Harrison County Community Foundation (HCCF)

Our mission is to inspire and assist everyone to experience philanthropy, producing positive and sustainable growth in Harrison County. Our vision is to grow Harrison County into the best Community to live, work and raise a family. We value generosity, integrity, sustainability, stewardship, innovation, collaboration, inclusion, and excellence. Harrison County Community Foundation (hccf) has a unique history. In a riverboat gaming development agreement dated may 15, 1996, rdi/caesars riverboat, llc agreed with the Harrison County, Indiana, government to provide $5,000,000 to create the Foundation. The 3 seated County commissioners selected 21 Harrison County citizens to become the founding board of directors. Over time, hccf has grown to include 8 full-time staff, a 16-member board of directors, and multiple Community volunteers. Because of the tremendous contributions from caesars southern Indiana (formerly horseshoe southern Indiana), hccf has been able to embark on several ambitious projects. Hccf functions like any other Community Foundation by providing opportunities for donors to support their favorite causes. Additionally, the ongoing support from caesars southern Indiana enables hccf to offer various gift-matching programs. The Harrison County Community Foundation values its role as a catalyst, convener, and collaborator, bringing other funders and nonprofits (nfps) together around vital issues and adding key support to make positive change possible. Our work is centered around what we know about Community needs.we serve residents of Harrison County in the following ways: -awarding grants to help nfp organizations provide needed services in arts and culture, education, environment, health, human services, etc. -awarding academic and vocational scholarships to Harrison County graduating students and adult students -funding programs benefiting children, youth, and adults -providing an avenue for donors to meet their charitable goals through endowment funds-helping nfps be more sustainable so they can help more County residents thrive programs include:- dolly parton's imagination library (dpil) - ecourages parents to read to their children by providing each preschool child enrolled in the program with an age-appropriate book in the mail each month until their 5th birthday. Nearly 1,500 participants received a book as part of dpil in 2023 (449 new sign-ups) children can be enrolled through hccf or at 1 of the participating partners: Harrison County public library, ymca of Harrison County, Harrison County Community services, Harrison County health department, and Harrison County hospital. During the 2023 legislative agenda, dpil funding support was approved in governor eric j. holcomb's budget. The Indiana state library will be the state program sponsor to help offset the expenses of this program with a 50% reduction in expenses for hccf as the local sponsor for dpil. The early readers fund, which supports the dolly parton imagination library, continues to benefit from a 2:1 match. - the dictionary project - provides a dictionary to every 3rd grader in Harrison County. Students attending the 9 Harrison County elementary schools receive their own dictionary to use at school and take home. 557 dictionaries were distributed in 2023. 8,146 have been distributed since hccf began partnering with the dictionary project in 2008. The project's goal is to assist students in completing the school year as good writers, active readers, and creative thinkers. - youth philanthropy council (ypc) - designed to teach skills, encourage youth to give and serve in their communities and make philanthropy a "habit of the heart" for future generations. The program goals are to promote youth development through experiences in philanthropy, to encourage and support Community initiatives that youth care about, and to engage youth through giving and serving for the common good. A group of local high school students reviews submitted ypc grant applications, discusses the merit of each grant application, and comes to a consensus on their grant recommendations. Hccf partners with leadership Harrison County for ypc to participate in the lhc youth program, which involves young leaders from all Harrison County high schools. In 2023, ypc awarded $2,000 to saint joseph catholic school for building a greenhouse, $925 to corydon central vanguard band boosters for purchasing new equipment, $625 to lanesville Community school after prom for purchasing after prom items, $500 to blue river allstars 4h for purchasing carnival for cancer signs/banners and $1,500 for blankets for veterans materials and supplies. The youth philanthropy fund, which provides youth-led grantmaking dollars, continues to benefit from a 2:1 match. - endowments - hccf holds 315 endowment funds supporting a broad array of organizations and causes. The types of funds include designated agency, donor advised, field of interest, scholarship, and builder's funds (unrestricted). The main purpose of an endowment is to provide a long-term and growing source of financial support for an organization or cause. Endowment fund beneficiaries access their funds by completing an endowment fund grant request. Endowment grant requests are reviewed by staff to ensure they meet criteria found in the endowment fund agreement and are approved by the hccf board of directors. Once the funds are used, beneficiaries submit a short grant report form to hccf. - endowed scholarships - nearly half of hccf's endowment funds are devoted to providing scholarships. The wide scope of scholarship criteria and awards reflects the diverse interests of the donors who established them. The Indiana university southeast scholarship fund, established by hccf, provides funding for a $20,000 scholarship at each of the 4 Harrison County high schools to a student planning to attend Indiana university southeast. All scholarships are awarded using objective and nondiscriminatory selection processes. The Indiana university southeast scholarship fund benefits from a 2:1 match.- align southern Indiana (asi) - a nfp organization comprised of business, educational, and nfp Community partners. Through asi, leaders from clark, floyd, Harrison, scott, and Washington counties came together to identify a common vision for our region. The initiative has identified these areas of focus: economic and talent development, education, regional leadership, quality of life, and quality of place. The mission of asi is to actively facilitate a shared regional process that will align resources, address needs, and produce sustainable solutions, resulting in our region achieving its potential as the best place to live, work, and play. Hccf has served a pivotal role in the funding and development of asi and is a sponsoring stakeholder in the initiative, providing $20,000 in 2023. The hccf strategic plan includes continued participation with asi. The align model includes a-teams working in specific teams to improve long-term outcomes for the region. The a-teams include kindergarten readiness, addiction prevention, trails, leadership development, economic and talent development, and early childhood education. - building dynamic boards of directors - hccf requires all nfp organizations submitting a grant application to have at least 1 sitting board member who has completed an hccf-approved board governance training program. Hccf offers training at no cost to participants upon completion. 4 training programs were offered in 2023, with 55 participants.- nfp sustainability - since 2018, the fundraisers group has provided assistance and support for any nfp agency staff tasked with fundraising. About a dozen participants meet every other month for a brown bag lunch. Presentations included your board and fundraising, storytelling, limited-budget fundraising, annual giving, and self-care. With the goal of building capacity and sustainability in the Harrison County nfp Community, hccf formalized a partnership with network for good (nfg) in 2019 to enroll nfps into nfg's fundraising capacity-building program, jumpstart. 8 nfps have participated in the jumpstart program since 2020, with 4 nfps requesting to add an additional year of participation. The nfp growth series (npgs) was created in 2023 to offer Harrison County nfp organizations and those serving the area additional knowledge and training opportunities at a local level. Guest presenters have held various workshops on diversity, equity, inclusion, taxes, accounting and compliance, operational excellence (internal controls), and grant writing.- town planning initiative - funded by lilly endowment, inc.'s gift vii program and with additional funding by hccf is a multi-year initiative that provides resources and support for the 10 incorporated towns in Harrison County to create or update a comprehensive plan and a pavement asset management plan.