Throughout this year, Ball Brothers Foundation has been working to ramp up communications with our stakeholders: grantees, community and regional leaders, extended Ball family members, and others.

A key part of our new strategic plan calls for us to serve as a vocal advocate for Muncie and East Central Indiana. This month's e-newsletter highlights several grants that make our community shine

As we strive to continuously improve our communication and outreach efforts, we'd love for you to take a 2 minute survey. Your anonymous feedback is instrumental in helping us understand your preferences and content interests to ensure that our newsletters are valuable and engaging. 

Catch Our Team Behind the Scenes...

As summer gets into full swing, our calendars are packed with grantee meetings, site visits, and more. 

On May 23, Ball Brothers Foundation hosted a reception to honor local teachers recognized with the foundation's Excellence in Teaching Award. The reception celebrated 2023 award winner, Kira Zick, finalists, Rob Jones and Heather Rogers, as well as past award nominees. Indiana Secretary of Education Dr. Katie Jenner was the guest speaker for the evening. 

Change doesn't happen overnight.

At Ball Brothers Foundation, we are laser-focused on localized grantmaking. Our recently updated strategic plan reaffirms our long-standing commitment to Muncie, Delaware County, and East Central Indiana—the place where the Ball brothers lived, worked, and raised their families when they moved to Muncie over a century ago.

BBF Announces New Strategic Plan

Over the course of the past year, many stakeholders have provided input to Ball Brothers Foundation about our grantmaking, leadership, communications, and impact. This feedback was collected as part of a robust strategic planning process undertaken by our staff and board of directors.    

The foundation is pleased to welcome Susan Brumley as the new Executive Assistant & Convenings Coordinator beginning March 1. Brumley brings with her 20 years of experience in customer service and management. 

As 2022 draws to a close, we're reflecting on a busy year filled with site visits to see grantees' work in action, the launch of transformational projects, and deep reflection about where we have been and where we are going.

School Counseling, Outdoor Learning Awarded Funding as Part of $5 Million in New Grants

This fall, our board approved over $5 million in new grants, including support to boost school counseling and outdoor learning. 

A few weeks ago, BBF staff teamed up with The Nature Conservancy to host a rafting trip on the White River through the heart of Muncie. We were joined by Muncie Mayor Dan Ridenour as well as several other members of Next Muncie, along with friends from Red-tail Land Conservancy, the Bureau of Water Quality, and Muncie Community Schools.

While many local and state grant programs provide support to childcare providers at Levels 3 & 4 on the “Paths to QUALITY” rating scale, BBF has awarded special funding for the past two years for childcare programs at Levels 0-2.

Our board met last month and approved over $2.4 million in funding in our first round of general grants for 2022. Take a look at some of this round's highlights:

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We know that with continuous advancements in technology, work will soon look very different. Local and state leaders predict nearly every job will eventually be impacted in some way by technology, automation, advanced cloud computing, or artificial intelligence.

Ball Brothers Foundation is just a few short years away from celebrating our 100th year of grantmaking. As we approach this milestone, we are embarking on our “New Century" strategic planning process.

We’ll be collecting feedback in the months ahead from grantees, peer foundations, community leaders, board members, next generation Ball family members, and others.

As we strive to continually improve our grant application process, we launched our new online application platform, GoApply, on January 1. The new system will be more user-friendly and allow for expanded functionality for both applicants and foundation staff.

As we wrap up our 95th year of grantmaking, we are honored to continue to carry on the stewardship legacy of the Ball brothers and their families. This year, organizations throughout Muncie and Delaware County have done outstanding work and have undertaken incredible initiatives, and we look forward to seeing how the community will continue to flourish in the years ahead.

More than $6.5 million awarded to healthcare, education, and more in second round of 2021 grants

Currently, “one issue that Muncie faces is our inability to develop the skilled workforce that is needed to meet the staffing requirements of our local employers,” shared Jane Ellery, chairman of the board for Sustainable Muncie in a recent grant request to BBF. But now, new efforts are underway to tackle that challenge head-on. 

In its first round of grants for 2021, Ball Brothers Foundation’s Board of Directors approved more than $3.3 million in funding. The grants included COVID-19 vaccine distribution and messaging support to local health organizations, recovery and rebuilding support to Delaware County schools, and support to many of Muncie’s steadfast, long-term organizations as they recover from the pandemic.