About us

Charitable Advisors is a for-profit Indianapolis-based company. Its mission is to support nonprofit board and staff leadership to increase the capacity of their organizations to respond to the needs of their constituencies and communities.

It does this through consulting services that include working with individual nonprofit organizations and groups in board development, strategic planning, organizational assessment and executive transition. Charitable Advisors weekly publishes a free e-newsletter that shares both national and local news and trends and advertises nonprofit jobs.

Bryan Orander is president of Charitable Advisors and publisher of the Not-for-profit News. He started Charitable Advisors in 2000 after more than 20 years of experience in leadership, management and consulting.

Bryan's Biography
Technical Expertise
- Focusing exclusively on not-for-profits in Executive Transition, Assessment and Strategic Planning, and Board Development
- Past twelve years as President of Charitable Advisors LLC
- Three years as Manager of Nonprofit Consulting Services for Olive LLP (now BKD) supporting a client base of 600 nonprofits in Indiana, Ohio, and Illinois.
- From 1991 to 1997, led the vocational, then revenue diversification efforts at Noble of Indiana as Director of Business Enterprises, then Business Development.
- Prior to joining Noble in 1991, spent 12 years with Unisys Corporation (Formerly Burroughs Corp.) in planning, marketing, logistics, and finance.
Management/Leadership Experience
- Over 20 years of direct leadership, management, and supervisory responsibility for staffs as large as 60, including multiple-site and multiple-state. Fortune 50, not-for-profit, and consulting partnership.
- Fifteen + years of (full-time) experience consulting with nonprofit organizations, independently and as a project leader of a team of consultants.
Education
- BS, Finance, Ball State University, BoardSource Certified Governance Trainer (2012)
- MBA, Butler University
- CFP, College of Financial Planning, Denver
- Indiana University School of Philanthropy, The Fund Raising School
- BoardSource – Board and CEO Assessment, Board Dev “Train the Trainer”
- Executive Transition Mgmt – TransitionGuides/CompassPoint/Annie E Casey
Professional Affiliations
- Board Member, Lacy Leadership Association
- Co-founder/Steering Committee for annual “Get on Board” event
- Advisory Board – Indiana Nonprofit Resource Network
- Agency Assessment Volunteer – United Way of Central Indiana
- Past Instructor—Indiana Academy of Nonprofit Excellence
- Judge – 2001 Indiana Nonprofit Achievement Awards
- Judge – 2004, 2005, 2007 BKD Nonprofit Excellence Awards
- 2002 Institute for Organizational Effectiveness Assessment Consultant
Community-Building Resources
- Publisher, Weekly Indpls Not-for-profit News e-newsletter – circulation 16,000+
- Author of Welcome to the Board, Finance for Every Board Member, Fund Raising for Every Board Member, and Planning for Every Board Member
- Developer of CA Board Self-Assessment at www.CharitableAdvisors.com
- Publisher of the 2010 and 2012 Central Indiana Nonprofit Salary Surveys

Bryan Orander

President

Bryan is founder and president of Charitable Advisors. After 18 years of for-profit leadership in the Fortune 50 business world and a disability-related nonprofit, Bryan joined a large regional accounting and consulting firm.

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In addition to creating and publishing the Not-for-profit News, an e-newsletter for 14,000 subscribers in Central Indiana, Bryan co-founded the “Get on Board,” an annual board member recruiting event hosted by Leadership Indianapolis. In 2010, Charitable Advisors published the first Central Indiana Nonprofit Salary Survey. In 2008, he began publishing the Greater Cincinnati Not-for-profit News, which since August 2015 became a local, independent publication.

Bryan’s thoughts on the nonprofit sector: “Through my work, I get to see nonprofits that are exceptionally well-run and others that are working hard but may not be sure where they are headed or how to get there. What keeps me going is the spirit and resiliency of the people in this sector who are seeking to serve their clients better and refuse to consider failure as an option.”

Bryan is happily married with two beautiful daughters.

