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About the Lisbon Area Community Foundation

Established in 1981, the Lisbon Community Endowment Fund (LCEF) is a general charitable vehicle that exists to improve the quality of life for residents in Ransom County.  LCEF uses income generated from a permanent pool of investments to make grants to local organizations/projects. 

A committee of local citizens shall be responsible for local fundraising and funding decisions.  Every effort shall be made to maintain a healthy cross-section of persons representing the community.  New members shall be elected by the existing committee from a list of nominated individuals.  Each committee member can serve two full consecutive terms with a limit of 11 total years for any individual member.  The committee shall also have an ex-officio member who will handle all correspondence for the committee.

Local Advisory Committee

Jason Enger, Chair
Steve Johnson
LouAnn Waliser
Morrie Saxerud
Nikki Kenyon
Pastor Norm Anderson
Andrea Sand
Don Eppler
Breanne Carlson

Contact

Jason Enger
c/o Bremer Bank
622 Main Street, P.O. Box 273
Lisbon, ND 58054

701-683-5233

Email Jason

or contact Amy Stromsodt, NDCF Development Director, at 701-795-1531.

Annual Reports

2022

The Lisbon Public Library has received numerous grants from the Lisbon Community Endowment Fund over the years for a variety of programs, building renovations, and supplies.

Since the Lisbon Area Community Foundation’s inception in 1981, the Dale L Brown Memorial Fund for Lisbon & the Russell F Brown Memorial Fund for Lisbon in 2017, over $1.35 million in 486 grants has been awarded. Recent grant awards are listed below.

Grants Awarded in Fall 2023

  • The Village Family Service Center: $1,996 for school-based mental health therapeutic supplies
  • Sheyenne Fine Arts Association: $5,000 Kiss Me Once: Stories from the Homefront-Kathy Kaefer Vets Tribute Concert
  • Ransom County Fair Association: $25,000 Ransom County Fair Facility 2.0
  • Oakwood Cemetery Association: $7,000 for purchase of a commercial mower
  • Lisbon Recreation Board: $3,000 batting cage net & pitching mound cover
  • Lisbon Public Schools: $3,000 Weekend Backpack Program
  • Lisbon Public Library: $6,158 Circulation/Catalog costs
  • Lisbon Park District: $15,901 swimming pool tarp replacement
  • Lisbon Opera House Foundation: $13,116 Auditorium floor and east wall restoration
  • Fort Ransom Community Club: $10,000 Addition to Fort Ransom Community Hall
  • Family and Consumer Sciences: $2,000 Serger and Topstitch Machine update
  • Enderlin Historical Society and Museum, Inc: $10,000 installation of elevator & annex in museum building
  • BIO Girls: $3,000 Lisbon chapter-2024
  • Abuse Resource Network: $10,000 Emergency Needs

Grants Awarded in Spring 2023

  • Abuse Resource Network: $10,000 for emergency needs
  • CHI Health Connect at Home -Fargo: $2,500 Hospice Services/We Honor Veterans program/Volunteer Training/Bereavement Support
  • CHI Lisbon Health: $8,000 Safety
  • City of Lisbon: $2,500 Spring Flowers 
  • Lisbon Band and Choir: $5,000 New Risers and Safety Railings 
  • Lisbon Fire Department: $22,845 Battery Extrication Tools
  • Lisbon High School: $6,126 Lisbon Sports Complex - player's benches with shelves
  • Lisbon Opera House Foundation: $20,000 East Window Replacement
  • Lisbon Public Schools:
    • $900 Sources of Strength
    • $500 Community School Garden
    • $2,400 Jr. High Boys Basketball Uniforms
    • $10,000 1:1 Technology Initiative
  • Lisbon Recreation Board: $3,500 Vending Machine for Rose Street Park
  • Oakwood Cemetery Association: $6,500 Tree trimming and removal
  • Riding for Dreams Adaptive Riding Program: $11,000 Indoor Heating System
  • South Valley Multi-District Special Education Preschool: $3,825 Interactive Technology
  • The House of Everyday Learning: $2,500 Mobile Therapy Unit (MTU)/Therapy on the Go!

