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October 2021

Oct 25

Spirit & Place Festival welcomes a public conversation about a year that changed everything

By Feature

by Shari Finnell, editor/writer, Not-for-profit News

Conversations about challenging topics can be incredibly uncomfortable, whether they’re about race relations, gender identity, pay equity, the removal of 100-year-old Confederate monuments, social justice protests or COVID-19 vaccine shots. 

When faced with the many challenges in 2020, Indianapolis residents had the opportunity to engage in many uncomfortable conversations. Some did. Some didn’t. The 2021 Spirit & Place Festival wants to highlight the need for ongoing conversation by encouraging a public discourse on some of those topics. 

The festival, which is now in its 26th year, has rolled out an agenda that revolves around the theme of CHANGE, encouraging the public to reflect and engage in conversations about how 2020 brought about change and envision the steps needed for further change.

The 11-day festival of events, which runs from Nov. 4-14, includes an exhibition and a panel discussion called Monumental Changes: History and Power in Public Art from 6-9 p.m. on Nov. 5. During that discussion, which will be held at the Garfield Park Arts Center, panelists will provide perspectives on the history, controversy and June 2020 removal of a Confederate monument in Garfield Park on the city’s Southside.

Jordan Ryan, a historian, archivist and scholar, who is among the panelists, noted that the monument was dismantled and removed without community discussion — leaving a gap in residents’ ability to have their voices heard. The Spirit & Place Festival panel discussion will provide one of those opportunities, Ryan said.

“We never had a community conversation when the statue was taken down … a public conversation,” said Ryan, noting that some other cities had public forums before statues were removed. “This represents the first time the public can come together and have that discussion.”

Ryan acknowledged that it can be uncomfortable to engage in this type of discussion. However, it’s needed, she said.

“It will be uncomfortable, but that’s how we grow,” Ryan said.

In addition to Ryan, the Monumental Changes panelists include Dr. Paul Mullins, who has studied the history of the monument placement in Garfield Park, and Danicia Monét, an artist, researcher and urban planner. 

The Indianapolis discussion follows the National Monument Lab’s recent release of the National Monument Audit, a comprehensive look at the characteristics of the nation’s collection of monuments, most of which are overwhelmingly of white males.

A history of inspiring community engagement

As in previous years, community engagement was key to developing the theme of CHANGE for the festival, which is now in its 26th year, according to Erin Kelley, Spirit & Place program director.

“We have had different themes for every year,” she recalled. “We had previously set a theme but halfway through 2020, we knew that wasn’t going to resonate. We went out into the community, getting feedback through social media, emails, and by contacting event partners. We asked, ‘What is resonating with you right now?’ And the concept of ‘change’ rose to the top. That’s the one theme that people gravitated to.”

Kelley said that this year’s event will include a mix of in-person, virtual, and hybrid offerings — a model that will continue for future festivals. As a result of the pandemic, Kelley said, Spirit & Place has recognized the demand for a mix of options for people who work different hours, or have parental responsibilities that interfere with their ability to participate in person. 

As part of the opening night event, local spoken word artist Manon Voice, will serve as emcee and jazz pianist Christopher Pitts will perform a newly commissioned piano piece.

And, as with the Monumental Changes panel discussion, other Spirit & Place events will encourage public conversations on challenging topics, including the following:

  • Tearing Down Boxes and Embracing Change: Nov. 5, 5:30-8:30 p.m., at the Phoenix Theater Cultural Center — Fiber artists will discuss art as a vehicle for healing and growth, and will inspire attendees to break out of their boxes — whether its religious affiliations, circle of friends and social groups — to broaden their perspectives.
  • (Un)Comfortable Conversations: Telling Our Stories, Transforming Our World: Nov. 8, noon-1:30 p.m., virtual event — Spoken word artists, writers, and community leaders will discuss what it means to wrestle with and accept the consequences of change.
  • Be Anxious for Nothing: Loss and Joy in Unexpected Change: Nov. 8, 7-8 p.m., Christ Church Cathedral, hybrid event — A discussion about what the Bible, Torah, Qur’an, and sacred music say about change.

