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Mission & Guidelines

The mission of the Lafayette Life Foundation ("Foundation") will be to principally fund charitable programs in the greater Lafayette, Indiana area.

Local Community

The Foundation generally limits its grant making to organizations within its local community. The Foundation generally defines "its local community" as the greater Lafayette, Indiana area. However, on rare occasion, the Foundation may expand the geographic scope of its grant making based upon the particular merits of an organization or program.

Calendar Year

Normally, we grant one request to an organization during any calendar year. This includes any outstanding pledges until the pledge has been paid.

Tax Requirements

The Foundation will only make a grant to an organization that is recognized as exempt from federal taxation pursuant to Sections 501(a) and 501(c)(3) of the Internal Revenue Code of 1986, as amended (the "Code"), and a public charity as described in Code Section 509(a).

Funding Priorities

The Foundation receives many more requests than it can support. A decision to decline a request does not imply that the applicant's program is not needed or valued, but simply that it does not fall within the Foundation's giving guidelines or priorities, or that funds are not available. With this background in mind, the Foundation's grant making activity will be focused on programs that serve the following areas: charitable and education activities.

Ineligibility

Requests to or for the following will cause such requests to fall outside of the Foundation's grant criteria:

  • Organizations that are not recognized as exempt from federal taxation pursuant to Code Sections 501(a) and 501(c)(3), or are not public charities as described in Code Section 509(a)
  • Individuals, individual scholarships or travel support
  • Federal, state or local governments, agencies, political subdivisions, or affiliates, including Indian tribal governments
  • Organizations residing outside the United States, unless they have an IRS determination letter recognizing their status as a public charity pursuant to Code Sections 501(a), 501(c)(3) and 509(a)
  • Conferences or workshops
  • Debt reduction
  • Fraternal, labor or veteran's organizations
  • Political contributions
  • Beauty or talent contests
  • No Capital Expenditures
  • Compensation or stipends
  • Sponsorship of fundraising events (e.g., walk-a-thons, golf tournaments, auctions, etc.)
  • Memorials