Donors in the Leader

Virtual instruction was going to take enormous, creative effort by our teachers. I had to help make “the transition possible.”

You aren’t alone if there are key issues or causes that matter to you. You might care about education, arts, children, animals, or something else. Every day we talk with donors who care about Muncie and Delaware County. They also care about specific causes impacting our community.

When the Foundation, in partnership with the Funders Forum Collaborative, launched the K-12 Technology Resilience Initiative, we knew there were people in our community who cared about access to education, too. During phase two of the initiative, the Foundation staff reached out to donors who had expressed their passion for education to share our plan. All local public schools serving students K-12 in Delaware County would receive grants to support technology resilience. We invited them to support the effort and increase the award pool. Seven individual donors lead the way by contributing more than $13,000 to the second phase. As the Foundation “ entered the third phase of grantmaking, board members, Dave Heeter and Carol Seals showed their leadership. They led the community-wide fundraising effort for Giving Tuesday with matching gifts. More than 20 donors followed their lead.

“It seemed to me that the Foundation had identified an absolutely critical need,” said a donor who chooses to remain anonymous. “The pandemic was forcing schools to turn to virtual instruction, and the schools couldn’t do it without a significant boost in access to technology for both teachers and for many of the youngsters whom they serve. Education is key to the development of our children as individuals and is key to their participation as future productive community members and citizens in our democracy. There was no question in my mind that virtual instruction was going to take an enormous, creative effort by our teachers and administrators. I felt that I had to help supply them with the equipment that could make the transition possible.”

The K-12 Technology Resilience Initiative wasn’t the first time the Foundation has seen donors take the lead. In 2016, the Foundation established the Robert P. Bell Teacher Grant Fund to support the Bell Grants Program. Several former educators and friends of education stepped up to make lead gifts. The example set by those early gifts encouraged others to give, too. Today, the fund provides a part of the Robert P. Bell Education Grant Program’s annual budget. The lead donors of this fund set a ball rolling. As the fund continues to grow, the program will be able to grow and continue to support teachers in the future.

In fact, The Community Foundation was built upon the passions of its earliest donors who cared about the future of the community. The earliest leaders set an example by making gifts. Then, they encouraged others around them to do the same. That early support was for The Unrestricted Fund, which gives the Foundation the most flexibility to address the changing needs of the community.

Today, the Foundation encourages continued support of The Unrestricted Fund, but we also want to hear about your passions and the causes that matter most to you. A gift of any size can make a difference to the causes you care about. Let’s schedule a time to talk about you and find out how you can be a donor in the lead, too. Contact Kelly K. Shrock, president, at 765-747-7181 or kshrock@cfmdin.org.