“We want folks to come out and have these conversations,” Kelley said. “It’s uncomfortable, hard and scary work. But we need to enter into brave spaces together and do this.”

For more information about the 2021 Spirit and Place Festival, visit the event lineup.

Oct 25

Is now the time?: Revisiting your vision, mission and values

By Sponsor Insight

by Kate Brierty, consultant, Hedges

Rapid change has been relentless. Over the past 18 months, many organizations have been forced to make tough decisions about how to continue their work with limited resources and difficult contexts. Others have swiftly and significantly expanded programs and staff to meet a growing demand for their services. The ability to make split-second decisions and fast adaptations has been essential for every nonprofit organization to survive.

As we begin to consider how to reliably deliver meaningful impact in our new context, many organizations have carved out space to reflect on what’s new, what’s next and how to move forward in a sustainable way. Now more than ever, we are hearing that strategic planning has been challenging as organizations have found increased misalignment between their stated mission, what they do currently, and what future actions the changes in their communities call for. After factoring in the desires of a community, funders and a team, it can feel like an organization is left trying to be everything to everyone.

If this frustration or misalignment feels familiar, your organization might benefit from pressing pause on strategic planning until you can revisit and realign what’s most core to your organization: your vision, mission and values. It can sometimes be difficult to tell when this reflection process is needed, but the five questions below can help you determine if investing the time on vision, mission and value work now might help you avoid frustration, build alignment, and create a stronger plan for your organization’s future.

  1. Does your organization need to define its vision, mission and values?

This might seem obvious, but you’ll first want to consider if your organization has taken the time to clearly write out its vision, mission and values. You might use different terms to describe this work (like calling it an organization’s purpose or commitment); regardless it is important for these core pieces to be internalized and aligned across the organization.

Before this alignment can occur, Board and executive leadership need to start by ensuring the organization’s vision, mission and values exist and are current, by asking: Is there a document where these pieces have been defined? Do internal and external audiences know where and how to find these definitions?

Although the format of the content might look different for each organization, these documents should contain formal, scripted answers to a few simple questions:
Vision- If your organization were successful, what would the new reality look like for your community?

Mission- What role does your organization play in helping create that new reality?

Values- What beliefs and principles are central to how you do your work and operate in the community?

Stakeholders look for and expect vision, mission and values to be spelled out publicly, and you don’t want to leave those stakeholders wondering why the organization is not being transparent about its purpose. Without having all three foundational pieces clearly outlined, internal and external stakeholders can also be forced to create their own definitions that may or may not align with the organization’s actual strategic direction. Formalizing these definitions before beginning any planning ensures that teams can ask clarifying questions and build understanding of these core facts about the organization before jumping into planning from them.

  1. Is there significant misalignment or disagreement within your team?

Having your vision, mission and values defined and known is essential, but it is often not enough to create the clarity your team needs to utilize these tools in planning. With many of our nonprofit partners we have found that when there is significant frustration on a team during a planning process, it is coming from each member of the team fighting for what they personally believe must be prioritized based on their own interpretation of the organization’s foundational pieces.

Sometimes when we feel that tension at the start of a planning process, we’ll hear folks say things like: “Remember that we’re all here for the same mission!” And that might be technically true. However, each team member’s view of that mission is shaped by their own experiences and interpretations. Creating intentional space to help the organization discuss and align on these core components can allow your entire team to create a shared understanding of how you would define these pieces in your organization’s context. We have seen defining values to be a particularly impactful exercise to create alignment with staff and board teams, as the full organization works together to craft a definition for each value that is relevant and meaningful to the team’s current work.

Even with shared understanding, there might still be significant misalignment or disagreement about the organization’s future. However, building the team’s capacity to utilize this common language and shared commitments in the planning process can help you productively move through disagreement towards stronger results for the organization and less frustration for everyone involved in the process.

  1. Does your organization no longer effectively utilize your vision, mission and values?

Vision, mission and values define what is core to your organization. They are the foundation for everything you do. That means they should be a part of every planning or evaluation conversation in the organization.

