As we begin a new year, it’s a great time to look back on the year just completed and look forward to the new year, recalling the highlights of the year ending and thinking about our goals and hopes for the coming year.
At your Community Foundation (Truman Heartland Community Foundation) we celebrate the generosity of our fundholders. Our new record for total grants to hundreds of nonprofit organizations and scholarships to students in our community totally blew the doors off our previous record last year. The total in 2025 is $18 million compared to $8.4 million in 2024, more than double.
We had some extraordinary grants made this year – grants of a lifetime – from several of our Donor Advised Funds. Grants from our Donor Advised Funds totaled $10.3 million compared to $4.5 million in 2024.
More than 1,800 separate grants were made from these Donor Advised Funds, and every one of them tells a story about the passion a fundholder has for a nonprofit and their compassion for those served by the organization. The generosity of our Donor Advised Fund holders is truly inspiring.
We set a new record of $970,000 in scholarships to area students compared to $828,000 in 2024. These 516 scholarships from 175 scholarship funds will enhance the education opportunities of the 392 students who received scholarships. We look forward to surpassing the $1 million scholarship milestone in 2026, with applications now open on our website.
People in our community who have a passion for education and compassion for those who can use some support to achieve their educational dreams made this possible. Their generosity is truly inspiring.
We are pleased that we added 42 new funds in 2025 and welcome these new members to our foundation family. We also had 6 families join our Heartland Legacy Society by including their charitable fund at the Foundation in their estate plans. It’s our pleasure to work with these families (now totaling 209) to enable them to leave a legacy through their charitable giving.
I am also very grateful for the members of our Board of Directors and our 4 Advisory Boards for all their support and efforts this year. These volunteers are crucial to our work, and we could not accomplish our goals without them. At our December Board Meeting, a new 5-Year strategic plan was approved that I will share more about in a future column. It’s an exciting time for your community foundation.
As we look forward to 2026, I hope that the care and concern that our foundation family has for the community inspires others to be generous. And we can work together to build a stronger community through compassion for our neighbors. Happy New Year!
Phil Hanson is the President and CEO of Truman Heartland Community Foundation. Truman Heartland Community Foundation is a public charity committed to improving area communities by promoting and serving private giving for the public good. Founded in 1982, THCF serves individuals who, through their private giving, wish to support the public good in the most tax-wise and effective manner. Through THCF, donors can set up their own family foundations, scholarship funds, field of interest funds, endowment funds, charitable gift annuities, and many other charitable vehicles that utilize the foundation’s shared resources to maximize the impact of their philanthropic dollars. In addition to donor services, THCF provides asset development for nonprofit organizations, offers competitive grant opportunities to nonprofits, assists organizations in planned giving, and serves as a change leader in addressing community issues. For more information, visit www.thcf.org or call 816-836-8189.
