February 20, 2025
Putnam County Community Foundation (PCCF) is excited to announce that the GIFT VIII Challenge matching grant from Lilly Endowment Inc. has been met, effectively adding $1.125 million to PCCF’s unrestricted assets.
In the spring of 2024, PCCF received a matching fund grant totaling $750,000 as part of the eighth phase of Lilly Endowment Inc.’s initiative, Giving Indiana Funds for Tomorrow (GIFT VIII). To maximize the impact of this grant, generous local donors contributed $375,000 to the foundation’s unrestricted endowments. These gifts included the creation of 11 new named, unrestricted funds:
- Aiden Beadles Community Endowment
- Ella Ingram and James Luzar Community Endowment
- Katelyn Brooke Neureiter Memorial Endowment
- Knaul Cope Community Endowment
- McCall Family Community Endowment
- Meyer Family Community Endowment
- Nagel-Savage Community Endowment
- Pohl Family Community Endowment
- Schlatter Family Community Endowment
- Thomas. H. & Elizabeth S. Graffis Community Endowment
- West Central Veterinary Services Community Endowment
Unrestricted funds are a collection of discretionary funds which fuel the organization’s grantmaking programs and other initiatives which seek to meet the current and future needs of Putnam County.
“We are grateful for the many generous donations which leveraged the full $750,000 matching grant,” said Neysa Meyer, PCCF executive director. “Thanks to Lilly Endowment and our local donors, PCCF is proud to add roughly $50,000 in available funds to our annual competitive grants.”
Through GIFT VIII Lilly Endowment awarded matching fund grants totaling $133.8 million to community foundations serving all 92 of Indiana’s counties. Eligible community foundations submitted proposals requesting grants ranging from $100,000 to $15,000,000 based on the population of the counties they serve.
“Unrestricted funds are often difficult to raise but are by far the most flexible assets which allow PCCF to remain responsive and nimble in our grantmaking,” said Kyle Beasley, PCCF board president. “We were confident from the start that our generous community would come together to meet this matching challenge. We are thankful for the community’s continued trust in the work of the Community Foundation.”
In 2023, Lilly Endowment launched GIFT VIII to help community foundations strengthen the towns, cities and counties they serve. Matching fund grants are one of several funding opportunities designed to help community foundations promote long-term viability; further strengthen their abilities to lead; encourage board engagement; and support and develop strategic efforts to enhance quality of life in their communities.
To learn more about GIFT VIII, please visit Lilly Endowment’s website. For additional information about the Putnam County Community Foundation or its role in the GIFT VIII initiative, individuals may contact Sarah Stone at sstone@pcfoundation.org or call the office at 765.653.4978.