Lilly Endowment's $20 million for Origin Park comes with a match

Lilly Endowment has granted $20 million to River Heritage Conservancy, the nonprofit building Origin Park along the Ohio River in Clarksville, Indiana, the conservancy announced on October 5. Of that, $15 million is available now. The other $5 million is a matching opportunity through 2027, which the conservancy's chief executive, Dennis Schnurbusch II, said is meant to encourage commitments from other funders, according to the News and Tribune.

What the money pays for

The $15 million will advance the closure and stabilization of former landfill areas, the restoration of Mill Creek and continued planning and design for Buttonbush Woods, a 103-acre stand of forests and wetlands within the park. It will also support infrastructure for trails, outdoor programming and environmental education, the News and Tribune reported.

WAVE reported that Origin Park is a $260 million to $280 million project to develop 430 acres along the river in Clark County into 22 miles of hiking and biking trails, boating areas, an event center and an Outdoor Adventure Park. In the 20th century, after repeated flooding, much of the land became landfills, salvage yards and industrial facilities, the station reported.

"We appreciate River Heritage Conservancy's bold vision to restore historically and ecologically important land in southern Indiana and develop Origin Park into a community asset that honors its past and provides enjoyment for residents and visitors," said Ronni Kloth, Lilly Endowment's vice president for community development, in the conservancy's release.

"This grant is an important step forward, but it is not the completion of our vision for Buttonbush Woods or Origin Park," Schnurbusch said. "There is still much more work to do."

Why a match

A match turns one funder's commitment into a pitch to the next. For fundraisers, the useful details are the ones the conservancy made public: the size of the match, its share of the grant and its deadline. Our story on a camp match whose funder is doubling it shows how the rules of a match shape what it raises.