Community Foundation of St. Joseph County

What Community Foundation of St. Joseph County does

The Community Foundation of St. Joseph County is a tax-exempt community foundation established in 1992 and headquartered in South Bend, Indiana, that stewards more than $338 million in combined assets and endowment (as of June 2025) to improve quality of life across St. Joseph County and, through specific programs, a six-county region of northern Indiana. It operates as a perpetual charitable endowment, receiving gifts from individuals, families, and organizations, investing those gifts in perpetuity, and distributing a portion of investment earnings annually as grants to local nonprofits and scholarships to local students. Core service offerings are organized around three pillars: (1) donor services — donor-advised funds (endowed and pass-through), community endowment funds, organizational/nonprofit endowment funds, and planned giving vehicles including wills, IRAs, charitable gift annuities, charitable remainder trusts, and charitable lead trusts; (2) competitive grantmaking — biannual cycles for Special Project Grants, ArtsEverywhere Grants, and Senior Living Grants, supplemented by large targeted initiatives; and (3) scholarship administration — more than 80 named scholarship funds disbursing close to $1 million annually to local students through a centralized application system.

The Foundation's revenue mechanics are atypical. Its standard administrative fee is 1% of fund market value annually (assessed monthly at 1/12%), but most endowed funds are fee-waived courtesy of the Leighton Endowment for the Advancement of Philanthropy, established in December 1997 by philanthropist Judd Leighton. Core endowed funds (Community Endowment, ArtsEverywhere, Senior Living), scholarship funds, and pass-through structures pay the standard fee; supporting organizations pay a reduced 0.4%. Fund minimums are $10,000 for general funds and $25,000 for scholarships or agency endowments. Substantively the Foundation is a regional platform rather than a single-product entity: it operates flagship initiatives including Dolly Parton's Imagination Library (over 10,000 preschoolers enrolled), the 21st Century Scholar Success Initiative (a coalition of more than 20 partners serving low-income students), the Early Years Count Education Initiative (launched 2001 with a $5 million Lilly Endowment grant using the HighScope curriculum), the Senior Living Initiative, the African American Community Fund (assets approaching $2.8 million), and, most recently, the South Bend–Elkhart Regional Housing Collaborative (launched 2025 with a $20 million Lilly Endowment grant in partnership with two peer community foundations to address a 15,000-unit tri-county housing deficit). It is also the designated Regional Arts Partner for the Indiana Arts Commission serving Elkhart, Fulton, Kosciusko, Marshall, Starke, and St. Joseph counties.

Operationally the Foundation is small, with approximately 11 staff members and a single office in downtown South Bend. Under continuous leadership of President Rose Meissner since founding (a 30+ year tenure), the organization is consistently recognized as one of Indiana's largest community foundations and among the top 100 community foundations in the United States. Distribution occurs through competitive grants cycles, scholarship administration, donor-advised fund grant recommendations, and convening partnerships with local nonprofits, peer foundations, and major funders (most notably Lilly Endowment). Customer-facing technology is limited to standard administrative portals (Grant Interface for applications, a donor portal at cfsjc.donorcentral.com), and no proprietary technology, API, or AI/ML capability is disclosed.

Name

Community Foundation of St. Joseph County

Legal name

Community Foundation of St. Joseph County

Website

https://cfsjc.org

Company type

Private

Founded year

1992

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

11–50 employees

Short description

The Community Foundation of St. Joseph County is a South Bend, Indiana-based nonprofit community foundation stewarding $338M+ in assets to channel charitable gifts into grants, scholarships, and regional initiatives across St. Joseph County and northern Indiana, under continuous presidential leadership since 1992.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Community Foundation Services

NAICS

Grantmaking Foundations (813211), Grantmaking and Giving Services (81321)

SIC

Services-Social Services (8300)

akta.pro primary industry

Community Foundations (BPAGAKAB)

akta.pro secondary industries

Education Grantmaking Foundations (BPAGAKAK), Arts, Culture & Humanities Grantmaking Foundations (BPAGAKAJ), Scholarship & Fellowship Foundations and Trusts (EDADAHAC)

Keywords

• Community foundation services
• Charitable endowment management
• Competitive grant programs
• Scholarship administration
• Donor-advised funds

Headquarters

HQ city

South Bend

HQ country

United States

HQ region

North America

Offices2 records

Markets served

GTM type

B2C

Offering type

Services

Cost components

Personnel, Operations, Others, Marketing or Sales, Technology or R&D

Revenue model

1. Charitable Gifts and Endowments: The Foundation receives gifts from donors who care about the St. Joseph County community, invests these gifts forever, and uses investment earnings to make grants each year to local charities. Individuals may set up funds to benefit specific charities or serve a field of charitable interest.
2. Administrative Fees: Standard administrative fee of 1% of market value annually on funds, though waived for most endowed funds through the Leighton Endowment for the Advancement of Philanthropy.

Pricing tiers

Go-to-market motion1 record

Distribution channels5 records

Marketing channels8 records

Core offering

The Community Foundation of St. Joseph County is a charitable endowment that receives gifts from donors who care about the St. Joseph County community, invests these gifts perpetually, and uses investment earnings to make grants to local nonprofits each year. It administers donor-advised funds, community and organizational endowment funds, planned giving instruments, scholarship programs, and targeted community initiatives addressing arts, education, housing, senior services, and early childhood literacy.