NFP News Team

Julie Struble

Director of Marketing and Sponsorships

Joining the Charitable Advisors team in 2002, Julie serves as the operations director. Julie’s responsibilities range from compilation of the weekly Not-for-profit newsletter, coordination of peer group activities, as well as sales and marketing efforts. She is a Ball State University and Indiana University Purdue University of Indianapolis graduate, and has over 15 years of experience working with nonprofit organization.

She and her husband, Mark, have one child and reside in McCordsville.

Lynn Sygiel

Editor

Crafting a good story has been central to Lynn’s work life, first as director of Y-Press for over two decades, and now as editor of Charitable Advisors’ Not-for-profit News. Nonprofits need a forum and Lynn helps tell stories of innovation, success and challenge to help strengthen the nonprofit sector, while editing submissions for style and clarity. She is a University of Wisconsin and Simmons College grad and spent time as an educator and nonprofit executive before taking on her part-time role in 2014 with Charitable Advisors.

She and her husband, Carl, live in Indianapolis.

Sara Altizer

Newsletter Designer

A talented artist and graphic designer with an obsessive eye for detail, Sara joined Charitable Advisors in the spring of 2014. From refreshing the appearance of the weekly e-newsletter, to redesigning the website, her distinct design style defines CA’s refreshed brand.

When she’s not biking, hiking or doing yoga, she creating a vegan feast — usually with ingredients from her own garden — to share with friends. She is a grad of Vincennes University and Kentucky Wesleyan College.

Kristen Orander

Job ads and billing

Kristen Orander works behind the scenes to manage job ad posting and billing. She serves as a sounding board and voice of reason for Bryan’s best and worst ideas. Kristen is a Purdue grad and spent almost 15 years in marketing, communications and printing before taking on her part-time role with Charitable Advisors.

Consulting Team

Don Gulbrandsen

Director of Consulting

Having accumulated more than 30 years of leadership experience in the for-profit and nonprofit sectors, Don Gulbrandsen joined Charitable Advisors’ team in 2018 as director of consulting. A graduate of Iowa State University and Chicago’s North Park University with a Master of Nonprofit Administration, he brings extensive experience in recruiting, fund development, grant writing and strategic planning. He is well versed in operations management, new business development and building high-functioning teams — all skills that serve him well in his role to oversee Charitable Advisors’ growing consulting business. Don and his wife, Tari, live in Indianapolis.

T.J. McGovern

Fundraising Consultant

T.J. McGovern joined Charitable Advisors’ team in 2018. He is a nonprofit coach, trainer, consultant, and speaker with 20 years of experience in development, strategic visioning, campaign management, and major gift solicitation guiding successful funding efforts ranging from $100k-$20M.

Beginning his career in institutional advancement as alumni director for a private high school in the Chicago area, T.J. completed his master’s in nonprofit management from Indiana University’s School of Public and Environmental Affairs and served as director of development for the largest community college system in the nation.

T.J. has coached and trained numerous organizations and leaders from over 100 organizations on how to use engagement process to maximize funding opportunities.

He lives in Fishers with his wife, Kristin, and has twin teenagers, which makes life interesting.

Kathleen Poland

Recruiter

Kathleen joined Charitable Advisors in October of 2017 and brings over 12 years’ experience in human resources from nonprofit, healthcare and federal and state government positions. She enjoys all aspects of hiring particularly the interview process and the delivery of qualified candidates. She wears a couple of different hats at Charitable Advisors. One as a recruiter and the other as administrator spending time learning the ropes from Bryan and providing support to help keep projects flowing. A graduate of IUPUI, majoring in English and minoring in journalism, Kathleen also enjoys writing, and while working as a newspaper reporter, once had the opportunity to interview former Russian President Boris Yeltsin at a hog farm in Danville, Indiana. She resides in Zionsville with her husband Pat, two children and pet rabbit Harriett.

Amy Zoellner

Consulting Project Coordinator

With 10 years in project management and event planning experience, Amy joined Charitable Advisors in 2018. She assists the expanding consulting team by implementing smooth and effective workflows. As consulting coordinator, Amy’s responsibilities range from project management to consulting sales and marketing. Originally from Greensburg, Amy is a graduate of Butler University. She and her husband, Nick, live in Indianapolis with their son, Camden and miniature dachshund, Scarlet.