Grant County is one of 84 foundations in Indiana receiving grants through this round of GIFT VII grantmaking. Lilly Endowment created GIFT in 1990 to help local communities in Indiana develop the philanthropic capacity to identify local needs and challenges. It launched GIFT VII in 2018 and made available a total of $125 million to help foundations strengthen their leadership capacities...