Strengthening Indiana

Strengthening Indiana is sponsored by Lilly Endowment Inc.. Lilly Endowment Inc. works to strengthen and support the efforts of community foundations and United Ways to enhance the quality of life and future prosperity of Indiana's communities.

Strengthening Indiana | Lilly Endowment Inc. W orking to strengthen and support the efforts of community foundations and United Ways, we aim to enhance the quality of life and future prosperity of Indiana’s communities and all of the state’s residents.

Recognizing the diversity of our state’s people and their range of needs, we encourage local communities to identify and prioritize the issues that matter most by seeking input from a broad range of community residents. Then, through various initiatives, we help support strategies they develop to address these challenges.

We also support statewide organizations that provide human services, enhance cultural life and promote thoughtful civic engagement. Grants to Indiana Historical Society have funded its efforts to share multicultural collections statewide and its work to help history groups in local communities across the state strengthen their operations and steward the collections in their care.

A 2022 grant to Indiana Landmarks established a program to identify, preserve and interpret places across Indiana that have significant connections to Black heritage. A 2024 grant to Feeding Indiana’s Hungry supports its network of 11 Feeding America affiliate food banks that reaching all 92 Indiana counties.

Indiana Department of Natural Resources , through its Indiana State Parks division, works to protect, enhance and steward some 170,000 acres of natural and cultural resources across more than 30 properties, which are visited by 15 million people each year.

A 2024 Endowment grant of $50 million supports the state’s newest park, Prophetstown State Park, and capital projects that will help numerous other parks improve their amenities and become more accessible and appealing for current and future generations of visitors.

LEARN MORE Indiana Economic Development Corporation (IEDC) serves as Indiana’s lead economic development agency, engaging in public-private partnerships and other activities to advance Indiana’s economic development work. In 2021, it launched the Regional Economic Acceleration & Development Initiative (READI), which awarded $500 million to 17 regions across Indiana for wide-ranging efforts to attract talent and foster economic growth.

An additional $500 million investment was made by IEDC through READI 2. 0 in 2023. The Endowment is supporting IEDC with a $250 million grant to enhance the impact of the program with additional funds available to READI 2.

0 grant recipients in areas specific to blight reduction and redevelopment and arts and culture amenities that enhance local and regional vibrancy. LEARN MORE Giving Indiana Funds for Tomorrow (GIFT) is a series of statewide initiatives and programs that began in 1990 to help establish and strengthen community foundations in Indiana and build their capacity to support the needs of their local communities.

GIFT has helped community foundations build unrestricted endowments and fund special projects and has inspired others to give through matching grants. GIFT also has encouraged community foundations to develop their leadership capacity so they can better understand and address the needs and aspirations of all the residents of their counties.

LEARN MORE Indiana United Ways, with regular support from the Endowment, provides technical assistance, training and matching grants for the United Way system across Indiana. It supports the local initiatives and helps build the capacity of its network of more than 50 United Ways, several of which serve multiple counties. Indiana United Way’s network reaches into all of Indiana’s 92 counties.

LEARN MORE Central Indiana Corporate Partnership Foundation supports the charitable and educational efforts of Central Indiana Corporate Partnership (CICP). Formed in 1999, CICP brings together chief executives of central Indiana’s prominent corporations, private foundations and universities in a strategic collaboration dedicated to advancing the region’s continued prosperity and growth.

Through grants made to CICP Foundation, we support the charitable, educational and scientific activities of several initiatives focused on life sciences, advanced manufacturing and logistics, information technology and agrosciences.

Brookings Institution scholars in their 2018 book “The New Localism: How Cities Thrive in the Age of Populism” recognized CICP as a global model for its collaborative leadership across key sectors to support regional growth. Most of our grants to CICP Foundation help CICP initiatives build capacity and develop and retain the next generation of talented workers in these diverse employment sectors.

LEARN MORE The Nature Conservancy works through its Indiana chapter to protect nearly 100,000 acres of forests, wetlands, prairies, lakes and streams, and it maintains more than 80 nature preserves throughout the state. A 2021 Endowment grant of $7. 5 million supporting its capital campaign will help launch new projects designed to engage Indiana residents of all backgrounds in connecting to and protecting nature.

LEARN MORE Strategic Community Advancement Initiatives We support, on an invitational basis, regional strategic initiatives in Indiana that build on the work of community foundations, educational institutions, business organizations and other local and regional community organizations and partnerships to plan for and foster greater local and regional prosperity.

Our community development and education divisions collaborate on these initiatives to better connect and build on distinctive regional assets in ways that increase opportunity and economic impact in the regions. These initiatives are helping communities align education and job training with employer needs and make their communities and regions more attractive places to live and invest. LEARN MORE