Grants Awarded in Fall 2022

  • Lisbon Bissell Golf Club: $28,000 for flooring replacement
  • Riding For Dreams Adaptive Riding Program:  $13,000 for sand for footing in the indoor riding arena
  • Abuse Resource Network: $10,000 for therapy
  • Sheyenne Fine Arts Association: $10,000 for their 2022-2023 season
  • Brown Brothers Memorial Recognition Project:  $7,170.50
  • Lisbon FFA: $6,800 Oakwood Cemetery monuments
  • McLeod Historical Preservation Society:  $5,000 for kitchen repairs
  • Lisbon Public Library: $6,100 for Baker & Taylor Book Leasing (continuation), buy back, and eBooks
  • Lisbon Recreation Board: $3,000 for baseball bats and softball equipment
  • Lisbon Public Schools:
    • $3,600 for Jr. High Boys and Girls Track Uniforms
    • $2,500 for a kiln for the public school art program
    • $1,500 for Terrence Talley Speaker
  • Oakwood Cemetery Association: $2,000 for replacing 4 shop windows and work done on unmarked graves
  • Ft.  Ransom School District #6: $1,500 for the elementary school's Reading and Writing in a Rural Community
  • The House of Everyday Learning: $2,400 for a Mobile Therapy Unit

Grants Awarded in Spring 2022

  • Riding For Dreams Adaptive Riding Program: $40,000 to build an indoor arena
  • Lisbon Bissell Golf Club: $20,000 for a new mower
  • Ransom County Fair Association: $12,580 for speakers and sound system
  • Lisbon Park District: $8,500 for additional tables, benches and chairs in Sandager Park and the Pavilion
  • CHI Lisbon Health: $7,868 for an endoscopic CO2 regulation unit
  • Abuse Resource Network: $7,000 to help with legal fees
  • Lisbon Recreation Board: $5,000 for the Rose Street landscape projects
  • Sheyenne River Valley Scenic Byway Association: $5,000 for the Sheyenne River Water Trail
  • Lisbon Public School District #19: $4,000 for the Lisbon Weekend Backpack Program
  • City of Lisbon: $3,000 for 2022 spring flowers and a green space umbrella
  • CHI Health at Home - Home Health & Hospice: $2,500 for the We Honor Veteran’s Program, volunteer training, and bereavement support
  • The House of Everyday Learning: $2,400 for a Mobile Therapy Unit

Grants Awarded in Fall 2021

  • Lisbon Public Library - $2,250 Replace Computers
  • Abuse Resource Network - $3,500 Legal Fees
  • CHI Health At Home & Hospice - $2,500 Veteran's Program, Volunteer Training, Bereavement Support
  • CHI Lisbon Health - $7,500 Patient Table
  • City of Lisbon - $3,000 Winter at the Green Space, Additional Flags
  • Lisbon Band & Choir/Lisbon High School - $2,000 Student Performance Shirts
  • Lisbon High School Band - $4,500 Update Marching Band Percussion
  • Lisbon Pool Preservers - $37,980 Phase 3 Wading Pool Remodel
  • Lisbon Public School District:
    • $3,000 Weekend Backpack Program
    • $800 Dolly Parton's Imagination Library
    • $2,000 Junior High Girls Basketball Uniforms
    • $5,000 Certified Nursing Assistant Training
  • Oakwood Cemetery Association - $11,000 Roof & Small Shop Repair, Overhead Door Replacement
  • Riding For Dreams Adaptive Riding Program - $7,500 Outdoor Arena Fencing & Feeding
  • Sand Hill Park Board - $2,000 Horseshoe Pits

Grants Awarded in Spring 2021

  • Abuse Resource Network - $5,900 LMSW Clinical Supervisor
  • Aliceton 4-H Club - $1,445 Giving Garden
  • City of Lisbon - $6,000 Light Pole Flowers & Hanging Baskets
  • City of Lisbon - $5,500 NCT Trail Kiosk & Green Space
  • Great Plains Food Bank - $1,000 Mobile Food Pantry
  • Hospice of the Red River Valley - $1,000 Grief Support Services
  • Lisbon Fire Department - $11,000 SCBA Thermal Imaging Camera & Face Masks
  • Lisbon Public School - $828 Community School Garden
  • Lisbon Public School - $1,000 Sources of Strength
  • Lisbon Public School - $12,500 Village Counseling Services
  • Lisbon Recreation Board - $3,500 Pitching Equipment
  • Lisbon Youth Trap Club LLC - $8,145 Shooting Range Development
  • Ransom County Water Resource District - $5,000 Dead Colt Walkway
  • Riding for Dreams Adaptive Riding Program - $7,500 Outdoor Arena Build
  • Brown Brothers Memorial - $5,556 Toward Future Memorial Project
  • Fort Ransom Sodbusters Association - $2,000 Saw Mill Project
  • Lisbon Bronco Juniors - $1,500 New Net System
  • Lisbon Opera House Foundation - $7,700 Furnace for Off Peak Heating
  • Lisbon Public Library - $10,456 Book Lease Program
  • Oakwood Cemetery Association - $6,000 Operating Costs

