The Indiana Credit Union Foundation, in addition to awarding scholarships for educational assistance for credit union staff and volunteers, also reviews grant requests. Credit unions or other organizations needing financial assistance in order to reach out to their community to provide education, service to underserved areas, or community development programs can apply for a grant from the Foundation. Examples of the types of programs the Foundation is willing to consider include the following:

• Youth financial literacy education
• Hispanic community outreach programs including financial literacy
• Operational issues related to serving the underserved
• Marketing programs to reach the underserved that can be made available to other credit unions once developed
• Disaster relief
• Community outreach such as Habitat for Humanity
• Support of community-wide charitable events
• Credit union development initiatives

The funding for grants comes from the Foundation's general fund. The funding available for grant requests is dependent upon the success of the fund raising efforts of the Foundation. If your credit union has not made a decision on providing financial support for the Foundation, perhaps now is a good time to do so.

When making a request for a grant, the application should be completed and forwarded to the Foundation Board of Directors along with the grant proposal write-up. Any questions regarding this can be directed to Joe Guilfoy at (800) 594-5300 or (317) 594-5313. Joe can also be reached at joeg@icul.org.

The Foundation Board of Directors is looking forward to being able to support credit unions in their efforts to improve the lives of people in their communities through the grant-making process