“In 2014, the Pulaski County Community Foundation will observe its 17th anniversary, commemorating the many donors and volunteers whose generosity continues to make life better in Pulaski County,” said Wendy Rose, executive director of Pulaski County Community Foundation. “We also mark this year as the 100th anniversary of the community foundation movement at work in communities around the world.” 

Community foundations translate collective giving into big impact 

Cleveland lawyer and banker Frederick H. Geoff established the first community foundation in 1914. His vision was to pool the charitable resources of community members, people of all means, into a single, great and permanent endowment for the benefit of all. Within five years, community foundations were established in Chicago, Boston, Milwaukee, Los Angeles, Indianapolis, Grand Rapids, Minneapolis, Buffalo and New York.

Community foundations give everyone access to the power of endowment

Community foundations are designed to build endowment funds that benefit the community forever and help create personal legacies. When you contribute to the endowment managed by the Pulaski County Community Foundation, your gift is invested over time. Earnings from endowed funds are used to make grants benefiting the community’s charitable needs. Your gift—and all future earnings from your gift—is a permanent source of community capital, helping to do good work today and in the future.

Pulaski County Community Foundation was created as part of a five-county group in 1997, and became independent in 2002. Since then PCCF has made grants of more than $8.66 million, including the $4.9 million CAPE grant used to form and oversee the local PACE educational non-profit. Total assets equaled $7,888,552 at the end of 2013. PCCF now manages over 100 funds, and $1.84 million in grants and scholarships have been awarded to over 70 organizations and nearly 300 scholarship recipients. 

Impact can be seen in every community across the county, including each town’s parks and fire departments, Star City Community Building, Medaryville Lion’s Club, Francesville’s greenspace and Humanitarian Distribution Center, Monterey Fire Department, and Winamac ball diamonds. PCCF administers 32 scholarships including the Lilly Endowment Community Scholarship, and has provided funds for both schools’ learning labs and enrichment programs. It has benefited the 4-H fairgrounds, YMCA, Panhandle Pathway, numerous nonprofits including Human Services, Junior Achievement, Peak Developmental Services, Pulaski Memorial Hospital, libraries, and churches.

Pulaski County Community Foundation meets the nation’s highest philanthropic standards for operational quality, integrity and accountability. The National Standards for U.S. Community Foundations Program requires community foundations to document policies for donor services, investment management, grantmaking and administration. PCCF proudly displays the cfStandards seal of approval signifying National Standards compliance.

Community foundations are devoted to the people and places you love 

Community foundations across the country are helping people invest in the future of the communities they care about. Trillions of dollars are expected to transfer from one generation to the next during the next 50 years. The philanthropic opportunity during this transfer has the potential to improve the quality of life—in urban centers and small towns alike—through economic development, education, health, human services, environment, arts and culture. As place-based organizations that focus collective assets for good works, community foundations are helping people of all means give back and make a difference.

A lot has changed in 100 years, especially the concept and growth of community foundations. And yet, a lot has stayed the same. Community foundations are still committed to Frederick Geoff’s original vision of pooling charitable resources into a single permanent endowment for the benefit of all. 

Pulaski County Community Foundation is a local nonprofit that provides donors a simple, powerful and highly personal approach to giving—so their gifts do good works within the community, forever. Its mission is to encourage the growth of endowed funds to serve and enrich our community today and tomorrow.