$5 million gift from John W. Fisher and other additions strengthen the private family foundation’s commitment to building community

Ruth Crocker’s biography about Olivia Sage is an examination of the subject’s life, a woman’s place in the world around the start of the twentieth century, charity and philanthropy. The book reviews Sage’s life stages and interests while allowing a look at the complex recipes that form her charitable and philanthropic endeavors.

Ball Brothers Foundation has announced the release of its latest Grant Guidelines. The new guidelines, available at www.ballfdn.org, will be utilized for the 2010 granting cycles.

Ball Brothers Foundation announced today that John W. Fisher, 93, died on Sunday morning, June 28, 2009, after battling leukemia. Fisher guided many organizations over the years, including Ball Brothers Foundation for the last decade as its chairman and president.

In an effort to streamline the application process Ball Brothers Foundation is pleased to announce the addition of an online application to their website.

Ball Brothers Foundation has announced the approval of grants resulting from its second and final grant cycle of the year to several organizations throughout Indiana. The majority of the grants will be distributed to organizations for local efforts while a select few grants were directed to groups with efforts outside the East Central Indiana region.

In an effort to streamline the grant application process Ball Brothers Foundation is in the process of revising the Grant Guidelines. The new guidelines will be made available in early January 2009. Please check back then for updated information.

Rich Spisak, senior development officer at Ball State University and a long-time Muncie resident, will join the staff at Ball Brothers Foundation effective Feb. 11. Spisak’s appointment culminates a statewide search, according to Jud Fisher, executive director and chief operating officer of the 82-year-old private foundation.

The Checkbook is Charles Merrill’s reflections on the foundation his father, Charles E. Merrill, founded and which Merrill (the son) was chairman of for most of its existence.

Ball Brothers Foundation seeks an experienced professional to join the Foundation as a program officer and coordinate the Foundation’s interest in education and the environment.

The IU Center on Philanthropy has released a new report, Nonprofit Capacity Assessment: Indiana Charities, 2007, based on a survey recently completed for the Indiana Grantmakers Alliance (IGA) in collaboration with Lumina Foundation for Education (LFE), the Center on Philanthropy at Indiana University, and IU’s School of Public and Environmental Affairs.

New leadership, a realignment of responsibilities and the unveiling of a streamlined Web site are among recent changes announced at Ball Brothers Foundation (BBF).

Trepidation is not necessarily the word I would use to describe my feelings when I began reading author Joel Fleishman’s book about foundations, but I certainly was prepared for a less than positive peek at one of the more misunderstood civic sector funding sources in the world.