The Lincoln County Community Foundation is preparing for its 2015 community grant cycle. The foundation anticipates contributing approximately $8,000 to eligible non-profit organizations in south Lincoln County this year.

The foundation’s president, Paula Darko-Hensler, said the grants are funded from the interest earned annually on an endowment, the principal of which is never touched.

“The money does all the work,” she said. “the people don’t have to work their butts off to raise the money.”

Darko-Hensler was one of the founding board members of the Lincoln County Community Foundation. The group started raising money for the endowment in 1995 and was able to start awarding grants five years later.

“We are celebrating 15 years of grants being given to worthy organizations in Lincoln County,” she said. “Looking over the history of giving, over $131,000 has been presented to these worthy organizations. That is indeed a milestone to be proud of. The endowment is small but the impact has been big over the years.”

During the past 15 years, the foundation has given grants to a number of local groups, such as Kootenai Pets for Life, the community tennis courts and soccer fields, the Veterans Memorial, Firemen’s Memorial and the Asa Wood playground. The annual grant awards are generally between $500 and $1,000 per grantee, Darko-Hensler said.

Darko-Hensler said the foundation’s endowment right now is small, but the way it’s structured allows for continued annual giving to community organizations and groups.

“It’s only about a couple of hundred thousand right now,” she said. “But we use the interest and the endowment continues to grow. People don’t seem to understand the value of saving, in the end the money ends up working for them. Imagine if the city had put even one million dollars from the economic development fund, it would have done so much more.”

Lincoln County Community Foundation isn’t an independent 501(c)3, but instead operates under the umbrella of the Montana Community Foundation. Montana Community Foundation helps manage the endowments of nearly 75 community foundations around the state. MCF monitors the investments to ensure a stable and predictable return. Darko-Hensler said the model is an effective way for people to make charitable contributions, because new contributions add to the principal balance of the endowment, which generates more interest for future years, thus providing more money each year for new grants.

“Whitefish has a huge endowment,” she said. “It’s in the millions and they’re able to give away lots of money to organizations in their community. We could do so much more if we had a bigger endowment.”

The foundation is always looking for new donors and ways to increase the endowment. Montana Community Foundation offers a number of tax-deductible giving and investment strategies for people who wish to make an impact on their communities. Darko-Hensler said she has set up her will in such a way as to leave a portion of her estate to the foundation’s endowment.

“I don’t have a lot of money to give,” she said. “But this way I can do something that gives over and over again. It makes such an impact on the community.”

Applications will be accepted beginning Aug. 1 and must be post-marked or delivered no later than Aug. 31.