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In 1987, Lilly Endowment Inc. fostered the growth of an institution that would become the world's preeminent research and training hub for professional philanthropy. This year, Lilly Endowment granted that same institution $40 million to permanently endow a portion of its operating costs. What better way to confirm its initial investment in the Center on Philanthropy at Indiana University. The Center is a part of the IU School of Liberal Arts at IUPUI.
"We believe now is an appropriate time to make this endowment grant to help ensure that the Center will remain at the cutting edge of thoughtful, informed, and effective philanthropy in Indiana and across the globe," says N. Clay Robbins, president of Lilly Endowment Inc.
In 2005, fundraisers received more than $260 billion in gifts for nonprofits across the nation, according to Giving USA. While that magnitude of support demonstrates the generosity of our nation, it also highlights the need to empower nonprofits with scholarship and research.
The grant from Lilly Endowment will advance the Center’s mission to increase our understanding about how and why our society gives and volunteers, improves professional practice, and enhances participation in philanthropy, says Gene Tempel, the Center’s executive director. It will also further the education of aspiring professionals who will lead nonprofits and charities responsibly and effectively.
For instance, Giving USA, published by the Giving USA Foundation, is the leading annual source for information on the nation's charitable giving. The foundation commissions the Center, a part of the IU School of Liberal Arts at IUPUI, to conduct that crucial research.
And at the heart of philanthropy are the hopes of donors who want to change the world through giving. "Philanthropy and nonprofit organizations address a variety of important issues in communities around the world—from hunger relief and disease prevention to education and matters of artistic expression," notes Robbins. "The Center on Philanthropy helps ensure that nonprofits have the capacity and knowledge to pursue their missions successfully."
The Lilly Endowment grant also inspires. A portion of the grant has been set aside to augment other donors' gifts that will support the Center's operations. The Lilly Endowment funds will match up to 5 percent of a payout from returns on a donor’s invested gift.
And donors are seeing that opportunity. The Wilbur and Hilda Glenn Family Foundation in Atlanta, Georgia, made a $1.5 million grant to establish the Glenn Family Innovation Fund. These funds will allow the Center to respond rapidly to opportunities, training, and research needs in the nonprofit sector, such as how people give during national emergencies. Thomas Glenn II, president of The Wilbur and Hilda Glenn Family Foundation, feels that through this grant, his foundation achieves a multiplier effect in two respects: first, to avail itself of the generous Lilly Endowment challenge and, second, to contribute to a philanthropy-nurturing entity which spawns future philanthropic acts.
Similarly, Lilly Endowment expressed its continuing confidence in the Center's great success by awarding a grant that will make permanent the Center's work. That’s strategic giving.
Visit the Center on Philanthropy website.