These foundational pieces of the organization should be a large piece of comprehensive planning processes, and they should serve as guideposts when making decisions around budget, staffing, development, or program evaluation. For example:

When you are considering applying for a new grant opportunity, do you revisit your mission and check that the expanded programming falls within the work you’ve committed to do?

When your Board is creating their personal fundraising messages, do you share tools to help them stay vision-focused?

When you are creating your staff performance evaluation systems, is there a portion focused on how their work aligns with the organization’s values?

If your team doesn’t incorporate your vision, mission and values into planning or your current definitions no longer feel like valid tools that can be used in decision making, then it might be time to re-visit these foundational pieces with your team. Building comfort with applying these core components of the organization to everyday work can help your team see and connect with vision, mission and values in a more substantial way.

  1. Have your organization’s programs or services shifted significantly?

If the pandemic has caused your organization to drastically shift what you do to serve your community, you are far from alone. In BKD’s State of the Nonprofit Sector- 2021 Annual Report, of the over 300 nonprofit organization respondents:

  • 89% said they had altered their delivery of programs and services in 2020.
  • 63.7% said they were likely to maintain their current programs and services and add some new.
  • 29.3% said they were likely to eliminate some current programs and services but not add any new.

While some of these program shifts might be meeting a temporary need, many organizations have also been including conversations about how to incorporate some of these updates into their long-term plans. For example, we are seeing some organizations consider shifting their geographic reach to grow to a statewide impact with more virtual services offered, while others are looking to hone their focus on more deeply impacting a specific community.

Before considering the sustainability of any enhanced, expanded, or shifted services, it can be helpful to step back and evaluate what fits with the organization’s current mission. If there is misalignment between proposed services and the current mission, then the organization can have a frank conversation to decide if that mission or the menu of services needs to be adapted.

  1. Have the needs of your community shifted significantly?

A strong vision is based in the context of the community that a nonprofit engages. That community has likely gone through some meaningful change since your organization’s founders crafted the original vision and mission for your work. Moreover, that community has likely changed drastically in the last 18 months as individuals adjust and adapt to the new context in which we all live.

Drastic changes, like those brought about by the pandemic, can be good reminders that every organization needs to be consistently assessing the needs of their community. We have partnered with organizations that have gathered this feedback effectively through a large formal landscape analysis and through intimate feedback conversations with their closest partners and those utilizing their programs and services. It does not need to be a complicated process, but it does need to work for your team or else collecting this data can easily become a low priority that gets pushed to the back burner. No matter how it’s collected, frequent community feedback can alert you to even gradual changes in the landscape and help you identify when it’s time to revisit your vision, mission and values to check their relevance and remain responsive to your community.

If you answered “yes” to any of the five questions above it does not mean you are experiencing an identity crisis or that you are facing major change as an organization. It does mean that taking time to intentionally revisit your organization’s vision, mission and values could be a meaningful experience for your team in this moment.

Your organization’s level of need should determine the depth of engagement your team needs in this work right now. You could make this a formal process tied to larger landscape analysis or long-term strategic planning, or it could be a limited internal conversation to help everyone get on the same page before jumping into the coming year.

No matter how you approach it, being open to this important conversation shows internal and external stakeholders your organization is responsive to the changing needs of your community and ready and willing to take on what’s next.

Kate Brierty is passionate about asking the right questions to help individuals and groups have conversations and make decisions that will create real impact for the people they serve. In all her work as a consultant at Hedges, she is focused on pursuing meaningful results while keeping people at the center of her work.

Oct 11

2021 Charitable Advisors salary survey reveals 57 percent of Central Indiana nonprofits expect to offer pay raises; 34 percent do not

By Feature

The 2021 Charitable Advisors Central Indiana Nonprofit Salary Report is now available to the public online

by Shari Finnell, editor/writer, Not-for-profit News

Although annual pay raises are often considered essential in keeping valued employees, about a third of Central Indiana nonprofits reported that they would not be offering pay raises in 2021 — in the midst of one of the most competitive job markets in recent history.

