2018 Community Foundation of Boone County Wrap-up
Boone County—The Community Foundation of Boone County (CFBC) had another year of tremendous community impact, including scholarships, nonprofit grants, leadership trainings, and community projects. Here’s a recap of just a few of the accomplishments of 2018:
January:
The Community Foundation helps establish the Bridge 32 Preservation Fund, a community effort to raise dollars to save the historic bridge from demolition. The group accomplished their goal in 2018 by raising $44,000 for the preservation. CFBC President & CEO, Kristi Reynolds, attended the Lilly Family School of Philanthropy Leadership Roundtable in Miami, Florida in January, networking and learning along-side and from some of the strongest nonprofit leaders in the county. The Boone County Leadership Class kicked off with its leadership orientation at the Sugar Creek Art Center.
February:
CFBC awarded over $200,000 in grants from Funds at the Foundation at the Annual Community Impact Breakfast. Mrs. Gwen Dubay presented The Lionel Dubay Sports Award to Eric Bradley for his dedication to youth sports programs in Zionsville. Whitney Hodges presented a check to the Lebanon Middle School in honor of her brother, Michael Hodges, who passed away in 2014. Michael’s fund helps purchase instruments for children who would otherwise not be able to afford them. The Foundation announced its 2018 Nonprofit Capacity Building Initiative, Building Capacity: Building Community.
March:
CFBC’s first large training opportunity for local nonprofits kicked off with The Lilly Family School of Philanthropy’s Planned Giving course. Nonprofit leaders and financial advisers completed this three-day course to gain a better understanding of how to sustain their programs through planned giving efforts and work with their clients and donors to fulfill philanthropic wishes.
April:
April was a busy month of Scholarship and Grants committee work, resulting in hundreds of thousands of dollars being awarded to local students and nonprofit organizations through CFBC Funds. A few of the larger grants went to Habitat for Humanity, Sylvia’s Child Advocacy Center, Boone County Senior Services, and The Boone County Mentoring Partnership’s Grad Coach Program.
May:
The Building Capacity: Building Community Initiative announced at the February Breakfast, was well underway by May and included individual assessments of over 20 local nonprofits, individual EQI assessments of participating leaders, and networking meals to review goals and results. CFBC Board Members and Fund Representatives surprised students with scholarship awards at each of the Boone County High Schools.
June:
Thanks to CFBC’s partnership with Amazon Distribution IND1 in Whitestown, over 30 local nonprofits received donations of supplies throughout 2018. CFBC partnered with other nonprofits and Storage1 Storage Units in Lebanon as Amazon now provides multiple pallets of office supplies, cleaning supplies, storage crates, and much needed items for our local organizations. CFBC and other agencies didn’t have to purchase many items that were donated, helping offset costs and allow operations budgets to go further. Thanks, Amazon!
July:
CFBC continued to work closely with Boone County nonprofits—helping to train and educate their leadership staff and board. We know when nonprofits are working at their highest capacity, and are more efficient and effective so too are donor dollars used efficiently and effectively! This means greater impact for our whole community. Three strong nonprofits were selected to work closely with a consultant to determine their greatest needs and were awarded grants to address those specific needs. Keep an eye on The Boone County Mentoring Partnership, The Lebanon Community of Shalom, and the Humane Society for Boone County. They are taking their already impactful programming to the next level!
August:
The Boone County Leadership Program held a “Sip and Serve”, an opportunity for BCL students and alumni to volunteer for the day and then kick back and relax for appetizers and a cold drink from Moontown Brewery. Volunteers worked at Morning Dove Therapeutic Riding Center by cleaning stalls, pulling weeds, painting, and organizing…and yes, shoveling…you know. CFBC also held the next program in its Building Capacity series: Real Colors. This program, held at the Lebanon Public Library, took over 80 local leaders through curriculum to improve communication among co-workers and constituents.
September:
In September, CFBC released its newest Annual Report, highlighting the exceptional investment returns and programming from the previous year and first half of 2018. It was Ag Day for the Boone County Leadership and The Women of Impact (WOI) giving circle had its third quarter meeting—awarding over $10,000 to Boone County Senior Services! Of note, WOI has now awarded over $100,000 through the partnership of generous women in Boone County.
October:
October was an exceptionally busy month for the Foundation and community. CFBC hosted the Board Series training through Aly Sterling Philanthropy. Nonprofit directors attended this two day training with their board members to get a better understanding of board best practices, templates for policies and procedures, and to get a jump start on 2019 planning for their organizations. The Boone County Leadership Program came to conclusion with a keynote from Bill Stanczykiewizc, Director of the Fundraising School, on the importance of Board Service. Each participant was connected to a local nonprofit for potential board service. As a final group project, students worked together to award $1,000 grants to two organizations of their choice and ended with an inspirational send-off to “go make our community even better”, by Supreme Court Justice Steven David. CFBC awarded Fall grants to Boone County Boys and Girls Club, Gleaner’s Food Bank of Indiana, and HAND—a program to expand low-income housing in Boone County. The Lebanon Parks Foundation Fund at CFBC partnered with Lebanon Rotary to award $30,000 toward renovations of the Memorial Park shelter house.
November:
November did not slow down, beginning on 11/1 with a Bus Tour of Boone County nonprofits. Board members, nonprofit directors, and friends of the Foundation traveled A to Z Advance to Zionsville– learning about and stopping at the many organizations that CFBC funds support. Immediately following the tour, guests gathered at Stookeys Family Dining where the community surprised Jean Acton with the Aaron Stookey Spirit of Philanthropy Award for her many years of service to Boone County. The award is named after Aaron Stookey, who for years would dedicate his only night off to hold monthly fundraising dinners for Boone County needs.
December:
CFBC began office renovations to create a new community board and training room for 2019 and beyond. As our Foundation grows, so does our staff and we recently hired our third full-time employee! Two exceptional students received the prestigious Lilly Endowment Community Scholarship—a full-tuition scholarship to any 4-year university in Indiana. On the last day of the year, CFBC mailed out hundreds of cards to announce the award of another $1,000,000 matching grant from Lilly Endowment, Inc. Gifts to unrestricted community funds will be matched in 2019 $2 for every $1 contributed, with additional match incentives for current and new endowed funds!
“Thank you. Thank you for being a community that cares, a community that gives, and a county that works together—to create a thriving community for all! Happy New Year!” Kristi M. Reynolds, President & CEO, on behalf of the board and staff of CFBC.