Lilly Endowment Assets Increase Slightly
Subscriber Benefit
As a subscriber you can listen to articles at work, in the car, or while you work out. Subscribe NowIndianapolis-based Lilly Endowment Inc. is reporting $7.5 billion in assets as of the end of last year, compared to $7.4 billion a year earlier. In its annual report, the organization also says it made grant payments totaling more than $270 million during 2013. May 16, 2014
News Release
INDIANAPOLIS, Ind. – Lilly Endowment Inc. today released its 2013 annual report entitled “Cutting a Lookout.”
It highlights the efforts of several of the Endowment's grantees, details the private foundation's 2013 grant distributions, and presents its audited financial statements.
The report's theme draws upon the advice that J.K. Lilly Sr. – who established the Endowment with his two sons, Eli and J.K. Jr., in 1937 – gave to his associates during a hike in the southern Indiana woods: “Always cut a place for a lookout. Always have a vista.” Mr. Lilly's advice has remained a steadfast principle at Lilly Endowment, and the Endowment’s leaders have maintained a deep commitment to purposeful grantmaking in community development, education and religion, the areas its founders prioritized.
Similarly, the Endowment has encouraged its grantees to “always have a vista” by supporting their efforts to reflect, conduct and analyze research to aid their decision making and assess where they have been and where they are as a means to sharpen their visions and plans for future action.
Stories in the 2013 report feature the efforts of charitable organizations across the city, state and country that have recently used Endowment funds to “cut a place for a lookout.”
Accounts of how Endowment funding has provided an opportunity for organizations to engage in reflection, research and planning for the future include:
-An 11-county, southwest central Indiana region's development of a comprehensive strategic plan
-The role the Social Assets and Vulnerabilities Indicators (SAVI) database plays in helping organizations in central Indiana communities assess the needs of their communities and evaluate the impact of their programs
-Indianapolis Public Library's in-depth research and strategic planning to ensure that it continues to meet the needs of the communities it serves
-Indiana colleges' and universities' efforts to conceive and develop school-specific strategies for their graduates to find meaningful employment in the state
-TechPoint's study of the IT sector's employment landscape and pilot of talent recruitment programs
-American Indian College Fund's creation of a new data system that will help it strengthen member colleges' abilities to gather and share information about Native American students
-Sixty-seven theological schools' efforts across the country to decrease the debt burden of their graduates and make ministry more affordable
-Princeton Theological Seminary's study of effective youth theological programs
YMCA of Greater Indianapolis' community assessment of the desire for and feasibility of a chaplaincy program and new programming that is derived from the study
The finance and grantmaking section of the report indicates that the enduring generosity of the Endowment's founders has enabled it to disburse since its founding $8.2 billion in grants to 9,036 charitable organizations, most of them in Indiana. $3.4 billion (41 percent) supported education, $2.7 billion (33 percent) supported community development and $2.1 billion (26 percent) supported religion. As of Dec. 31, 2013, Lilly Endowment held $7.5 billion in assets.
During 2013 the Endowment made grant payments totaling $270.3 million. Education grants
accounted for $127.1 million (47 percent), religion grants accounted for $75.7 million (28 percent), and community development grants totaled $67.5 million (25 percent).
Most grants were paid to organizations in Indiana – a total of $186.4 million (69 percent). Of the payment total of $270.3 million, $136.4 million (50 percent) was paid to non-Marion County grantees in Indiana and $50 million (19 percent) to Marion County (Indianapolis) grantees.
Organizations outside Indiana received $83.9 million (31 percent), mostly from religion grants.
During 2013 the Endowment approved 668 grants for a total of $260.8 million to 529 grantees, 124 new to the Endowment. Education grants totaled the most dollars at $117.1 million (45 percent).
Approvals for religion grants totaled $75.7 million (29 percent), while approvals for community
development totaled $68 million (26 percent).
Similar to the geographic distribution of the grants paid in 2013, 68 percent of grants approved went to Indiana organizations. Of the $260.8 million in grants approved, $128.6 million (49 percent) was approved for non-Marion county grantees in Indiana and $48.2 million (19 percent) to Marion County (Indianapolis) grantees. Indiana organizations were thus awarded $176.8 million. $84 million (32 percent) in grants was approved for non-Indiana organizations. A full listing of 2013 grants can be found in the report and on the Endowment’s website at www.lillyendowment.org.
Source: Lilly Endowment Inc.