Middletown Community Foundation

The Middletown Community Foundation was incorporated as a component of the United Way in 1976. It grew slowly until 1986 when it became a free-standing foundation. Elliot and Mae Levey challenged the community to match their $1 million donation and create a true community foundation. Middletonians committed $6.7 million and continue their generous support. Since then, assets have grown to more than $33 million in assets in 2014.

We secure permanent and growing assets for the area’s changing needs, serving as the perpetual community endowment funding projects, programs and scholarships that benefit education, the arts and human needs in Franklin, Madison, Monroe, Trenton and Middletown.

We create, pursue and execute initiatives targeting immediate community needs, while offering donors a wide variety of tax-deductible options, large and small, to participate in the future development of our community.

What is a Community Foundation?

Community Foundations are independent, public charities that steward philanthropic resources from institutional and individual donors to community-based organizations. At present, there are nearly 800 individual Community Foundations in the U.S. and several hundred more worldwide.

Each Community Foundation serves specific geographic areas
Ohio has the greatest number of Community Foundations in the U.S., followed by Indiana and Michigan. Butler County alone has six Community Foundations, each serving a specific part of the county. The Middletown Community Foundation’s service area makes up “greater Middletown” including Middletown, Franklin, Monroe and Trenton in addition to Lemon and Madison Townships.

Community Foundations strengthen communities by enabling people to create charitable funds that address a wide range of interests. Most of the focus is on endowment building—meaning that only a percentage of the fund’s value is paid out each year in the form of grants. This allows the fund to grow and remain active in serving the needs of the community now and for the future in perpetuity

Over the past 38 years, we have granted out tens of millions of dollars to nonprofit organizations throughout our service area (more than $20 million in the past 10 years alone!) and have amassed charitable assets in excess of $33 million to ensure present and future grants will remain available in perpetuity. Be it scholarships for education, grants to aid the local food pantry, distributions to support the community’s performing arts, funds to place handicapped-accessible equipment in area parks or money to install public art such as murals and statues, the Middletown Community Foundation embodies visionary, diverse, inclusive philanthropy for making our communities better places to live.

Grants are issued from the Community Foundation’s unrestricted endowments using a competitive application process. Any nonprofit organization in our service area may apply. In addition, more than 1 million is given each year in the form of educational scholarships for area students to continue their education. Other funds are held for the benefit of specific organizations and make grants to them each year. Donors may also establish Donor Advised Funds, where they retain the right to recommend which charities receive grants from those funds, often compared to a “charitable checking account.” Donating any amount to an existing fund or establishing a new fund (with a minimum $10,000 gift) is simple and easy!