Grant Eligibility

The Smithville Charitable Foundation supports nonprofit organizations that are classified as tax-exempt under section 501(c)(3) of the Internal Revenue Code. We do not make grants to any individuals, nor do we consider grant requests outside of Boone, Brown, Daviess, Dubois, Gibson, Greene, Hendricks, Howard, Lawrence, Martin, Monroe, Morgan, Orange, Owen, Posey, Sullivan, and Tipton counties. While we occasionally award grant requests to nonprofits who serve multiple counties, we encourage those organizations to contact us before applying. For example, we will not accept requests from organizations located in Indianapolis who would then distribute the funds to our counties. Smithville Charitable Foundation does not accept sponsorship requests.

The Smithville Charitable Foundation will not approve applications that request funds for Operating Expenses.  This is effective immediately and pertains to all organizations, even those who have received a previous grant for those items.  The Foundation defines Operating Expenses as expenses that are incurred in the regular operations of business.  The following are examples of requests that will not be considered for a grant:

  • Payroll and/or Benefits
  • Rent
  • Marketing
  • Utilities

Determine Fit

Annually, the SCF grants approximately $1 million to counties served by customers of Smithville Communications. Over the past 10 years, the SCF has distributed over $10 million dollars in grants to local counties. We support a variety of causes related to education, health, relief of poverty or distress, arts and culture, and various public organizations in the 17 counties listed above. However, our grantmaking is not limited to these categories, and we encourage you to contact us with questions regarding eligibility. We rarely consider multi-year requests or pilot programs.

Funding Inquiries

Inquiries provide our staff with information about your organization, program or project, and overall alignment with the Smithville Charitable Foundation’s funding priorities. Inquiries may be made at any time and are continually responded to by SCF staff. Your questions about the grant process are important to us, but it may take one or two business days to respond. Please feel free to contact Amanda Flora at (812) 935-2283 or via e-mail at amanda.flora@smithville.com.

Submit a Grant Proposal

Smithville Charitable Foundation accepts grant proposals in one cycle each year. The dates of the cycle will be in the fall, usually in August and September.  Check our website for a link to the application, which will be available when the cycle opens. The SCF uses diverse criteria to determine which proposals will be funded: the dollar amount of the request, evidence the applicant has been successful in the past, the community that will benefit from the funding, number of people served, etc. We look for applicants who can demonstrate the need for the project or program and their ability to meet that need.

Become a Grantee

When the grant cycle is available (which will be posted on our website), an online application will need to be completed during the dates noted.  The distribution of grant funds to approved grant proposals will be made by the end of October.