The Community Foundation of Grant County has deep roots in our community. We were established in 1984 as an organization that could pool our resources for the benefit of improving the local quality of life. We serve as a means through which those of us who live or earn a livelihood in Grant County could build, over time, substantial endowment funds for Grant County through contributions large and small. To learn more about the seeds of generosity being planted by people like you at the Community Foundation, read our current Annual Report.
MISSION
The mission of the Community Foundation of Grant County is to
connect people, resources, and causes to promote sustainable
impact towards the betterment of Grant County.
VISION
The Community Foundation of Grant County serves donors, nonprofits,
and the community with the intent of building endowments to provide
income for local charitable causes now and forever.
COMMITMENT
Develop a permanent endowment for the community.
Serve donors with various interests at various levels of giving.
Assess and respond to emerging and changing community needs.
INDIANA COMMUNITY FOUNDATION CULTURE
Commitment to ethical behavior.
Welcoming and inclusive environment.
Open and collaborative.
Continuously learning and innovative.
Appreciative of our geographical boundaries.
Celebratory when we succeed.
COFO BUSINESS MODEL
Although we can’t claim to be rocket scientists like those at NASA,
it doesn’t mean there’s no science behind our business model.
In fact, over 850 community foundations in the USA do three main things:
ASSET DEVELOPMENT
Asset development sounds like it’s about money, but it’s really all about people—think philanthropic astronauts. Like astronauts, assets are often raised through remarkable individuals who often dedicate a large portion of their lives to ensure a better future for others—oftentimes people they may never even meet. Without our first donation of $40,000 from the Gannett Foundation and the generosity of thousands of donors since, we couldn’t serve the various needs that Grant County has today. Their investment toward a better tomorrow is what inspires others. Truth be told, it inspires us, too.
COMMUNITY LEADERSHIP
When people think community leadership, they often think about the noun—the leaders. But, in reality, it’s about the verb—the leadership. A rocket on the launchpad doesn’t do much good, does it? It’s when there’s liftoff that things really start getting good! Community leadership works in much the same way. There will always be meetings and planning and talking and researching, but real change happens after liftoff—that’s when systemic problems meet systemic solutions. Community Foundations across the country have always leveraged their most exceptional leaders because leadership is an action verb.
GRANTMAKING
Grantmaking is our rocket fuel. Our difference-making donors leave their legacies through named funds to benefit specific grantmaking purposes. The Foundation currently holds over 400 individual funds that are as unique and varied as our donors. And, because our mission is to build the community’s endowment, each dollar donated is invested for long-term growth. That growth turns into grantmaking—rocket fuel that turbo-boosts our entire community. Endowment is what jet-propels our sustainability and relevance—every donation is invested, and the growth of our investments allow us to deploy grantmaking dollars to the most significant needs during any given year.
COFO TEAM GROUP NORMS
We acknowledge this is a fluid list that will be reviewed as our team increases in size, projects grow in complexity, and collaboration stretches our capacity.
We will give priority to Wildly Important Goals.
We will make meetings accessible, consistent, and engaging.
We will work together—out loud, often, and with positive intentions.
We will focus on team member strengths and celebrate each other and our victories.
We will trust our team and call upon them, as needed, with a spirit of ‘better together’.
- We will allow our Communication Plan and Sprint Backlog items to take priority.
- We will honor Wildly Important Goals (WIGs) before whirlwind tasks like the Inbox.
- We will Go Big for Grant County…because we deserve nice things.
- We will be prepared to begin and end all meetings on time and stay fully engaged. Meeting agendas will help with this.
- We will support the meeting facilitator’s efforts to keep us on task.
- We will send meeting notifications with an agenda and all supporting documents at least 2 days in advance.
- We will be fully present and engaged, creating inclusive, accessible, and consistent spaces for collaboration that reflect and serve all of Grant County.
- We will communicate respectfully with each other.
- We will listen to each other and not interrupt.
- We will give everyone a chance to speak.
- We will say when we feel uncomfortable talking about something.
- We will honor the pause when required.
- We will remember that humor is relative and use it for the enjoyment of all.
- We will work hard to keep conversations related to philanthropy, generosity, and the betterment of Grant County.
- We will give thanks, apologies, and forgiveness in abundance.
- We will be open-minded, collaborative, and give grace in measures we’d like to receive from others when we need it.
- We will commit to ethical behavior.
- We do hard things, so we will trust that everyone helping is doing so with the best motives.
- We’ll remember that we’re all amazingly talented, yet not perfect.
- We will celebrate when we succeed, individually or as a team.
- We will continuously learn and innovative.
- We will talk about solutions more than problems.
- We will admit when we do not know the right answer and brainstorm with other team members because two heads are better than one.
- We will remember that asking others for ideas or help is the benefit of having smart teammates and we’ll use that as a superpower.
- We will strive for excellence and understand that failure is a part of the learning process.
- When we fail, our lessons learned will help us to do better next time.
- We will bring all concerns before the whole if team norms are not working.
We will acknowledge this is a fluid document that will be reviewed as our team increases in size, projects grow in complexity, and collaboration stretches our capacity.