$6.9 MILLION GIFT CELEBRATES A LEGACY OF GRANTMAKING

$6.9 MILLION GIFT CELEBRATES A LEGACY OF GRANTMAKING

The MutualBank Charitable Foundation establishes The Mutual Legacy Fund

The MutualBank Charitable Foundation has made an impact in this community and beyond. Organized in 1998, the MutualBank Charitable Foundation was substantially funded with nearly $4.5 million through Mutual’s initial public offering. Since 1999, the foundation has granted almost $7 million to nonprofit organizations aligned with the bank’s footprint across Indiana. Nearly 80 percent of those dollars have impacted Delaware County.

“Continuing the legacy of giving by the MutualBank Foundation is important, and we believe The Community Foundation is the partner to ensure that can happen in perpetuity,” said R. Donn Roberts, Chairman of the MutualBank Charitable Foundation.

The Mutual Legacy Fund was established at The Community Foundation of Muncie and Delaware County in June with the transfer of assets from the MutualBank Charitable Foundation. The MutualBank Charitable Foundation will continue its work through this fund without the need to manage its own independent foundation. The gift from the MutualBank Charitable Foundation of $6.9 million is the largest single gift ever made to The Community Foundation.

“The Community Foundation has built a reputation as a charitable partner in Muncie and Delaware County,” said Kelly K. Shrock, president of The Community Foundation. “We are grateful to have the trust of the MutualBank Charitable Foundation and to be able to hold these assets for the community.”

The MutualBank Foundation was established to support charitable initiatives aligned with MutualBank and the communities it called home. Grants were primarily focused in the areas of economic development, education, healthcare, and the arts. The MutualBank Charitable Foundation was also a big supporter of United Ways. As MutualBank grew through acquisitions, the foundation’s reach expanded, but the focus remained steady. Grants were awarded to organizations throughout the Bank’s statewide footprint.

R. Donn Roberts and David Heeter stand with Jane Botts, wife of the late Pat Botts, at the Pat Botts Memorial Build. Pat served as president of the MutualBank Charitable Foundation for many years.

“For over 20 years, we believe the foundation did exactly what it was designed to do,” said Dave Heeter, President of the MutualBank Charitable Foundation. “We always maintained our focus on what we needed to do and made sure those organizations most critical to our communities had resources to meet those needs. Partnering with The Community Foundation of Muncie and Delaware County allows the assets created in the Bank’s legacy community to remain in this community.”

Over the last year, The Community Foundation’s president, Kelly K. Shrock, has met with the Board of Directors of the MutualBank Charitable Foundation to share information about the opportunities and challenges of transferring assets to The Community Foundation compared with continuing to maintain an independent foundation.

In early 2022, as the foundation board became more comfortable with transferring their assets to a fund at The Community Foundation, senior program officer Marcy Minton joined the conversation to discuss details of grant administration. The MutualBank Charitable Foundation fulfilled all current commitments and transferred all remaining assets to The Community Foundation to establish the Mutual Legacy Fund before June 30, 2022.

For the next ten years, the Mutual Legacy Fund will be a field of interest fund focused in the areas of education, economic development, health care, and community betterment, with a preference for support in Muncie and Delaware County, Indiana. A committee of former MutualBank Charitable Foundation Board members or their designees will recommend grants to The Community Foundation Board of Directors. After ten years, the committee will sunset, and the fund will remain named but become unrestricted to be responsive to changing needs in the community.

MutualBank Charitable Foundation Chairman Donn Roberts continued, “With an initial contribution of $4.5 million, grants over 20 years of $7 million, and a gift to the Community Foundation of $6.9 million, we are immensely proud of the legacy of the MutualBank Charitable Foundation. We’ve seen the power of The Community Foundation, and we’re excited about that.”

It will not take long to see the impact of the MutualBank Charitable Foundation continue through the Mutual Legacy Fund. The first grants awarded from the new fund will be announced in early 2023. Detailed information on how nonprofit organizations may apply will be available later this year.