While many of the biggest US foundations are dedicated to philanthropy across the country and around the world, the Lilly Endowment focuses its efforts exclusively in its home state of Indiana. Three members of the family that founded Lilly pharmaceuticals –– J. K. Lilly Sr. and sons J. K. Jr. and Eli –– created the endowment in 1937 with money from stocks in their company. Today, with just over $6 billion in assets, according to the Foundation Center, the endowment concentrates on two areas: community development and religion. Community foundations across the state are supported by grants in a process the endowment calls a “virtuous circle” –– that is, according to the American Heritage Dictionary, a condition in which a favorable circumstance or result gives rise to another that subsequently supports the first. And although the endowment has faced critical questions over the years because of its support of religion, the Lilly family has maintained that being a member of a congregation is an important part of a person’s life.
