Get Full Government Meeting Transcripts, Videos, & Alerts Forever!
Get email alerts on the Community Nonprofits topic
No spam. Unsubscribe anytime.
Community Foundation of Pulaski County declines county gift this year, asks to be considered in future
Summary
Leanne Wright, executive director of the Community Foundation of Pulaski County, told county officials she will not request a budget gift this year because of county budget pressures but asked the council to consider the foundation in future budgets and highlighted upcoming events and fundraising.
Leanne Wright, executive director of the Community Foundation of Pulaski County, told county elected officials on the budget review docket that the foundation will not request a direct gift from the county this year, citing legislative changes that have reduced county revenue.
Wright said the county’s past support allowed the foundation to expand grantmaking and launch programs addressing housing needs, broadband infrastructure, the local childcare shortage and nonprofit capacity building. “This year, I respectfully am declining to make a request,” Wright said. “Because all of us need to do more with less, particularly this coming year.”
The foundation asked only that the council consider its work in future budgets and described itself as a partner in county prosperity. Wright also outlined scheduled programs and fundraising plans the foundation expects will continue without a new county appropriation this fiscal year. She listed a Sept. 10 “Nettime Economics” lunch-and-learn on childcare, a Sept. 11 annual celebration, an Oct. 23 nonprofit convening to review a nonprofit snapshot survey, and participation in Giving Tuesday on Dec. 2. Wright said unrestricted gifts made on Giving Tuesday will be matched two-to-one through the Lilly Endowment’s Gift Indiana initiative and that the foundation is “about 81% of the way to our goal” with roughly $50,000 remaining to meet that target.
County officials responded briefly, thanking Wright for the update and saying they appreciated her decision not to seek a county gift during a year of constrained revenue. Wright closed by thanking the council for its service to the county and reiterated the foundation’s availability as a local philanthropic partner.
The discussion was limited to the foundation’s decision not to request an appropriation and to its upcoming programming and fundraising; no formal county action, motion or vote was recorded on the foundation’s status or funding during the meeting.
