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Opportunities

About Lafayette Resource Development Initiative

The Lafayette Resource Development Initiative (LRDI) is a privately funded, multi-year initiative created in partnership with the Community Foundation of Acadiana. LRDI provides dedicated professional services and strategic resources to identify and secure external federal, state, philanthropic, and corporate resources to address community priorities.

The Opportunity
LRDI is seeking a strategic, entrepreneurial, and mission-driven leader to serve as its Managing Director of External Funding and Strategic Partnerships. This individual will lead LRDI’s efforts to build high-impact partnerships with philanthropic, corporate, and government entities, identify and secure external funding sources, catalyze investments into priority initiatives that generate lasting community impact, and serve as LRDI’s primary representative to stakeholders, funders, and the broader public.

LRDI - Managing Director of External Funding and Strategic Partnerships

Building Legacies

Generous donors have the opportunity to establish one or more types of charitable funds. The most popular and flexible of these is a charitable savings account or Donor Advised Fund. CFA’s impermanent Donor Advised Funds are easy to establish and contributions to these funds, in any amount, are tax deductible. Donors use these funds to direct grants to 501c3 public nonprofits, churches and schools, and CFA manages all of the paperwork for you. Establishing gifts and fund balances are never public, not even to the CFA Board of Directors, and the funds can benefit from the appreciation of its invested dollars.

At any time or as part of a succession plan, donors can transition to other permanent named funds. Such permanent named funds include Scholarship Funds; Designated Funds allocated for particular churches, schools or nonprofits; or Fields of Interest Funds that benefit particular causes or a particular parish. This is a powerful tool to build one’s legacy and memorialize or honor parents, grandparents and others. “I want my life’s work to benefit others,” said one generous donor.

Improving Communities


CFA’s primary service area includes the eight (8) Acadiana parishes of Acadia, Evangeline, Iberia, Lafayette, St. Landry, St. Martin, St. Mary and Vermilion. CFA grows and enhances philanthropy throughout this region. CFA’s most prominent civic leadership endeavors include the establishment of the Evangeline Foundation, Iberia Foundation, St. Landry Foundation, St. Mary Foundation and Vermilion Foundation, all of which are affiliate foundations of CFA. Community leaders and philanthropists in Acadia, Lafayette and St. Martin are working to establish affiliate foundations for the benefit of their respective parishes.


Connecting Generous People

Since its inception in 2000, CFA has attained two significant milestones. Over the past two decades, CFA has realized cumulative gifts exceeding $336 million and has made cumulative grants of more than $174 million. The Foundation was recognized among the Top 100 community foundations in both 2012 and 2013.