The Johnson County Community Foundation can now put more money each year into programs meant to improve the community and scholarships to help teens pay for education, leaders said.
The community foundation received a $1.5 million matching grant from the Lilly Endowment. In total, the grant will provide residents with $70,000 to $90,000 more each year to spend on local programs and scholarships, foundation president and CEO Gail Richards said.
Two-thirds of the grant will go toward the unrestricted endowments to create growth in the fund. This account is strictly used by the board of directors, where they choose what and where to donate based on grant applications. The Lilly Endowment will give $2 for every $1 raised for the foundation’s unrestricted endowments.
This portion of the money will be used for projects selected by the board. Examples of the most recent of these projects include the inclusive playground at Heron Park in Franklin and the county mural projects.
The money must be donated by the end of 2020.
The other third will be directed toward specific needs for operations in the community. Members of the community can donate an amount to the foundation for a scholarship or an organization of their choice and the foundation will match that donation. To open an account at the foundation, $10,000 must be donated. For every dollar, 50 cents will be matched.
Leaders of the community foundation are now calling on the public to donate money so that the matching funds can be acquired as soon as possible.
“What an exciting opportunity for Johnson County,” community foundation chairwoman Virginia Davis said in a news release. “I know the residents of Johnson County will rise to the occasion and meet this match quickly so we can put the money to work as soon as possible. Those who live, work and play in the area understand the benefits of investing now for rich community dividends later.”
This match grant is the seventh given to the foundation as part of the Lilly Endowment’s Giving Indiana Funds for Tomorrow initiative. The initiative began in 1990 as a way to give Indiana communities the resources needed to better themselves, Richards said.
The match program will run through the end of 2020. The foundation already gives out $200,000 in grants each year, and by the end of the program they can expect that to increase the amount to about $300,000 per year, Richards said.
“It’s pretty cool, what we do,” Richards said. “We get to be the stewards of the money that goes toward helping the community.”