Those statistics were among the findings of the Charitable Advisors 2021 Central Indiana Nonprofit Salary Report, issued after a tumultuous period marked by the COVID-19 outbreak, government stay-at-home orders, social protests and an economic crisis.

With 286 Central Indiana organizations represented in the anonymous survey — a record response, HR executives, CEOs and other leaders provided insight into the salary levels of 26 positions of nonprofit institutions varying widely in size and in annual budgets — from less than $250,000 to more than $10 million.

When asked whether they expected to increase wages for employees at their organizations, 285 of the respondents revealed a mix of answers in the 2021 survey. They are as follows:

  • 2 percent expected a decrease in wages
  • 32 percent expected no increase in wages
  • 8 percent expected a wage increase of 1-1.9 percent
  • 18 percent expected a wage increase of 2-2.9 percent
  • 25 percent expected a wage increase of 3-3.9 percent
  • 2 percent expected a wage increase of 4-4.9 percent
  • 4 percent expected a wage increase of 5 percent or more
  • 9 percent had not yet decided or did not know if they would offer a wage increase

Based on the previous Charitable Advisors Central Indiana Nonprofit Salary Report, released in 2019 before the pandemic, the number of nonprofits planning to offer some type of wage increase had declined — from 63 percent t0 57 percent. However, a larger number of nonprofits in the 2019 survey had not yet decided on pay increases — 24 percent compared to 9 percent in the 2021 survey.

Salary ranges across job levels

As part of the 2021 survey, respondents gave detailed wage information for 26 position categories, from executive level positions to administrative and facility/maintenance support positions, for organizations of varying sizes, budget levels and nonprofit categories (arts, culture and humanities; community development; health; foundation, etc.)

For a full list of salary comparisons, read the 2021 report here.

The following is a sampling of some of the salary comparisons for organizations with operating budgets of $250,000 to $999,000 (the largest group represented at 35 percent):

Executive Director/President/CEO
Average – $79,348
Minimum – $30,000
Maximum – $224,430

Vice President of Programs
Average – $60,475
Minimum – $30,000
Maximum – $140,000

Vice President of Programs
Average – $60,475
Minimum – $30,000
Maximum – $140,000

Case Manager
Average – $42,641
Minimum – $31,200
Maximum – $65,000

Volunteer Coordinator
Average – $38,737
Minimum – $32,136
Maximum – $52,744

Office Manager
Average – $43,970
Minimum – $33,000
Maximum – $74,000

Facility/Maintenance Manager
Average – $51,521
Minimum – $32,600
Maximum – $75,0005

HR executive perspectives on moving forward in 2021

According to several HR executives for the organizations that participated in the annual salary survey, 2020 triggered a significant shift in the evolution of hiring, retention and employee engagement practices in the nonprofit industry.

During conversations with prospective employees, Ponda Sullivan, director of human resources for Tangram, dedicates time to understanding the reasons behind why they left their previous jobs. She also thoroughly reviews exit interviews from current employees.

“When I’m interviewing individuals, I try to capture some of the things that led them to look for another job,” said Sullivan, who previously worked at a for-profit healthcare organization for 18 years. “Some of the concerns expressed were related to child care, career development, flexible schedules and not feeling appreciated.”

Sullivan said nonprofit organizations that can’t compete must focus on those types of areas — the intrinsic appeal of working in the nonprofit industry — to be competitive. 

“People are looking for a company that does the right thing,” Sullivan said. “They want to be treated a certain way and they’re OK with a pay reduction as long as the company provides those other work-life balance benefits. You definitely have to be creative and innovative, and ask, ‘What are those intrinsic awards we can offer?’.”

Discovering new opportunities in the midst of challenges

While the pandemic prompted a series of unexpected “pivots” in the way the Children’s Museum of Indianapolis has traditionally operated, the outcome was a team that emerged better because of the experience, according to Debbie Aull, director of human resources for the organization.

“It definitely changed the world of human resources — in a good way,” Aull said. “We had to rethink everything. We’re much more focused, more transparent, and more purposeful about inclusion with all of our policies and practices.”

