Ask most people what a community foundation does, and you will likely hear two words: grants and scholarships. Both matter a great deal. In 2025, the Community Foundation of Noble County awarded $2,004,520 through 394 grants and scholarships.
Behind every one of those awards is a person. A student whose path to college became possible. A local organization able to say yes to one more family. A neighbor whose generosity is still at work long after the gift was made. For the people on the receiving end, these moments can be life-changing.
That is the part of this work I love most. The numbers tell us how much. The people tell us why.
Built by neighbors
Since 1991, neighbors, friends and families across Noble County have turned to the Foundation to spark positive change. We were built on grassroots philanthropy: individuals joining together to build something larger than any one of them could alone. Today, that shared investment has grown to more than $47 million in charitable assets, all of it working for the place we call home.
More than three decades have taught us this: the people are the reason it works. Our role is to make it happen.
What that looks like
We sit down with individuals and families to turn what they care about into a plan: a single gift, a fund in a loved one’s name, or a gift in a will.
We help nonprofits grow stronger. Funding matters, and so does the support to take an organization to the next level. Through quarterly workshops with our regional partners, more than 100 Noble County professionals each year build skills in board leadership, storytelling and fundraising.
We invest in the next generation of givers. Through P.U.L.S.E., students in grades 8 through 12 learn to give their time, talent and treasure, and carry those lessons for life.
And we build permanent resources. Endowed funds are designed to last, so a gift made today can keep supporting Noble County for generations.
Advice from the work
Start with what you love. A school, a cause, a place that shaped you. The most meaningful giving begins with something personal.
Think in generations. Naming a cause you care about in your will or as a beneficiary is one of the simplest ways to keep it supported long after you are gone.
You do not need to be wealthy to leave a legacy. A gift of any size, given with purpose, adds to what we can do together.
Looking ahead
Noble County will face new opportunities and challenges ahead. My hope is that we meet them the way we always have: together. When a community chooses to invest in itself, it does more than solve today’s problems. It creates the ability to shape what comes next.
The people of Noble County will write that future. We are honored to help make it happen.
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