Dear Friends,
During the last three years, our community has faced extraordinary challenges, including pandemic-related shut-downs, inflationary pressures and persistent issues associated with homelessness, mental health and food insecurity.
In Central Illinois, you have recognized the challenges and stepped up. You have supported the Community Foundation for the Land of Lincoln and our efforts to bolster programs that help people and think long-term about the future of this region and its residents.
Through difficult times and volatile markets, the Community Foundation continued to grow. At the beginning of 2020, we administered 235 funds and $44 million in assets. By the end of 2022, the Foundation administered 291 funds and $64 million in assets. In the last three years, we distributed $12.3 million to help the poor, children, seniors, and persons with disabilities, as well as support education, the arts, historic preservation and recreation. In 2022 alone, we awarded 110 scholarships.
The Community Foundation pushed forward with “The Next Ten” initiative, focusing on long-term projects to improve our region. An example was the Foundation’s $200,000 investment to develop a Master Plan for the Illinois State Fair – something that had not been done in the 170-year history of the Fairgrounds! Other Next Ten projects focused on cleaning up of the Pillsbury Mills site and supporting the Downtown and Medical District development.
I am also proud of the Foundation’s outreach to the seven counties abutting Sangamon and success developing new relationships and funding initiatives. The Community Foundation has established many new funds and increased grantmaking in these counties, and our outreach will continue to grow.
On behalf of the Community Foundation’s board and staff, thank you for your continuing support. Because of you, we have accomplished much and connected more people who care with causes that matter. Sincerely, Allen Grosboll Chair Board of Directors
2023 Annual Report
2021 Annual Report
2020 Annual Report
2019 Annual Report
2018 Annual Report
The Community Foundation publishes two newsletters annually to help promote funds and initiatives improving our community, provide information for donors and nonprofits, promote recent grant awards, and more.
The Sangamon County Citizen Survey is a collaborative effort between the UIS Center for State Policy & Leadership, the Community Foundation for the Land of Lincoln, and the United Way of Central Illinois. The project’s purpose is to establish benchmarks and assess changes in residents’ assessments of the quality of life in Sangamon County. The periodic survey provides local leaders, community organizations, and citizens with longitudinal insight into issues facing local residents.
Read the 2021 Citizen Survey
The 2021 Sangamon County Comprehensive Economic Developement Strategy sets forth a plan for developing the local economy at a time of change and uncertainty, but where the community’s inherent strengths provide reason for confidence about the future. The formulation of the CEDS was overseen by a partnership between the Springfield Sangamon Growth Alliance and the Community Foundation for the Land of Lincoln.
Read the 2021 CEDS for Sangamon County