Community Foundation's annual report 'generational'

The Community Foundation of Bloomington and Monroe County's Annual Report to the Community Thursday afternoon was a generational affair.

The address, given by Community Foundation CEO Tina Peterson in Shreve Hall on the Ivy Tech Community College-Bloomington campus, began with a brief statement from 8-year-old Derick Willis, a beneficiary of charitable giving that helped create the foundation's Early Childhood Education initiative five years ago.

"Hi, my name is Derick. Welcome to the annual report and thank you for investing in me," the Summit Elementary student said, followed by applause from a room filled with corporate and private donors, nonprofit workers and foundation board members.

Peterson said the theme of the year's report was "generations."

"In fact, one generation supporting the next generation through their deeds, through their gifts and through their engagement," she said.

Peterson spoke about the Early Childhood Education program and how charitable giving has allowed the foundation to establish seven new preschool classrooms, affecting 120 children each year.

The organization has also been able to support other existing nonprofits and various preschools throughout the county. A total of 656 children a year have benefited from the foundation's giving.

"That, however, only represents 31 percent of the children that are entering kindergarten every year," Peterson said. "So we still have some work ahead of us."

The foundation has invested about $1 million in the program in the past five years.

The two Lilly Scholars will be announced later this year.

"We wanted to bring them here before the final two are selected. We think it's pretty important that we recognize all of them," Peterson said, also imploring each of the finalists to return to the area after receiving their education and continue to contribute to the community. "I think we forget to tell you that sometimes, but we really like you and we'd love for you to come back here."

Peterson then shifted to reporting about the foundation's grant-giving in the most recent fiscal year, which ended June 30.

Overall, Peterson reported, the Community Foundation has 215 unique funds, which have granted more than $24 million since 1990. In that time, 402 nonprofit agencies have been supported by foundation grants.

Eleven grants were awarded this past year, with an average grant size of $27,835.

For FY16, the most recent fiscal year, the foundation received 592 gifts totaling $1.6 million, of which $1.2 million is endowed, meaning the foundation will be able to continue handing out grants for years using interest from that initial gift. The foundation created 13 new funds and achieved 100 percent board member gifting.

The Community Foundation was also tasked by the Lilly Endowment to raise $1 million to receive a $1 million match.

Peterson was happy to report that through 540 gifts from individuals and 105 from businesses over 18 months, the foundation was able to exceed its goal and improve its coffers by $2.1 million after the match. That means $98,000 new dollars are available for community grants every year, forever.

For more information on the Community Foundation, visit www.cfbmc.org.

Source: Community Foundation's annual report 'generational'