Hamilton County Community Foundation (HCCF) has received a grant of $6 million from Lilly Endowment Inc. through the Community Support Grant component of the ninth phase of its Giving Indiana Funds for Tomorrow (GIFT IX) initiative.
This is one of 92 Community Support Grants being awarded through GIFT IX, a statewide Lilly Endowment initiative designed to support the efforts of community foundations to strengthen the quality of life in the communities they serve.
The Community Support Grant is designed to provide the community foundation with flexible funding to enhance its grantmaking capacity to address compelling, near-term needs in its county. The community foundation will have up to three years to use its grant to address community-driven priorities.
“This flexible funding enables us to act more quickly on the needs we hear from residents and nonprofit leaders,” HCCF President Danielle Stiles-Polk said. “In the years ahead, these dollars will bolster the essential work of nonprofits across Hamilton County, helping them remain responsive and resilient as they face shifting budgets and growing community needs.”
To ensure these dollars achieve the greatest impact, HCCF will use the first quarter of 2026 to develop a regranting strategy informed by its recent community needs assessment and strategic plan. The Foundation will work closely with local stakeholders throughout this process to shape an approach that reflects the community’s most pressing priorities.
Lilly Endowment created the GIFT initiative in 1990 to help local communities in Indiana develop the philanthropic capacity to identify local needs and challenges and work with other organizations and residents to help their communities thrive. Through GIFT IX, Lilly Endowment has allocated up to $271.5 million to support Indiana’s community foundations in growing their financial resources and further strengthening their ability to address their community’s highest-priority challenges and opportunities.
About Hamilton County Community Foundation
Hamilton County Community Foundation (HCCF), established in 1991, is a $140 million public foundation working to mobilize people, ideas and investment to make this a community where every individual has an equitable opportunity to reach their full potential. The foundation aims to build a community where opportunity meets growth for everyone, and philanthropic efforts support nonprofit organizations doing vital work. Learn more at hamiltoncountycf.org.
About Lilly Endowment
Lilly Endowment Inc. is an Indianapolis-based private foundation created in 1937 by J.K. Lilly, Sr. and his sons Eli and J.K. Jr. through gifts of stock in their pharmaceutical business, Eli Lilly and Company. Although the gifts of stock remain a financial bedrock of the Endowment, it is a separate entity from the company, with a distinct governing board, staff and location. In keeping with the founders’ wishes, the Endowment supports the causes of community development, education and religion. The Endowment funds programs throughout the United States, especially in the field of religion, and maintains a special commitment to its founders’ hometown, Indianapolis, and home state, Indiana.