OVERVIEW: The Legacy Foundation supports children and youth, seniors, human services, neighborhoods, public spaces, civic engagement, health, arts and culture, environment, housing and education in Lake County, Indiana.
IP TAKE: The Legacy Foundation limits all of its grantmaking to Lake County, Indiana, and several of its grants are refined even further to focus on the city of Gary’s downtown area. This is a transparent funder whose website links to financial records and details about recent grantees, including grant amounts and program descriptions, and it has an accessible online application system for local grantseekers. Reach out with to the staff with general questions at legacy@legacyfdn.org or 219-736-1880.
PROFILE: Established in 1992, the Legacy Foundation is a community foundation based in Merrillville, Indiana. The foundation seeks to transform “Lake County by providing strategic leadership and impactful philanthropic support to ensure equitable opportunity for all communities” it serves. The foundation’s work centers on providing local grants and scholarships, helping donors manage charitable assets, collaborating with local leaders and serving as a resource center for nonprofits. It funds local efforts for children and youth, seniors, human services, neighborhoods, public spaces, civic engagement, health, housing, education and other community needs.
Grants for Community Development
The Legacy Foundation is one of the largest community foundations in Indiana and houses a broad variety of funds focused on a myriad of community issues, including animal welfare, arts and culture, community development, disaster relief, environment, health and human services, libraries, religion, and youth. It also contains a number of unrestricted funds and donor advised funds.
The foundation’s grant opportunities change periodically, but as of this writing they are:
Transform Lake County grants support nonprofits working to strengthen Lake County neighborhoods. There are two deadlines per year and grants support programmatic or capacity building activities.
Knight Foundation grants are focused on the Gary downtown area. Its funding priorities include attracting and retaining talent, stimulating economic opportunity and workforce development, and mitigating population loss.
City of Gary ARPA grants operate in partnership with the City of Gary to distribute up to $500,000 of American Rescue Plan Act (ARPA) funds to nonprofits serving Gary residents recovering from the COVID-19 pandemic.
Women in Philanthropy grants use “the collective power of women learning, giving, and leading together to build long-lasting positive change.” They support issues impacting women, children, and families. The fund has given over $100,000 to nonprofits serving Lake County.
The Legacy Foundation also provides event sponsorships and scholarships.
Important Grant Details
Grants range between about $10 and over $700,000, but the most common amount is $1,000. It gave over $3.49 million in grants in a recent year and held over $75 million in assets.
Grantmaking focuses on Lake County, Indiana and especially the cities of Merrillville and Gary.
This foundation accepts unsolicited grant applications from nonprofits for multiple grant programs, and each program has its own unique set of guidelines and deadlines.
The application process is conducted online.
Direct general questions to the staff at legacy@legacyfdn.org or 219-736-1880.
PEOPLE:
Search for staff contact info and bios in PeopleFinder (paid subscribers only).
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