Lake County Community Fund

The Lake County Community Fund’s mission is to provide a means to expand the capacity of local organizations, promote and facilitate giving opportunities, and inspire investment in Lake County. We envision a Lake County that has an abundance of sustainable philanthropic resources to support a thriving community.

The Lake County Community Fund (LCCF) provides a mechanism to capture funds from outside of Leadville. It provides an avenue for people who may want to donate to the community but who are unfamiliar with area charities. It also provides an easy, one-stop method for donating to a variety of causes within Leadville and Twin Lakes. The fund also can serve as a fiscal agent for entities that are unable to provide tax-deductible receipts to donors.

In addition, the fund will have the resources and nonprofit status to apply for grant opportunities that could bring additional funds to many area nonprofits. In short, the LCCF can gather more funding opportunities for area charities collectively than those charities could secure alone.

Writing grant applications is time consuming. Applying to a smaller fund may be a better choice for some nonprofits, as a community fund may not require a lengthy application or may be more flexible on timing and budget. This approach enables the nonprofit to spend its limited time on serving its clients while at the same time gaining a better chance of securing funds.

The fund is intended to help achieve shared community goals. Often, multiple nonprofits work together on a collective goal, such as homelessness, and joint funding requests are often accepted. We do encourage collaboration and plan to award grants to programs that increase the capabilities and capacity of other local nonprofit organizations. Read about our grant-making process.

The Lake County Community Fund does not compete with other community organizations. Instead, we seek to create a more efficient way for donors to make a gift, grant, or contribution to a variety of causes in Lake County and to inspire donors to invest in Lake County.

The fund is set up by locals, a group of community members who saw the need for financial help for nonprofits that are doing good to help the community. People on the board care about the community and about bringing in more resources to develop it. Meet our board members.

During the past year, we have been inspired by the resilience and caring of our Lake County community. The COVID-19 pandemic brought into focus how much we all depend upon one another to act for the greater common good. The response has been truly special.

We are most grateful for the leadership from our Board of Directors, and the outpouring of support from our donors and institutional friends during these difficult months.

Seventy percent of Lake County’s workforce commute to Eagle and Summit counties for resort, healthcare and service industry jobs, sustaining this internationally renowned economic engine. When these industries were shut down March 14, 2020, thousands of our Lake County workers lost jobs and income. Many did not know how they would pay their bills or provide food for their families.

Within hours of the stoppage, our Board activated the Disaster Relief Fund, and the Unmet Needs Committee was created. Since April 2020, individual contributions combined with Colorado nonprofit and government support have distributed more than $663,842 for COVID-19 Relief in Lake County. This critical resource has provided rent and utility assistance for 721 households representing 2,502 individuals.

Lake County residents stepped up without hesitation making contributions, which in some cases included donating stimulus checks. We are most grateful for support from the Freeport-McMoran Foundation, Climax Molybdenum, Eagle Valley Community Fund, the Vail Valley Foundation, Copper Mountain Resort, POWDR, and the Summit Foundation.

Of all the central Rocky Mountain communities in Colorado, Lake County is the most vulnerable, with the greatest number of children and youth facing the most difficult circumstances. The percentage of Lake County High School students on free and reduced lunch assistance (74.8%) is significantly higher than the state average of 36.7%. This indicates that the area has a higher level of poverty than the state average.

Despite these challenges, you will see as you read in this Report that we are making strides. From 2017 to 2022, our Board has awarded more than $300,000 in grants to 92 local community nonprofit organizations.

As we look forward to 2023 and beyond, we have to remind ourselves of our extraordinary history. Since the 1870s, tremendous wealth has been extracted from Lake County. But Leadville—once the second most populous city in Colorado—and Lake County, continue to face significant challenges. Our goal is to build an endowment so that we can sustain local programs in perpetuity and break the boom and bust cycle. In order to provide this support long-term, we need your help.