Premium ContentMouse over Home then click on Premium Content for information.LINCOLN — The last gift a central Nebraska woman ever gave became the largest that her county's small community foundation ever received.
Following her April death, LeonaBelle Kipp bequeathed more than $2.3 million to the Phelps County Community Foundation. The largest portion came from the sale of 340 acres of farmland west of Loomis, Neb., where Kipp and her husband, Ivan, grew irrigated corn and raised 40 beef cattle until they retired in 1976.
Her donation increased the nonprofit foundation's $10 million in assets by 20 percent.
"We were totally bowled over," said Vickie Klein, the foundation's executive director.
The donation was about triple the size of the foundation's previous record gift of $777,291 and will allow the foundation to distribute at least $100,000 more than the roughly $350,000 in grants and scholarships it has given out each year, Klein said.
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It also will help Phelps County's foundation pull slightly ahead of the average annual grants and scholarships of similar community foundations. Such small foundations, on average, receive about a half-million dollars in donations a year and distribute about $400,000 a year.
Leaders at several nonprofit community foundations said donations have remained steady over the past six years, amid state and federal tax changes intended to encourage local giving.
For smaller nonprofit groups like the Phelps County Community Foundation, large one-time donations can have a lasting impact.
"Your toughest dollar is always your first dollar," said Chuck Griffith, executive director of the Merrick Foundation in Central City, Neb.
Not only should an estate gift like Kipp's increase in perpetuity, but Griffith said it could also attract more donations because the foundation can dangle it as bait for other donors.
With a $2.6 million bequest in 1992, the Merrick Foundation lured financial commitments from various Merrick County institutions for capital improvement projects to a museum, a chamber of commerce building and a hospital.
In addition, such endowments have provided scholarships and helped fund a Merrick County park and performing arts center, he said.
Kipp, who taught in rural schools for three years, had already established a scholarship fund in 2004 through the Phelps County Community Foundation. Her niece, Chris Delp, said she hopes the new endowment will mean more scholarship money.
"She knew how hard it was to work for a living," Delp said, "and she wanted her estate to go for a good cause."
Foundation board members will decide how to use the money after they discuss the endowment with Kipp's family and friends. Klein expects a decision by the end of February.
Whatever they decide will have significant impact.
"This is a dinosaur step," Klein said.
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