In addition to assessing its diversity equity and inclusion (DEI) practices by hiring a consultant, appointing a DEI task force and undergoing an audit to increase transparency, the Children’s Museum expanded into uncharted territory by bringing many programs online.

“One thing that was a challenge — and an opportunity — was moving the majority of our recruiting, hiring, onboarding, training and educational programs to virtual platforms,” Aull said. “At one time, we would have said, ‘There’s no way we can do that,’ but we did. And it’s great for the museum and the community.”

Aull also said that the museum is mindful of the need to adapt to remain relevant — and HR is core to that strategy.

“HR has proven to be the key to the success of the organization. Our people really are the most precious resource,” she said. “We have to provide them with a safe environment which is going to mean different things to different people. We all need to be open-minded in our thinking.”

For example, while HR professionals at organizations of all sizes will likely consider flexible, hybrid and remote options moving forward, it’s important to be mindful of employees who aren’t able to take advantage of those benefits, Aull said. 

“We have to consider it but we also must be open to ensuring there is equity and collaboration for hybrid and remote options,” she said. “We should be mindful of how it would impact employees who don’t have that option. We definitely don’t want an ‘us vs. them’ situation, especially for the staff members who are going in and working, facing visitors harping about having to wear masks, or complaining when they close the restrooms to clean and sanitize them. They’re on the receiving end of all that while I’m sitting in my second bedroom on a computer.”

To ensure that the front line employees felt supported through a challenging period, employees from other departments helped with some of the in-person responsibilities of operating the museum, such as cleaning laundry used in the facility, Aull said.

Rethinking HR strategies

Shelby Slowik, director of human resources at Conner Prairie, said that the living museum has had the advantage of operating many of its programs outdoors, which resulted in fewer disruptions in the team’s ability to continue welcoming visitors. The museum shut down for only two months in 2020 as a result of the pandemic, Slowik noted.

Also, as a larger organization, Conner Prairie is able to compete with many for-profit organizations on the wages it offers salaried employees, Slowik said. “It’s a rarity that we can’t compete at the professional and leadership levels,” she said. 

However, like many other businesses and nonprofits, hiring part-time and entry-level employees — primarily seasonal workers at Conner Prairie, has been challenging, Slowik said. 

“We rely a lot on seasonal employees and that’s where we see a bit more of the pay competition,” she said. 

After more than a year of adhering to new COVID-19 guidelines, streamlining programs, rolling out new policies, and ensuring that employees feel supported through the challenges, many HR departments have been pushed to evolve — perhaps much quicker than they would have without the pandemic, Slowik said. 

“I don’t think I have ever experienced anything like this in my 30 years in HR,” she said. “When you look at it from an HR perspective … the new policies and procedures we had to implement, the expenditures to support filtration, handwashing stations, hand sanitizers, dealing with fear factor of staff, the mental stress, lockdown, safety issues, immunizations, exposure … all that falls under the HR umbrella.”

In the past, Slowik noted, HR departments were comparable to policy enforcers. “Especially for those who have been in HR for some time, we tend to have a black and white viewpoint on how things should be handled when it comes to following policies and procedures, and guidelines on what you need to do to be successful,” she said.

That mindset has evolved significantly, she said.

“Maybe in the last 5 to 10 years, we’re no longer the person there to derail creative ideas. We have switched to being more like a business partner that’s willing to embrace creative ideas, whether it’s telecommuting and attractive benefits that may not have been previously considered. We’re much more approachable in collaborating.”

Just 10 years ago, Slowik said, she would never have considered telecommuting as an option for employees. The pandemic effectively changed her perception.

In the near future, Slowik predicted, HR managers will continue to struggle to find clarity on how much they should pay entry-level employees. “We’re all experiencing staffing challenges. Many hourly positions, which pay anywhere from $12 to $16 an hour, have remained vacant.

“This has caused us to review our entry rates of pay,” she said. “What do we need to do to be competitive if everyone else is raising their rates?”

Conner Prairie has hired a firm to evaluate their wage structure to ensure they’re competitive. “The pandemic pushed me to look at that a year earlier than I probably would have.”