Through its initiative, College and Community Collaboration, Lilly Endowment Inc. is offering interested Indiana colleges and universities the opportunity to apply for grants to help them envision and undertake collaborative projects with community stakeholders that enhance the quality of life and place in their surrounding communities.

The Endowment recognizes that colleges and universities often serve as anchor institutions in their communities, playing a crucial role in the vitality of their towns, cities, counties and regions. Through this initiative, the Endowment seeks to help interested higher education institutions collaborate with a diverse range of stakeholders to enhance their communities for the benefit of residents and local businesses as well as for the institutions’ faculty, staff and students.

The Endowment is allocating up to $300 million for this competitive, two-phase, five-year initiative.

Eligibility

The 35 Indiana colleges and universities that offer four-year degree programs and have physical campuses in the state are eligible to apply for grants through this initiative.

• In the noncompetitive Phase 1, eligible colleges and universities may submit proposals for planning grants of up to $250,000.
• In the competitive Phase 2, eligible colleges and universities may submit implementation proposals of up to $25 million each that may be used for up to a five-year period.

Read the Request for Proposals for detailed information.

How to apply

Eligible colleges and universities are asked to review the Request for Proposals and other resource documents available at the bottom of this page. Deadlines for submissions are as follows:

• Phase 1 Planning Grants: Proposals are to be emailed to collegeandcommunity@lei.org by 12 p.m. EDT on March 31, 2023. Colleges and universities must participate in this noncompetitive Phase 1 if they intend to participate in the competitive Phase 2 of the initiative.
• Phase 2 Implementation Grants: Colleges and universities can choose one of two deadlines in this competitive phase of the initiative. Proposals are to be emailed to collegeandcommunity@lei.org by 12 p.m. EDT on September 1, 2023, OR by 12 p.m. EST on March 1, 2024.

Questions

Please email questions about this initiative to collegeandcommunity@lei.org.