Illinois Prairie Community Foundation

Overview

Illinois

Illinois is the fifth-most populous state of the United States of America, and is often noted for being a microcosm of the entire country. With Chicago in the northeast, small industrial cities and great agricultural productivity in central and northern Illinois, and natural resources like coal,...

Prairie

Prairies are considered part of the temperate grasslands, savannas, and shrublands biome by ecologists, based on similar temperate climates, moderate rainfall, and grasses, herbs, and shrubs, rather than trees, as the dominant vegetation type...

Community Foundation

Community foundation

Community foundations are instruments of civil society designed to pool donations into a coordinated investment and grant making facility dedicated primarily to the social improvement of a given place...

serves McLean

McLean County, Illinois

McLean County is a county in the U.S. state of Illinois. McLean County is included in the Bloomington–Normal, Illinois Metropolitan Statistical Area. According to the 2010 census, it has a population of 169,572, which is an increase of 12.7% from 150,433 in 2000. Its county seat is...

, Livingston

Livingston County, Illinois

Livingston County is a county located in the U.S. state of Illinois. According to the 2010 census, it has a population of 38,950, which is a decrease of 1.8% from 39,678 in 2000. Its county seat is Pontiac....

, DeWitt, Logan

Logan County, Illinois

Logan County is a county located in the U.S. state of Illinois. According to the 2010 census, it has a population of 30,305, which is a decrease of 2.8% from 31,183 in 2000...

and adjacent areas of Tazewell

Tazewell County, Illinois

Tazewell County is a county located in the U.S. state of Illinois. According to the 2010 census, it has a population of 135,394, which is an increase of 5.4% from 128,485 in 2000. Its county seat and largest city is Pekin. The majority of the population live in the suburbs and bedroom communities...

, Woodford, LaSalle, Ford and Piatt counties.

The Community Foundation helps connect donors

Donation

A donation is a gift given by physical or legal persons, typically for charitable purposes and/or to benefit a cause. A donation may take various forms, including cash, services, new or used goods including clothing, toys, food, and vehicles...

with those causes they wish to benefit. It facilitates charitable giving for individuals and businesses, helps organizations with their endowment funds

Financial endowment

A financial endowment is a transfer of money or property donated to an institution. The total value of an institution's investments is often referred to as the institution's endowment and is typically organized as a public charity, private foundation, or trust....

, serves as fiscal agent for charitable community projects, and is a catalyst for innovative charitable solutions to meet area needs. A donor advised fund at the Community Foundation is an economical and simplified version of a private foundation

Private foundation

A private foundation is a legal entity set up by an individual, a family or a group of individuals, for a purpose such as philanthropy. The Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation is the largest private foundation in the U.S. with over $38 billion in assets...

.

Support is provided in the fields of human services, education, environment, economic development, arts and culture, and health among others.

The IPCF is in full compliance with the national standards developed by the Council on Foundations

Council on Foundations

The Council on Foundations, formed in 1949, is a nonprofit membership association of grantmaking foundations and corporations. Members of the Council include more than 1,750 independent, operating, community, public, and company-sponsored foundations, and corporate giving programs in the United...

.

The foundation celebrated its 10-year anniversary in 2009.

Types of Funds Supported

Donor Advised Funds

Donor advised funds

A donor-advised fund is a charitable giving vehicle administered by a public charity and created for the purpose of managing charitable donations on behalf of an organization, family, or individual...

: This type of fund, either endowment or pass-through, allows the funding donor to remain actively involved with grantmaking.

Unrestricted Endowment Funds

Donor advised funds

: Ideal for forward-thinking individuals, organizations, and corporations who know the needs and strengths of the community may change.

Field of Interest Endowment Funds: A gift to be used to address a specific need or area of concern.

Endowment

Financial endowment

: A simple way for donors to perpetuate their gifts to the specific charitable organization(s) of their choice, often ones with which they have been involved during their lifetimes.

Pass-Through Project or Agency Funds: The Community Foundation serves as the financial conduit for special community projects.

Board of directors

President – Richard Stroyan

Vice President – Steve Timmerman

Secretary – Susan Hoblit

Treasurer – Diane Fishering

Directors – Martha Ceja, Harold Frobish, Paul Harmon, Darrell Hartweg, Susan Hoblit, John Hutchinson, Tim O. Ives, Gene Jontry, Danny Liefel, Karla Lohnes, Gretchen Monti, Joni Painter, Jennifer Sedbrook, Bruce Unterman

History

In 1996, Carol Reitan, Alan Sender and Drake Zimmerman began building their dream of a community foundation for McLean County. Considerable research on existing community foundations, talks with many community leaders, and persistence in working through all of the legal requirements to establish a not-for-profit 501(c)(3) organization came to fruition two years later. Mayors Judy Markowitz of Bloomington and Kent Karraker of Normal, and McLean County Board Chairperson Gary Riss agreed to serve as the first incorporating board. The Community Foundation of McLean County was officially established on November 6, 1998. Gifts of $296,900 were placed in the Peoria

Peoria, Illinois

Peoria is the largest city on the Illinois River and the county seat of Peoria County, Illinois, in the United States. It is named after the Peoria tribe. As of the 2010 census, the city was the seventh-most populated in Illinois, with a population of 115,007, and is the third-most populated...

Area Community Foundation of Central Illinois

Central Illinois

Central Illinois is a region of the U.S. state of Illinois that consists of the entire central section of the state, divided in thirds from north to south. It is an area of mostly flat prairie. The western section was originally part of the Military Tract of 1812 and forms the distinctive western...

before the end of 1998 in an account held on behalf of CFMC. These were Donor Advised Funds, established and donated before CFMC was in a position to receive gifts.

By June, 2003, the Community Foundation of McLean County was serving donors and making grants in Livingston and DeWitt Counties and surrounding areas. Permanent 501(c)(3) status had been achieved. Assets had grown to almost $600,000. The Board of Directors decided a name change was in order. Before action could be taken, Logan County was added to the list of locations being served and assets had grown to $800,000. In April, 2004, we officially became Illinois Prairie Community Foundation, Inc. Since 2004, the IPCF has grown dramatically. In fiscal 2007 (July 1, 2006 to June 30, 2007) the Foundation and its donors distributed $484,841 in grants. Total assets as of December 31, 2007 were $5,981,822.

Contact Information

http://www.ilprairiecf.org

Phone: (309) 662-4477

Fax: (309) 662-5577

2401 E Washington St, Bloomington, IL 61704

Myra Gordon, Executive Director

Kathi Davis, Development Assistant

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