Thousands of people who care about the future of our community have given to CICF’s Community Funds – our community’s savings and investment plan.  Donations ranging from one dollar to bequests of millions have built a permanent, flexible source of working capital to respond to the community’s most pressing issues, today and tomorrow.

Community Funds allow anyone to become a more influential philanthropist.

• Your gift multiplies over time – CICF invests your donation with donations from others, and uses compounded interest from those investments to make grants.  Your gift keeps growing and benefiting the community in perpetuity. 
• Your gift stays effective – CICF’s staff spends time in the community understanding current needs and emerging issues.  Through our competitive grant processes, we evaluate not-for-profits tackling those issues, make grants to them, and monitor results. 
• Your gift helps our community prosper – CICF uses these funds to proactively lead change in issues such as helping families overcome obstacles, creating great public spaces, and embracing our ethnic communities.
• Your gift is easy and honored – CICF accepts gifts of all types, including more complex planned gifts.  Many donors name Community Funds as beneficiaries of wills, life insurance, or retirement plans.  With gifts of $5,000 or more, CICF acknowledges your generosity as a member of our Alphonso Pettis Society through which you can learn more about the impact of your gifts.

You Have Options

Community endowment funds benefit the widest range of issues in a geographic area.  Existing community endowment funds include:

• The Indianapolis Foundation Community Endowment, benefiting Marion County since 1916
• Legacy Fund Community Endowment, benefiting Hamilton County since 1991

Named community endowment funds allow you to establish a community endowment fund in your name with gifts of $5,000 or more.  CICF will publicly recognize your contributions to our existing grant processes for 25 years, or forever if your cumulative giving exceeds $100,000.  Many donors establish these funds in honor or memory of someone special.  Read more about other donors’ named community endowments.

Field of interest funds allow you to invest in an issue you care about while relying on CICF’s experienced staff to identify not-for-profits that make the greatest impact in that issue.  CICF has a number of existing funds that are successfully making grants to specific interest areas, including:

• The Women’s Fund of Central Indiana, supporting programs that work to improve the conditions and opportunities for women and girls in central Indiana
• Community Scholarship Funds, helping students who demonstrate academic promise and financial need from Marion and Hamilton Counties attend college and successfully complete their degrees
• Indianapolis Retirement Home Fund, supporting programs and services that promote quality living for older adults in central Indiana

Named field of interest funds allow you to designate an interest area (such as child welfare, health services for people in poverty, the environment, or a particular neighborhood) to which CICF will make charitable grants in your name, or in the name of someone special.  You can create a fund with gifts of $25,000 or more.

To give
You can make your tax-deductible gift today using CICF’s Gift Form or by using our instructions for gifts of stocks and bonds. If you would like to support any of CICF's current funds, complete a contribution form and write in the fund name(s) under “Designate my gift to a specific fund (provide name)”

For more information about how to make a gift or to benefit a fund in your estate planning, contact our development team at 317.634.2423:

• Jan Edmondson, ext. 510 or jane@cicf.org
• Rob MacPherson, ext. 509 or robm@cicf.org
• Tony Macklin, ext. 505 or tonym@cicf.org