Lilly Endowment announces new phase of its community foundation initiative

October 01, 2025
Contact: Judith Cebula
317.916.7327 | cebulaj@lei.org

Lilly Endowment announces new phase of its
community foundation initiative

Eligible Indiana community foundations can receive funding to help them address compelling local needs

INDIANAPOLIS– Lilly Endowment Inc. is launching the ninth phase of its initiative Giving Indiana Funds for Tomorrow (GIFT IX), allocating up to $271.5 million to help Indiana community foundations strengthen the quality of life in the towns, cities and counties they serve.

This new phase of GIFT builds upon the Endowment’s longstanding belief that community foundations are uniquely positioned to play central roles in fostering the vitality of communities throughout Indiana.

The Endowment is inviting eligible community foundations to participate in two funding components of GIFT IX, which are designed to help them strengthen their capacities to respond to local challenges and opportunities, both now and in the future. The grant components are:

Community Support Grants, which will help community foundations support near-term projects, programs or initiatives that address local needs and enhance quality of life in local communities. Eligible foundations can request grants ranging from $750,000 to $15 million based on the population of the counties they serve. The Endowment is allocating up to $135.75 million for this grant component.
Matching Grants will help community foundations develop unrestricted endowed assets to address community needs on a long-term basis, as well provide support for projects and programs that address current community needs. Eligible foundations can apply for grants ranging from $750,000 to $15 million based on the population of the counties they serve. The Endowment is allocating up to $135.75 million for this grant opportunity.

Learn more about GIFT IX funding here.

In 1990, the Endowment launched GIFT to help local communities in Indiana develop the philanthropic capacity to identify and address local needs and challenges. When GIFT began, there were fewer than a dozen Indiana community foundations in the state with assets totaling approximately $100 million. Today, a community foundation or affiliate fund serves each of Indiana’s 92 counties. The combined assets of community foundations that have regularly participated in GIFT have grown to nearly $5.4 billion as of the end of 2024.

“Reflecting on 35 years of the GIFT initiative, we at the Endowment are inspired by the ways in which community foundations throughout Indiana have played leadership roles in improving the quality of life in the towns, cities and counties they serve,” said Ronni Kloth, the Endowment’s vice president for community development. “They engage with a wide a variety of residents and stakeholders and work collaboratively to advance the prosperity and wellbeing in their communities.”

“But Indiana communities continue to face significant challenges, including the increasing shortage of affordable and high-quality early childhood development and education programs, growing food insecurity, a scarcity of affordable housing, a greater need for mental health and addiction services, as well as demand for recreational programs and other amenities,” Kloth continued. “Through GIFT IX we hope to provide community foundations with flexible funding so they can increase their capabilities to support efforts to improve quality of life throughout Indiana, now and for years to come.”

About Lilly Endowment Inc.
Lilly Endowment Inc. is an Indianapolis-based private foundation created in 1937 by J. K. Lilly and his sons, Eli and J.K. Jr., 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. In keeping with its founders’ wishes, the Endowment supports the causes of community development, education and religion. While the Endowment funds programs throughout the United States on an invitational basis to support these causes, especially in the field of religion, it maintains a special commitment to its founders’ hometown, Indianapolis, and home state, Indiana.