Heritage Fund - the Community Foundation of Bartholomew County Inc

What it reported doing in 2025

Heritage fund is the community foundation of bartholomew county. The foundation exists solely for the betterment of the community. Its mission is to provide responsible stewardship of gifts donated for broad charitable purposes, to develop leadership to address community issues, to serve as a catalyst for positive change in partnership with others, and to promote philanthropy within the community. Each year, heritage fund manages a competitive grants process for over $500,000 in unrestricted dollars from the community fund in the areas of opportunity, positive change, community investment, and organizational excellence. The foundation is the key administrator of scholarships for high school seniors in bartholomew county, and conducts the annual selection process for two lilly scholarships. Heritage fund serves as fiscal sponsor for important community projects, two of which are the construction of the commons in 2011, and landmark columbus, a celebration of the design heritage of columbus in 2017. Distribution from the foundations many donor advised, designated, agency and field of interest funds support a broad variety of charitable purposes.the heritage fund board is composed of 26 community leaders. The foundation employs 6 professionals, and enlists the aid of over 50 volunteers who serve on development, grants, outreach, finance and audit, investment and scholarship committees.

Financial Efficiency

• Mission deployment rate: 70.8%; rating input score 71
• Program expense ratio: 90.1%; rating input score 90
• Fundraising efficiency: $24.4 raised per $1 spent on fundraising; rating input score 61; 61st percentile among comparable filings

Transparency & Controls

• Consistency checks: 92.9%; rating input score 93; 13th percentile among comparable filings
• Pay-setting controls: Limited
• Foreign activity oversight: Limited
• Grant itemization coverage: 88.3%; rating input score 88; 27th percentile among comparable filings
• Major donor itemization: Yes; rating input score 100
• Related-party transparency: Limited

Accountability

• Independent voting board: 96.2%; rating input score 96; 26th percentile among comparable filings
• Governance controls: 8 of 8 controls in place; rating input score 100
  • Conflict-of-interest policy: Pass
  • Whistleblower policy: Pass
  • Document-retention policy: Pass
  • CEO compensation review process: Pass
  • Other executive compensation review process: NotApplicable
  • Form 990 shared with the board: Pass
  • Board meeting minutes documented: Pass
  • Audit committee oversight: Pass
  • Independent financial-statement audit: Pass

Sustainability

• Operating margin: 44.1%; rating input score 90; 90th percentile among comparable filings
• Total-asset coverage ratio: 15.56; rating input score 90; 90th percentile among comparable filings
• Liabilities to assets ratio: 0.13; rating input score 61; 61st percentile among comparable filings
• Officer compensation ratio: 5.9%; rating input score 50; 50th percentile among comparable filings

Growth

• Program expense growth: 6.2% per year; rating input score 100; 48th percentile among comparable filings
• Revenue growth: 8.2% per year; rating input score 100; 64th percentile among comparable filings
• Asset growth: 6.1% per year; rating input score 100; 43rd percentile among comparable filings