Grants Awarded in Fall 2020

  • Abuse Resource Network - $2,025 toward general programming
  • CHI Health at Home - Home Health & Hospice - $5,000 to support the We Honor Veterans program, volunteer training and bereavement services
  • CHI Lisbon Health - $3,749 - to purchase a new fridge for the laboratory
  • Girl Scouts Dakota Horizon (local troop 30855) - $900 toward construction of a Lisbon Dog Park
  • Lisbon Bissell Golf Club - $10,381 - for roof repairs on the Clubhouse
  • Lisbon Girl Scouts - $2,500 toward purchase of a storage building
  • Lisbon Public School District #19 - $4,000 - for the Gearing Up for Kindergarten and 5th Grade programs
  • Lisbon Public School District #19 - $21,659 to purchase and upgrade technology for all students
  • Lisbon Recreation Board - $1,500 to purchase a concession stand refrigerator and soccer nets
  • Ransom County Food Pantry - $5,000 to support Thanksgiving and Christmas Holiday Meal Baskets
  • South Valley Multi District Special Education Preschool - $1,450 - to update/purchase program supplies
  • Sheyenne River Speedway Grandstand Project - $40,000 to create a matching fund opportunity for construction of new grandstands at the Speedway
  • Brown Brothers Memorial Recognition Project - $8,211 toward construction of a memorial to honor the Brown family for their donations/contributions to the Lisbon Community

Grants Awarded in Spring 2020

  • Sheyenne River Speedway - $3,000 toward the Grandstand Beautification project
  • Oakwood Cemetery Association - $10,000 to purchase a John Deere tractor w/cab and mower
  • Lisbon Park District - $10,000 toward sandblasting and repainting of pool
  • CHI Lisbon Health - $10,000 to expand the Pain Clinic
  • McLeod Historical Preservation Society - $1,500 for Schoolhouse Renovations
  • Lisbon Recreation Board - $2,000 to purchase a field groomer
  • ND Veterans Home - $5,000 toward creation of a Memorial Garden
  • Lisbon Public Schools -
    • $12,500 to support Mental Health Services at the school
    • $4,000 toward a Sports Complex Sound System
    • $3,000 to purchase indoor recess equipment
    • $1,525 toward the Shoebox Grant
  • Lisbon Gymnastics - $2,700 to purchase new tumbling mats
  • Lisbon Civic & Commerce - $1,200 for Main Street Beautification
  • Abuse Resource Network - $7,820 for emergency needs
  • City of Lisbon - $5,000 toward the purchase of speakers on Main Street
  • Riding for Dreams - $3,800 to support program cost
  • Abuse Resource Network COVID Grant - $2,500 to support emergency needs related to the COVID-19 pandemic

Grants Awarded in Fall 2019

  • Lisbon Public Schools:
    • $1,210 for a Russian Cultural Kaleidoscopre Presentation
    • $1,000 for Junior High Football Uniforms
    • $2,500 for a Pixellot Camera
    • $700 toward Dolly Parton's Imagination Library
    • $3,330 to support Artist in the Classroom
    • $4,200 for Milk Scholarships to low income families
    • $3,500 to support Gearing Up for Kindergarten
  • CHI Health at Home/Home Health & Hospice - $5,000 for the Palliative Care Program
  • Lisbon FFA - $6,500 to restore Cemetery Monuments
  • Lisbon Fire Department - $16,800 toward purchase of a backup generator
  • Lisbon Opera House Foundation - $15,000 for N & S Tuckpoint and sign repainting
  • Ransom County Food Pantry - $5,000 for Thanksgiving and Christmas Holiday Food Baskets
  • Abuse Resource Network - $5,625 for Clinical Supervision
  • Fort Ransom Sodbusters Association - $4,000 toward support of the Fort Ransom Sodbusters "ROEN" Sawmill
  • Lisbon Broncos Juniors - $1,500 to purchase Volleyball uniforms for Junior Olympic Volleyball
  • Lisbon Pool Preservers - $10,000 toward Phase 3/Wading Pool Remodel
  • Lisbon Public Library - $4,295 for Baker & Taylor Leased Books
  • Lisbon Recreation Board - $3,000 for Sandager Field Repairs and Baseball and Softball Equipment purchases
  • Sheyenne Fine Arts Association - $7,500 for the 2019-2020 Concert Series
  • South Valley Multi-District Special Education Preschool - $1,400 to purchase classroom supplies

How to Apply for a Grant from the Lisbon Community Endowment Fund

Grant Guidelines:

  • Grants shall be awarded to organizations recognized under IRS Code 501(c)3; have an official relationship with local government (ie a school, park district or city); or have a fiscal sponsor that meets either of these two qualifications.
  • Grants shall only be awarded to those who have submitted a complete application with all information requested.
  • Organizations who have received a grant in previous years must have submitted their post-grant report before being considered for new grants.
  • Grants to municipalities must have a letter of support from the governing board of that entity.
  • Grants shall be awarded to organizations and/or projects within Ransom County with priority given to projects that serve the community of Lisbon
  • Each grants will be considered annually.  Multi-year commitments (pledges) shall not be awarded.
  • Grants to religious organizations shall be limited to those activities which are non-denominational and serve the entire community.
  • The Lisbon Community Endowment Fund will accept applications twice a year.  Applications are due by April 1 and October 1 to be eligible for that grant cycle.  Applicants will be notified within 30 days of these deadlines as to Advisory Committee decisions.

