BATESVILLE, Ind. – The Ripley County Community Foundation (RCCF) has the opportunity to receive $500,000.00 from Lilly Endowment Inc. to assist the Foundation in connecting people who care with causes that matter.
This money has been made available to the Ripley County Community Foundation (RCCF) through the Endowment’s sixth phase of its Giving Indiana Funds for Tomorrow (GIFT) initiative. This GIFT initiative is to help increase RCCF’s endowment which will allow the RCCF to grant more money to the people and organizations of Ripley County.
The GIFT funds are divided up into two programs: 1. Unrestricted Endowment Building Program and 2. The Community Foundation Discretionary Program. The RCCF’s unrestricted endowment is known as RCCF’s community granting endowment. Community granting funds are those in which the RCCF Board of Directors have the responsibility to determine how the grants from these funds will best benefit the county. A sampling of local causes which have benefited from community granting funds are: fire and EMS departments, food banks, museums, parks, youth sports, civic organizations and education. Any donation to an existing community granting fund, or to a newly created community granting fund, shall be matched dollar for dollar.
Through the Community Foundation Discretionary Program, the RCCF is matching all donations to the RCCF operating fund, to donor advised funds, to designated funds and to scholarship funds at the rate of fifty percent (50%). Currently, the RCCF has 40 scholarships, 59 donor advised and designated endowments which have poured millions of dollars into Ripley County.
Additionally, $50,000 of the GIFT VI funds are being combined with $ 50,000 of RCCF funds to support the Sally Morris Community Impact Grant. The Sally Morris Community Impact Grant makes five $20,000 grants available to local charities to fund projects which will have a significant, positive impact on the county. An informational meeting explaining the details of the Sally Morris Community Impact Grant shall be held on Nov. 19, 2014 at 6:30 p.m. at the Osgood Town Hall.
All matching opportunities are available for all eligible donations on a first-come-first-serve basis and will receive a match at the appropriate rate until all of the $ 500,000 have been committed or until March 31, 2016. The Lilly Endowment match allows individuals to substantially increase the funds available to the charity or cause of their choice and makes this the best time to start a new fund to support a specific cause or to forever memorialize a loved one. GIFT can provide donors with a 100% return on their investment.
The Ripley County Community Foundation has grown exponentially over the last 17 years due to the generous support it has received from those individuals with an interest in the people of Ripley County. Lilly Endowment Inc. understands the value a strong, viable community foundation has on local Indiana communities and has offered GIFT to build on what was started in Ripley County in 1997 with the birth of the Ripley County Community Foundation.
For more information regarding this matching opportunity contact the Ripley County Community Foundation, 4 South Park Avenue, Suite 210, Batesville, telephone number (812) 933-1098 or toll free (877) 234-5220, website www.rccfonline.org
