CICF and The Indianapolis Foundation Partner with Community to Award More Than $1 Million in Response to COVID-19 Crisis

President, Brian Payne, says “This is the work of equity.”

Today, The Indianapolis Foundation, an affiliate of Central Indiana Community Foundation (CICF), announced $1,173,799 in grants to Marion County not-for-profit organizations. Grants approved by The Indianapolis Foundation board of directors on Tuesday, May 12, are part of a four-pronged approach to the unprecedented coronavirus pandemic that has shaped community need in 2020 and were funded through the Endowment for Indianapolis and the newly created Neighbor Relief Fund for Marion County (NRF).

A Four-Pronged Approach and Equity in Action

In March, CICF and its affiliates, including The Indianapolis Foundation, adopted a four-pronged approach to the health and economic crisis ignited by COVID-19: Supporting funder collaboratives, including serving as a founding partner of the Central Indiana COVID-19 Economic Relief Fund (C-CERF); adapting regular responsive grant rounds; counseling donor-advised fundholders on how to best support the community during the pandemic; and creating COVID-19 response funds, including the Neighbor Relief Fund (NRF) of Marion County, an innovative resident-informed grantmaking model.

“The uncertainty and vulnerability we are all feeling right now is nothing new to thousands of our neighbors,” says Brian Payne, president and CEO of CICF and president of The Indianapolis Foundation. “Black and Brown residents, the immigrant and refugee communities, seniors, LGBTQ+, people with disabilities and others are chronically ignored every day and are the first to fall through the cracks in a crisis. We knew it was critical to prioritize these communities in our response to COVID-19. This is the work of equity.”

Last April, CICF and its affiliates outlined a commitment to a new equity-centered mission. Payne says, “our response to community crisis had to show ‘equity in action.’ We’ve committed ourselves to better serve our communities equitably and with respect—starting first with listening. The relationships we’ve built with our Community Ambassadors have been invaluable, and this crisis has solidified that we will not return to ‘business as usual’ after COVID-19.”

“We knew it was critical to prioritize these communities in our response to COVID-19. This is the work of equity.”

The NRF uses a resident-informed grantmaking model that supports underappreciated communities and vulnerable populations in gaining access to the resources they say that they need. Grantmaking staff worked collaboratively with CICF Community Ambassadors and leveraged community relationships in a shared-power model that prioritized listening to residents and treating them with dignity. More than 83% of the $665,299 awarded NRF grant dollars have gone to direct resident support, including financial assistance for groceries, utilities and rent. Highlights include:

• Indiana Undocumented Youth Alliance (IUYA) ($35,000) – Funding provides support for more than 800 undocumented neighbors, ineligible for most governmental supports, to access basic needs and direct economic relief during the pandemic.
• Mackida Loveal & Trip Mentoring Outreach Center Inc. (MLT) ($31,500) – Funding provides critical services to residents in neighborhoods that are highly vulnerable to the impacts of COVID-19, including staffing a crisis hotline, case management, virtual tutoring & e-learning, transportation and delivery services, employment resources, and basic needs.
  
  ***View full list of grant recipients below***

The NRF was seeded with $250,000 from The Indianapolis Foundation and has since received nearly $1 million in contributions from individuals and corporate partners, including a major gift from Bank of America. “CICF has always been quick to adapt to the evolving needs of our Indianapolis neighborhoods,” says Andy Crask, Indianapolis market president at Bank of America. “So their thoughtful attention to developing resources necessary to meet the unique challenges presented by this pandemic came as no surprise to us. It’s heartening to see so many organizations like ours working together with them to ensure our residents have the means to remain healthy, in every way, and emerge with a whole new appreciation for the spirit of community we’ve seen here in Indianapolis.”

The Indianapolis Foundation and Adaptive Grantmaking

The Indianapolis Foundation knows that effective grantmaking must be nimble to serve a changing community. With board approval, The Indianapolis Foundation focused recent awards from the Endowment for Indianapolis on organizations responding to immediate needs related to COVID-19, granting $508,500 to not-for-profits.

• Local Initiatives Support Corporation (LISC) ($50,000) – Funding supports LISC’s COVID-19 small business grants initiative that will provide a lifeline to minority, immigrant, and women-owned small businesses impacted by the pandemic.
• Indy Black Chamber ($50,000) – Funding supports the operations and capacity of the Indy Black Chamber and their ongoing stewardship and guidance of Black businesses in Indianapolis.
  
  ***View full list of grant recipients below***

Strength in Partnership

Donor-advised funds at CICF, The Indianapolis Foundation, and Hamilton County Community Foundation, collectively granted over $6.8 million during March and April, more than double what was awarded during the same time last year. CICF and its affiliates manage over 400 different donor-advised funds, providing philanthropic and legal expertise to help individuals and families invest in the causes that matter most to them.

Hamilton County Community Foundation, an affiliate of CICF, has also created a COVID-19 response fund, and raised nearly $300,000 to support Hamilton County communities, and through that fund, recently granted $212,395 to Hamilton County organizations. The Women’s Fund of Central Indiana and The Central Indiana Senior Fund, both funds of CICF, have both adapted their grantmaking in response to COVID-19 and have collectively invested over $500,000 to communities in Central Indiana.

CICF, through the generosity of The Indianapolis Foundation and the Glick Fund, is a founding partner of the Central Indiana COVID-19 Community Economic Relief Fund (C-CERF), a community fund established to support human services organizations and the individuals and families they serve who are affected directly and indirectly by the COVID-19 coronavirus crisis. Other founding partners include Lilly Endowment Inc., Eli Lilly and Company Foundation, The Richard M. Fairbanks Foundation, Nina Mason Pulliam Charitable Trust, and United Way of Central Indiana. CICF continues to serve as an active participant in grant decisions for C-CERF.

Learn more about the Neighbor Relief Fund, including supporting or applying for funding

GRANTS AWARDED FROM THE INDIANAPOLIS FOUNDATION AND THE NEIGHBOR RELIEF FUND OF MARION COUNTY