The Community Foundation of St. Joseph County

The federal record gives May 1974 — the Foundation's own text says 1992; both print

The founding, in conflict: No entry in this account carries a founding its own sources state two ways as plainly as this one. The Community Foundation of St. Joseph County's current published text, carried in its own releases of 2026, reads: "Since its founding in 1992, the Foundation has grown to become one of the top 100 community foundations in the United States." A business-directory aggregation gives 1991. Against both, the federal record attached to the Foundation's own employer identification number, 23-7365930, at its own address, under its own president's name, gives an exemption date of May 1974 — a date that implies a corporation organized by 1974, whether this Foundation in an earlier form or a predecessor whose identity it carries. This account prints all three and settles none: the Foundation's full institutional history, which would reconcile them, was not among the materials reached, and the reconciliation stands as the first route in this section's update list. What is not in doubt is the institution: a charitable endowment at 305 South Michigan Street that receives gifts, invests them permanently, and grants the earnings to the county's charities. Individual donors' gifts belong to Major Donations; the Foundation's own record stands here.

The series: The figures print as a dated series, each from its reporter. Assets: "over 250 million dollars, ranking us in the top 100 community foundations nationally," in the Foundation's own job posting of the earlier 2020s; "over 300 million dollars" in a later posting; and 327.4 million dollars of assets against 61.3 million dollars of revenue in its most recent federal filing as compiled by Cause IQ. Grantmaking: 26.7 million dollars in a recent filing year (the filing as compiled by Instrumentl), and "more than 100 million dollars granted since inception," in a South Bend Tribune column of 2026 relaying the Foundation's figures. Single grants mark the scale at ground level: a 1,000,000-dollar matching grant to the Morris Performing Arts Center's Morris 100 campaign (city board minutes, 2022); 30,000,000 dollars in two grants from Lilly Endowment (Lilly's own 2024 approvals list); a 4,000,000-dollar READI 2.0 grant toward a State Theatre cinema project (South Bend Tribune, 2026); a 60,000-dollar grant to AHEPA 100 Apartments for fall-prevention renovation (release of May 2026).

The work: The Foundation's own list of the initiatives it has spearheaded runs: ArtsEverywhere, the African American Community Fund, the Early Years Count Education Initiative, the Leighton Award for Nonprofit Excellence — whose 2025 winner was the Studebaker National Museum — the Senior Living Initiative, the 21st Century Scholar Success Initiative, and the county's Dolly Parton's Imagination Library. Rose Meissner is its president in the public record of office. Its scholarships and initiative grants move money through nearly every other institution in this account; it is the charitable economy's reservoir, and its founding-date conflict is the record's open file, printed open.

Sources:

1. Community Foundation of St. Joseph County, organizational text in its release of 20 May 2026 (AHEPA Senior Living release) — "Since its founding in 1992"; the endowment description; 305 South Michigan Street.
2. Internal Revenue Service exempt-organizations record (EIN 23-7365930), via nonprofit directories — the exemption date of May 1974; the Foundation's address and president.
3. Community Foundation of St. Joseph County, job postings (WayUp) — "assets have grown to over 250 million dollars" and, later, "over 300 million dollars," each "top 100 nationally"; the initiatives list.
4. Cause IQ, from the Foundation's Form 990 — revenue 61.3 million dollars; assets 327.4 million dollars; seventeen employees.
5. Instrumentl, from the Foundation's Form 990 — total giving of 26,734,186 dollars.
6. South Bend Tribune (Jeff Rea column), 2026 — the Foundation "formed more than 25 years ago"; "more than 100 million dollars" granted since inception; the Imagination Library.
7. City of South Bend Hotel-Motel Tax Board minutes, 23 February 2022 — the Foundation's 1,000,000-dollar Morris 100 matching grant.
8. Lilly Endowment, 2024 grant approvals — 30,000,000 dollars in two grants to the Community Foundation of St. Joseph County.
9. South Bend Tribune, 2026 — the 4,000,000-dollar READI 2.0 grant for the State Theatre project.