About | Cass County Communit

FOR GOOD
FOREVER

Gifts to the Cass County Community Foundation are permanent, offering everyday citizens the opportunity to be philanthropists and create the kind of community where people want to live.

Our MISSION

The Cass County Community Foundation, Inc. is a 501(c)(3) non-profit organization.OUR MISSION: To honor the spirit of giving and assist donors in building enduring sources of charitable assets to promote education, enhance humanity and advance community development throughout Cass County.

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OUR STORY

JK Lilly Sr. Indiana Historical Society

In Indiana, community foundations as we know them are the "baby" of Lilly Endowment Inc. Lilly Endowment was started in 1937 by JK Lilly Sr. and his sons JK Jr. and Eli to help the people of their city and state build a better life.

In the years when Senator Lugar was Mayor of Indianapolis, a great portion of the Lilly Endowment income was poured into revitalizing the capital city. It wasn't long before the rest of the state saw how the transformation from "naptown" to a world-class city was accomplished in Indianapolis and Lilly Endowment Inc began remembering the rest of the state. They knew they were not in a position to effect change simply by pouring money into the communities. They needed a way to let local leaders be the conduit and so the plan became to establish Community Foundations throughout the state.

In 1990, Lilly began to help local communities grow their own resources into community foundations and for many years provided matching dollars as an incentive to donors to give. You may remember some of the early matching phases. Lilly also provided technical support and program support in the early years. They began with a 15-year dream and a plan that ended in 2005 with every county in Indiana benefiting from a community foundation.

The Cass County Community Foundation was originally part of a five-county consortium known as the Northern Indiana Community Foundation and began in October 1993. However, as you might expect, people in Cass County were so committed and generous that the Cass County portion of contributions was growing at rates way beyond the other counties in the group.

In 2000, Cass County separated from the NICF and became a stand-alone community foundation to benefit the people of Cass County and here we are!