The Rush County Community Foundation (RCCF) is pleased to announce its intent to apply for a $750,000 Matching Fund Grant through the eighth phase of Lilly Endowment Inc.’s Giving Indiana Funds for Tomorrow (GIFT VIII). This grant is one of three funding opportunities available to the community foundation through GIFT VIII for which Lilly Endowment has allocated up to $210 million to support Indiana’s community foundations in their efforts to enhance quality of life across the state.

The Rush County Community Foundation will be able to use its Matching Fund Grant to further develop its unrestricted assets. At least 60 percent of the grant must be allocated to support the growth of the RCCF’s unrestricted endowments, which over time will provide financial resources that enable the community foundation to respond to both present and future community needs. Lilly Endowment will provide $2 for every $1 contributed to the Rush County Community Foundation’s unrestricted Community Grants Funds during GIFT VIII’s matching period, October 1, 2023, through December 31, 2025.

The Rush County Community Foundation also may propose designating up to 30 percent of its Matching Fund Grant to support community projects and/or programs that are addressing important local needs and up to 10 percent of its grant to invest in the foundation’s internal capacity. Lilly Endowment will provide $1 for every $1 that Rush County Community Foundation raises during the matching period that are designated for the projects, programs and/or capacity-building activities approved for these purposes.

“We are grateful to Lilly Endowment for the continued generous support of community foundations throughout the state of Indiana, including Rush County. Our board of directors has approved pursuit of matching funds that, combining local contributions and Lilly Endowment matches, would add $1,200,000 to RCCF’s unrestricted funds, support of the REC Center through our Ebert H. and Bessie M. Schroeder Fund and internal capacity,” said Chris May, RCCF Executive Director.

“GIFT VII awards continue to transform our community,” he continued. “The matching funds boosted our unrestricted grantmaking dollars, and the $5M Large-Scale Leadership Grant jumpstarted the REC Center project, which broke ground in September 2023. With our sights set on sustainability for the REC Center, this gift and its match couldn’t have come at a more opportune time. GIFT VIII comes ripe with exciting new possibilities.”

GIFT is a series of statewide initiatives and programs that began in 1990 as part of Lilly Endowment’s efforts to help establish and strengthen community foundations in Indiana and build their capacity to address the needs of their local communities. The primary aim of GIFT is to help Indiana community foundations in all 92 of Indiana’s counties develop the philanthropic capacity to identify, prioritize and address local opportunities and challenges.

To learn more about GIFT VIII, please visit Lilly Endowment’s website.

Lilly Endowment Inc. is an Indianapolis-based, private foundation created in 1937 by J.K. Lilly Sr. and sons J.K. Jr. and Eli through gifts of stock in their pharmaceutical business, Eli Lilly and Company. While those gifts remain the financial bedrock of the Endowment, the Endowment is a separate entity from the company, with a distinct governing board, staff and location. Although the Endowment funds programs throughout the United States, especially in the field of religion, it maintains a special commitment to its hometown, Indianapolis, and home state, Indiana.

Meeting the philanthropic needs of Rush County since 1991, the Rush County Community Foundation, Inc. is a nonprofit public charity established to serve donors, award grants and scholarships, and provide leadership to enrich and enhance the quality of life in Rush County, Indiana, not only today, but for our future generations.