What Exactly Does A Community Foundation Do?

We sometimes hear that the Community Foundation of White County is one of White County’s “best kept secrets.”

While we appreciate the sentiment, we don’t want to be a secret! We want our community to know us just as much as we work every day to know our community.

So, what exactly does a community foundation do?

First, we aren't alone! Community foundations exist across the country and around the world, helping people invest charitable resources in the places they call home. But Indiana is especially unique: every county in our state is served by a community foundation. That incredible network has been built and strengthened over decades, in large part through the support and investment of Lilly Endowment Inc. in Indiana's community foundation field.

Here in White County, many people first get to know us through scholarships. Each year, local students receive scholarships made possible by generous donors who chose to invest in students and their futures. It’s one of the most visible parts of our work, but it’s actually just a small piece of what happens here.

Our work can largely be described through three pillars: philanthropic engagement, grantmaking, and community leadership.

Philanthropic Engagement

At its heart, philanthropy is about people wanting to make a difference. Our job is to help turn those charitable dreams into reality.

We work with donors to understand what they care about and help them find meaningful ways to give, whether they want to support a particular organization, invest in an area of need, establish a scholarship, honor someone they love, or simply make White County stronger for generations to come.

Some gifts make an impact today. Others are invested in permanent endowments that will continue supporting our community long into the future. In either case, we help connect generosity with purpose.

Grantmaking

This may be the part of our work most familiar to local nonprofits. Through a variety of grant opportunities, we invest charitable dollars back into organizations, programs, and projects serving White County.

But grantmaking isn't simply about writing checks. We work closely with our community partners, learn about the challenges they are facing, connect organizations and resources when we can, and look for opportunities that can strengthen our community.

Sometimes that means supporting an organization doing essential work today. Other times, it means investing in an idea that could help create meaningful community development or transformation for tomorrow.

Community Leadership

This is perhaps the hardest part of our work to define and that's exactly what makes it important.

Community leadership takes us into many different rooms and around many different tables. We listen. We convene. We ask questions. We study data. We connect people. We help start conversations and sometimes help carry ideas forward.

The needs White County faces ten years from now may be very different from the needs we recognize today. Our role as a community foundation gives us the flexibility to respond, evolve, and help our community tackle challenges and opportunities we can't yet predict.

And behind all of this? A team of three staff members and thirteen Governing Council members working alongside donors, nonprofits, volunteers, community leaders, schools, local governments, businesses, and neighbors to bring our mission to life.

So yes, we award scholarships. But we also grow charitable resources, support nonprofits, invest in community projects, bring people together, study local needs, develop partnerships, encourage generosity, and help prepare White County for what's next.

Maybe the Community Foundation has been one of White County's best kept secrets.

But we'd much rather be one of its best-known resources.