Noble Receives $10 Million Grant from Lilly Endowment Inc.

We are thrilled to announce that Noble has been awarded a $10 million grant from Lilly Endowment Inc.

This grant is for capacity building and long-term sustainability.  It is one of 10 Lilly Endowment grants totaling $80 million designed to help agencies that serve persons with disabilities build stronger financial futures.

There are strict  guidelines on how we can use the money. $9.5 million of the grant will be used to create an endowment fund to strengthen Noble’s capacity to turn future challenges into opportunities, allowing us to better serve our community for decades to come.

With an endowment, the principal of the money—the $9.5 million—cannot be spent. It will be invested, and then the earnings can be used for very specific purposes that help sustain Noble well into the future. These earnings will provide us with the resources to meet the changing needs of the people we serve and our community, take advantage of technological changes that increase operational efficiencies, analyze new ways to raise organizational funds, provide resources for strategic planning and prepare Noble’s future leaders.

The remaining $500,000 will be spent over the next three years to help stabilize our workforce, support staff retention strategies, enhance staff training and provide overall workforce development.

Sustainability grants do not take the place of ongoing support for day-to-day operations. Instead, the funds help agencies like Noble build financial infrastructures to help them weather financial challenges and serve more people more effectively.

A huge thank you to Lilly Endowment Inc. for its incredible generosity in awarding Noble this grant!