Application Deadlines: April 1 and October 1


New for 2019 and Beyond:

We made it easy for you to apply online for a grant!

Step 1 - Review

Review the grant guidelines above to make sure your organization qualifies.

Step 2 - Register

Create an account on our Grants Portal. You will need your organization’s name, EIN, and executive officer's name. Be sure to write down your user name (email address) and password.

Step 3 – Complete Your Application

After registering or logging in, you will arrive at the application section. Click “Apply” to the right of the grant program to which you wish to apply. If you do not see your desired grant program on the list, contact our office. You will be able to save your application and return later to complete it.

Click here for more detailed instructions and tips for using our online grant system. (PDF)

LISBON COMMUNITY ENDOWMENT FUND CURRENTLY ACCEPTING APPLICATIONS

The Advisory Committee of the Lisbon Community Endowment Fund is currently accepting applications for the 2024 Spring Grant Round!

Other Funds Managed by NDCF in Lisbon

Lewis Lilyquist Memorial Scholarship The Fund was established in 1981 in memory of Lewis Lilyquist to financially assist graduating seniors from the Lisbon, ND High School. The award will be made in the fall of each year.

Lisbon Dollars For Scholars Fund:  Established in 1991 to support the Lisbon area High School students.

Lisbon Kiwanis Leadership Fund:  Established in 1992 to support the Kiwanis leadership program.

Lisbon Public Library Fund:  Established in 1991 to support the Lisbon Public Library

 

Plan Your Legacy

Making a lasting difference in our community or for future generations may be easier than you realize.  With very simple language in your will or trust, you can help the Lisbon Area Community Foundation (LACF) continue to support important projects and programs in our area forever.

Gifts to the LACF are carefully invested by our partner foundation - the North Dakota Community Foundation - to generate a  permanent source of charitable income.

If you have children or other relatives, you can leave a portion of your estate to them and a percentage to the LACF. Doing so provides for your heirs while honoring your charitable values.

Brothers Russell and Dale Brown left gifts to the communities of Lisbon and Milnor, ND, in their estate plans.

Getting Started

1.  Download our free Estate Planning Guide - it contains helpful information and things to consider as you develop your own unique plan.

2.  Reach out to a Lisbon Area Community Foundation committee member to learn more about the charities and needs in our area.

3.  Consider discussing (confidentially) your vision with our NDCF gift planner Amy Stromsodt.  She has many years of experience helping donors create their charitable vision and better prepare for their discussions with financial planners. Amy's cell is 701-741-3193 or you can email her at Amy@NDCF.net.

4.  Contact your professional advisors (financial planner, attorney and/or accountant) and ask for help in establishing a charitable gift to our foundation.

5.  Make sure your will or living trust is up-to-date and reflects your charitable goals.

6.  Consider notifying the charitable organizations about the gift you plan to leave them.  They will appreciate your generosity and will want to know what you’d like them to do with your eventual gift if it isn't clear.

Language for Your Will or Living Trust

Susanne Mattheis wished to support several different charitable organizations in Bismarck after she passed. NDCF helped her craft a plan that accomplished her charitable goals and provided long-term support to the Public Library, Symphony Orchestra, and five other local entities.

If you would like to include the Lisbon Area Community Foundation in your will, here is some sample language to consider:

“I give and bequeath to the North Dakota Community Foundation (Tax ID Number 45-0336015), a qualified charitable organization under IRS 501(c)(3), located in Bismarck, North Dakota, ___________ (a percentage of the estate, specific dollar amount, or remainder of estate) for the Lisbon Area Community Foundation, a permanent component of the North Dakota Community Foundation.”

*  Be sure to contact your legal advisor.

 

There are many other ways to make a deferred gift to your community, including

  • Making NDCF (and your specific community fund) the beneficiary of your life insurance policy, IRA, 401K, or commercial annuity
  • Establishing a Charitable Gift Annuity with NDCF
  • Other more sophisticated tools, depending on your unique situation

To investigate options and learn more about how other North Dakotans have given back, visit our planned giving website at www.NDCF.net/Plan.