Product overview

The Community Foundation of St. Joseph County operates as a charitable endowment organization offering a portfolio of grantmaking, scholarship, and donor services. The core offerings include competitive grants programs (ArtsEverywhere, Special Project Grants, Senior Living Grants), scholarship programs (80+ funds awarding ~$1M annually), and donor-advised funds. The Foundation also manages targeted initiatives including Dolly Parton's Imagination Library, the 21st Century Scholar Success Initiative, Early Years Count Education Initiative, Senior Living Initiative, Leighton Award for Nonprofit Excellence, African American Community Fund, and the South Bend-Elkhart Regional Housing Collaborative. Services are accessible through online portals including the Grant Interface system for applications and a Fund Portal for donors.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Brands

• African American Community Fund: An initiative established in 1999 with assets approaching $2.8 million, consisting of one primary fund and more than 20 individual funds established by African American families and organizations.
• ArtsEverywhere Initiative
• Dolly Parton's Imagination Library
• Early Years Count Education Initiative
• 21st Century Scholar Success Initiative
• South Bend-Elkhart Regional Housing Collaborative
• Senior Living Initiative
• Leighton Award for Nonprofit Excellence

Products and services

• Competitive Grants Program

Quantifiable outcome

• More than $1 million awarded annually in scholarships to local students
• +3 more outcomes

Named customers8 records

Segments1 record

Ideal customer profiles4 records

Technology focussed No

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Partnerships

Eight partnerships are on record, tiered core and minor.

• Community Foundation of Elkhart CountycoreStrategic or Co-development Partner · 1 January 2025Partner in South Bend - Elkhart Regional Housing Collaborative addressing housing deficit of 15,000+ units across the tri-county region.
• Community Foundation of Marshall CountycoreStrategic or Co-development Partner · 1 January 2025Partner in South Bend - Elkhart Regional Housing Collaborative addressing housing deficit and 2,000+ blighted properties.
• Indiana Arts Commission (IAC)coreStrategic or Co-development PartnerThe Foundation is one of 12 Regional Arts Partners with the Indiana Arts Commission, serving as Region II partner covering Elkhart, Fulton, Kosciusko, Marshall, Starke, and St. Joseph counties. The partnership distributes IAC grants and provides arts funding access to the six-county region.
• 21st Century Scholar Success Coalition PartnerscoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerMore than 20 key partners in K-12 education, higher education, economic development, and social services working to increase low-income student degree completion through Indiana's 21st Century Scholars program.
• Family Connection of St. Joseph CountyminorStrategic or Co-development PartnerPartner in Early Years Count Education Initiative using the research-based HighScope program to train teachers in effective classroom techniques.
• HighScopeminorStrategic or Co-development PartnerResearch-based, nationally recognized curriculum used in Early Years Count Education Initiative for teacher training.
• OaklawnminorStrategic or Co-development PartnerPartner organization at New Day Intake Center providing mental health and addiction recovery services.
• Our Lady of the RoadminorStrategic or Co-development PartnerPartner organization at New Day Intake Center providing social services to guests.

Scale indicators11 records

Recent moves6 records

Expansion highlights6 records

Direct peers

• Community Foundation of Marshall County: The third partner in the South Bend–Elkhart Regional Housing Collaborative and another Indiana county community foundation. Operates the same donor-advised fund, scholarship, and competitive grants model as CFSJC.
• Community Foundation of Elkhart County: An Indiana community foundation and active partner with CFSJC in the South Bend–Elkhart Regional Housing Collaborative. Directly comparable as a county-level community foundation administering endowments, scholarships, and competitive grants in Northern Indiana.
• Legacy Foundation (Hamilton County): An Indiana community foundation serving Hamilton County with donor-advised funds, scholarships, and competitive grants. Comparable structure and Indiana-specific operating context, though focused on a more affluent suburban county.
• The Indianapolis Foundation: Indiana's largest community foundation, focused on the Indianapolis region. Directly comparable in mission, structure (donor-advised funds, competitive grants, scholarships, leadership initiatives), and Indiana community foundation operating model, but at significantly larger scale.
• Community Foundation of Greater Fort Wayne: An Indiana community foundation operating in northeast Indiana with similar endowment, scholarship, and competitive grantmaking programs. Comparable as a regional Indiana community foundation with a comparable asset base scale.

Others

• Council on Foundations: The U.S. national membership association for community foundations and private foundations. Not a competitor but a relevant peer organization providing industry standards, advocacy, and benchmarking that CFSJC participates in.
• Lilly Endowment Inc. A major private foundation that has provided CFSJC with multiple transformational grants ($5M in 2001, $20M in 2025). Functions as a funder rather than peer, but is the most consequential external funding relationship shaping CFSJC's initiative portfolio.
• Indiana Arts Commission: The state arts agency that contracts with CFSJC as one of 12 Regional Arts Partners (Region II). A funder and ecosystem partner rather than competitor, but directly relevant to CFSJC's ArtsEverywhere initiative and arts grantmaking operations.

Broad incumbents

• The Cleveland Foundation: One of the oldest and largest U.S. community foundations ($3B+ in assets). Comparable model (donor-advised funds, competitive grants, scholarship programs, leadership initiatives) but operates at a much larger scale and broader geographic scope, serving as an upper-bound benchmark for CFSJC's growth trajectory.
• Silicon Valley Community Foundation: A very large U.S. community foundation operating donor-advised funds and regional grantmaking. Comparable foundation structure but serves a much larger, wealthier donor market and operates at substantially greater scale.

Market position

Strengths5 records

Weaknesses5 records

Competitive moat5 records

Key risks6 records

Key highlights7 records

Customer concentration

• YouTubeyoutube.com/channel/UChQMogB2jC-UZDnOAKcQl2g
• Facebookfacebook.com/CommunityFoundationSJC
• Instagraminstagram.com/CommunityFoundationSJC

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles16 records

Funding overview

Funding rounds

Investors

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M&A

Investments

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Frequently asked questions about Community Foundation of St. Joseph County