Field of Interest and Donor Advised Funds Accepting Grant Requests

The following funds accept requests as part of a competitive grant process. Each fund has its own selection process so please read each carefully for instructions on submitting a request.

Barbara Burt Leadership Development Fund
This fund was established by a gift from the Foellinger Foundation in honor of Barbara Burt, who served on that foundation’s board from 1989 to 2008. Grants from this special fund are designed to provide funding to Allen County nonprofit organizations for leadership development training of their officers and executive committees with the ultimate goal of enhancing organizational effectiveness. Each grant awarded may not consist of more than 50 percent of the total cost of the leadership development program. Currently available.

The Edna Foundation Fund
The Edna Foundation Fund was established to help financially support agencies in Allen County that are dedicated to promoting human services, child development, and the arts.

To apply for funding from The Edna Foundation Fund, complete the Grant Guidelines and Procedures Concept Letter. The Concept Letter should include a cover letter indicating the grant request is for The Edna Foundation. This fund typically awards four to five grants per year, ranging from $1,000 to $5,000.

John S. and James L. Knight Foundation Fund
The John S. and James L. Knight Foundation intends to invest $70 million over the next seven years in community foundations serving cities and towns where the Knight brothers owned newspapers. The Knight Foundation noted that "this new Community Foundation Initiative will deepen Knight Foundation's focus on fostering informed, engaged communities."

Informed and Engaged Communities
Knight cares about local access news and information as they always have – that’s the “informed” part of the equation. To Knight, community engagement means creating opportunities for ordinary residents to come together, deliberate, and take action collectively to address public problems or issues that residents themselves define as important and in ways that they themselves decide are appropriate.

Knight believes approaches that put residents at the center are powerful ways to achieve social change, and that engaged communities are better places to live, work, and play.

Grant requests should address one of the following four focus areas:

1. creating new opportunities to participate;
2. supporting and developing community leadership;
3. creating spaces for engagement; and
4. providing leadership in understanding engagement in communities.

New Opportunities to Participate

• Enhancing the role of citizens in local problem solving
• Fostering interaction to promote trust, reciprocity, and understanding among community members
• Supporting collaborations between government and community leadership
• Providing leadership skills to youth and young professionals
• Ensuring the community’s leadership reflects the area’s diversity

Leadership

• Helping groups of leaders work together on a shared vision for the community
• Investing in the convening and/or collaboration of leadership of essential community institutions

Spaces for Engagement

• Providing opportunities for cross-sections of the community to share in cultural or civic events

Community Influence and Solutions

• Supporting virtual and physical spaces where social interacting, public deliberation, and community action thrive
• Repository of engagement stories, tools, and innovation

To apply for funding from the donor advised fund, complete the John S. and James L Knight Donor Advised Grant Request Form and return it with the requested documentation to the Community Foundation at 555 E. Wayne St., Fort Wayne, IN 46802.

To apply for funding from the John S. and James L. Knight Foundation located in Miami, please go to their Web site at http://www.knightfoundation.org/grants.

Isaac Campbell Kidd Fund
The Isaac Campbell Kidd Fund was established in 2000 as a donor advised fund by Dr. William Lewis, co-founder and former medical director of Parkview Hospital’s neonatal intensive care unit. Upon the death of Dr. Lewis in June 2009, the Fund became a field of interest fund that continues to support programs designed to help children with an emphasis on programs that prevent child abuse and neglect.

Isaac Campbell Kidd, the commanding officer on the battleship Arizona, was killed in the raid on Pearl Harbor. Dr. Lewis’s father was the chief physician on that ship and was, fortunately, on shore leave when the attack occurred. Dr. Lewis named the fund in honor of his father’s friend.

This fund is not currently accepting unsolicited applications; however it may in the future. Please check back for periodic updates.