ABOUT THE LIMA COMMUNITY FOUNDATION

In 1914, a well known Cleveland, Ohio banker, Fredrick Harris Goff, founded the first community foundation in the world. In forming the organization, he created a dynamic, corporately structured foundation that could manage and distribute community gifts, donations, scholarship funds, charitable contributions and more in a responsive and need-appropriate manner. There are now more than 1,600 community foundations around the world, with half of them in the United States. The Lima Community Foundation was formed by Margery Webb in 1965 to serve the needs of the Lima area.

The purpose of The Lima Community Foundation is to receive, hold, administer and disburse funds and property for such public charitable uses as will, in the judgement of its Board of Directors, most effectively promote the well being of the inhabitants of the City of Lima, and Allen County, Ohio without any discrimination as to race, color, or creed. Quite simply, we connect donors who care with causes that matter. Since 1965, The Lima Community Foundation has assisted people and businesses to donate money and other assets to support local charities. The Lima Community Foundation can help you invest in the causes you care most about, set up endowments that ensure your gifts continue long into the future, and give you maximum tax benefits. We grow those gifts and make grants to local nonprofit organizations, scholarship funds and other worthwhile projects based on the causes you care about. Types of gifts can include, but are not limited to: cash, securities, closely held stocks, real estate, insurance policies, and more.

The Lima Community Foundation also serves as an umbrella 501 (c)(3) organization for dozens of  groups, saving them the time and paperwork involved in running a nonprofit. This makes it possible for many smaller groups to create funds that they may not otherwise have the capacity to establish and manage.

With more than 120 funds, over $6 million in assets and annual grants of nearly $500,000, The Lima Community Foundation provides an enduring source of charitable funding to benefit the Lima/Allen County area now and for many generations to come.