Community Foundation of Southern Indiana Receives National Recognition
The Community Foundation of Southern Indiana recently received renewed accreditation with the nation’s highest standard for philanthropic excellence. National Standards for U.S. Community Foundations® establish legal, ethical, effective practices for community foundations everywhere.
“Meeting the National Standards benchmarks is a rigorous, comprehensive process,” said Randy Royster, Chair of the Community Foundations National Standards Board. “This accreditation is a significant accomplishment that indicates the Community Foundation of Southern Indiana demonstrates a commitment to transparency, quality, integrity and accountability as it carries out its mission.”
The National Standards for U.S. Community Foundations® program requires community foundations to document their policies for donor services, investments, grantmaking and administration. With over 500 community foundations already accredited nationwide, the program is designed to provide quality assurance to donors, as well as to their legal and financial advisors.
“This is critically important to our donors,” said Linda Speed, Community Foundation of Southern Indiana, president and CEO. “When people make a charitable bequest or establish a fund, they are putting their trust in us. They are counting on us to manage the investment wisely, honor their charitable wishes and, in some cases, provide lifetime income to a loved one. The National Standards accreditation says our house is in order.”
The Community Foundation of Southern Indiana (CFSI) works to provide leadership and resources to meet critical community needs and support local causes, including our economy, environment, providing basic needs for our community’s most vulnerable, supporting education and workforce development, providing scholarships to area youth, and supporting our region’s arts and culture as well as our healthful living.
CFSI offers a range of charitable funds, allowing donors to advance a cause, support an individual organization, provide flexible support for community needs or recommend individual grants. In addition to affirming the organization’s philanthropic services, the accreditation validates CFSI’s grantmaking practices for the nonprofit community.
“Grantmaking is a lot like investing,” said Gary Banet, CFSI board chair. “We need to assess risks, weigh potential gains, diversify assets, monitor performance and operate fairly. With our National Standards accreditation, you can be assured that we’re doing just that.”
National Standards for U.S. Community Foundations® is the first program of its kind for charitable foundations in the United States.
Through philanthropic services, strategic investments and community leadership, Community Foundation of Southern Indiana helps people support the causes they care about, now and for generations to come.
About National Standards
The Community Foundations National Standards Board is a supporting organization of the Council on Foundations and is responsible for the quality, value and integrity of compliance with National Standards. For more information on the National Standards Board, visit its website at www.cfstandards.org.
About CFSI
The Community Foundation of Southern Indiana was founded in 1991 as the region’s partner, resource and steward in philanthropy. The Foundation manages over $106 million in charitable assets and 240 individual funds – each of which supports the unique charitable intent of the donor who established the fund. Annually, the Foundation awards millions in grants and scholarships to support our community and is a National Standards certified community foundation. For more information about the Community Foundation, contact 812-948-4662 or visit www.cfsouthernindiana.com.