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Monthly Archives

July 2026

Jul 27

Using AI Responsibly: Protecting Your Nonprofit While Embracing Innovation

By Sponsor Insight

Artificial intelligence is already transforming how nonprofits write grants, communicate with donors, manage operations, and improve productivity. But as AI adoption grows, so do the risks—from sophisticated phishing attacks to accidental data exposure.

At Dean Dorton, we encourage nonprofits to embrace AI with the right safeguards in place. A few key best practices can significantly reduce risk while allowing your organization to benefit from AI’s efficiencies:

  • Protect sensitive information. Never enter donor data, financial information, PII, or confidential organizational information into public AI tools.
  • Know where AI is being used. Inventory the AI tools your staff and volunteers are using, including features built into Microsoft 365, CRMs, and other business applications.
  • Limit access. Apply least-privilege permissions and restrict AI assistants to only the data they truly need.
  • Create a simple AI policy. Define approved tools, prohibited data, and expectations for staff and volunteers.
  • Train your team. AI-powered phishing, deepfakes, and executive impersonation attacks are becoming more convincing. Regular cybersecurity awareness training is essential.
  • Verify before you trust. AI-generated content should always be reviewed for accuracy before being used in grant applications, reports, or external communications.

For organizations just getting started, focus on the fundamentals during the first 90 days: establish an AI use policy, identify where AI is being used, strengthen identity and access controls, provide staff training, and regularly review AI permissions and vendor security practices.

AI is a powerful tool—but it should never replace sound governance, strong cybersecurity practices, or human judgment. With thoughtful policies and practical safeguards, nonprofits can confidently leverage AI while protecting their donors, beneficiaries, and mission.

Need help developing an AI governance strategy or strengthening your cybersecurity posture? Dean Dorton’s Technology Services professionals can help your nonprofit implement practical AI policies, strengthen security controls, and confidently adopt AI while protecting your organization, donors, and mission. Contact Dean Dorton today to learn how we can help you use AI securely and responsibly.

Jul 13

When a Full-Time Job Isn’t Enough

By Sponsor Insight

By Fred Payne, President and CEO, United Way of Central Indiana

Across Central Indiana, many families are doing exactly what we hope and expect: showing up for work, caring for their children, and doing their best to build a stable life. Yet for too many, even full-time work — and sometimes more than one job — is not enough to keep housing secure; bills current, and family life steady.

That reality is one reason why United Way of Central Indiana tracks a measure we call ALICE: Asset-Limited, Income-Constrained, Employed. The most resent ALICE report shows that nearly 260,000 households in our region are either ALICE or living below the poverty line — one in three. This is not only an urban reality. In Hamilton County, 24% of households fall into this category. In Boone and Hendricks Counties, it is 29%. In Marion County, 41%.

Journalist Brian Goldstone spent years documenting this exact phenomenon nationally in his book, There Is No Place for Us: Working and Homeless in America, following five families in Atlanta who held full-time jobs and still couldn’t secure stable housing.

The book won the 2026 Pulitzer Prize for General Nonfiction. Goldstone will join us this month to share more about what his reporting revealed — and what it means for communities like ours. His work reminds us that poverty is often closer and more familiar than we realize: our neighbors, the people beside us at church, in the grocery line, or working in our own buildings.

That recognition is exactly why United Way of Central Indiana set a goal in 2023: distance 10,000 families from poverty by 2028, a commitment we call the Road to 10K. We are now more than 70% of the way there, having closed gaps for 7,700 families. Alongside that, we’ve helped relieve nearly $240 million in medical debt for 112,000 Hoosiers, while working with partners on housing, food security, and childcare.

These investments strengthen more than individual households. An updated study from Indiana University’s Kelley School of Business found that United Way of Central Indiana’s grants generated nearly $80 million in annual economic activity for Central Indiana between 2020 and 2025 — every $1 we invest spurs an additional $1.28 in local economic activity.

Behind those numbers are real people and real turning points: families who, with the right combination of coaching, childcare, food assistance, and financial support, moved from crisis to stability. Some are now helping others do the same. Those stories are the reason this work matters, and they’re the reason we keep pushing toward the next 2,300 families on our path to 10,000.

Progress is possible when a community of partners, employers, and neighbors work together.

That is the spirit behind CONNECT, our inaugural convening on July 20 from 3-6 p.m. at Gainbridge Fieldhouse. The event will bring together leaders from business, government, nonprofits, and philanthropy to strengthen relationships and build collective understanding and eventual action plans. Attendees will hear directly from Brian Goldstone and explore Impact Experience Exhibits about basic needs, early learning, economic mobility, and housing.

Central Indiana can be a place where a full-time job reliably leads to a stable life. Getting there takes honesty about how far that promise has slipped — and it takes all of us to work from the same table.

For details and to register, visit our CONNECT website. Use code: Charitable50 for a discount.