What We Do
The Marshall Community Foundation's continuing objective is to help make tomorrow's Marshall an even better place to live, work and raise a family. We do this by 1) raising funds; 2) managing certain funds; 3) serving as a conduit for special projects; and 4) distribution grants in support of innovative programs.

A community foundation is a union of many gifts, many different estates (or parts of estates) contributed mainly by the people of a particular community for the benefit of that community.

The Marshall Community Foundation's contributed monies come from individuals, families, organizations, foundations or corporations interested in providing support for charitable purposes and to help those organizations, which serve residents of the Marshall area.

These contributions and bequests make up the permanent endowments of the Foundation, and the income from these endowment funds is used to make grants.

A donor may make a gift or bequest of any size to the Foundation. Many donors provide unrestricted gifts to our general Fund for Marshall, giving us important flexibility in helping Marshall institutions and organizations develop new solutions to the needs of our ever-changing society. Other donors designate a specific organization or area of concern, such as "aid to the aged", "health" or "youth." Memorial and Scholarship funds are also available and quite popular.

In addition, there are several specific funds that can be supported and a current listing of these is always available at the Foundation office (and on our website).

Foundation Trustees make final decisions on all grant distributions except, of course, where a donor restricts the gift to a specific institution or area. All grants are made to tax-exempt, charitable organizations serving residents of the Marshall area in categories of health, human services, economic development, the arts, education and civic interests.

That, then is a summary of what we do... because, like you, we care about Marshall.

How We Help
Your community Foundation was established in 1970. It has been the vanguard of many community efforts in those years, beginning with the campaign that transformed the Brook memorial United Methodist Church building into our Civic Center. Then, in 1985, when Miss Ethel Markham left the bulk of her estate ($112,000) to the Foundation, a more vigorous Spresence began. However, until 1992, your Foundation has not been the significant force we envisioned. As a purely volunteer movement, with no offices or telephone, we simply were not able to gather the monies needed to become that force.

In late 1991 and early 1992, however, things began to take a significant turn toward growth.

A three-year, $25,000 grant from Eaton Corporation was announced in the fall of 1991, to help establish a permanent foundation structure. Then, early in 1992, the W. K. Kellogg Foundation awarded us a $50,000 grant to be paid over two years, with the proceeds dedicated to making the Foundation's operations possible for three to five years without drawing from the endowment earnings or using contributed monies for that purpose. The Michigan National Bank in Marshall donated splendid office space; State Farm Insurance gave us fine office equipment and furnishings; and executive director was retained, and by mid-January the Foundation was in business.

We are now positioned to become that significant force in helping to make the future quality of life in and around Marshall even better. Grants are distributed in a typical year to a spectrum of Marshall projects and movements.

These Are The People Who Make It All Possible!
During the past several years, over 2,000 individuals, corporations, businesses and organizations made contributions to the Foundation, whose assets now total over $5 million. The gratitude of the entire community goes out to every donor. Obviously, they too all care about Marshall.

All contributions are tax-deductible on Federal and State returns. In addition, gifts to one of our endowed funds qualifies the donor for a 50% Michigan tax credit, up to a cap of $100 per person or $500 for businesses.

Please call us with any questions or should you wish additional information. We know you care about Marshall. Let's care about tomorrow's Marshall... together.