Skip to main content
All Posts By

charitableadvisors

Aug 09

Defaced #BlackLivesMatter mural recreated for museum exhibit — preserving a critical moment in history, organizers say

By Feature

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

Just over a year ago, Indianapolis native Deonna Craig was among a group of 18 artists who gathered in downtown Indianapolis — committing their talents and points of view to create a street mural during one of the most turbulent periods in American history.

Craig recalls the experience on Indiana Avenue as peaceful refuge, even as people gathered just outside of a barricade to protest them painting the phrase “#BlackLivesMatter” (BLM) on a segment of Indiana Avenue.

“It was like I was in a bubble,” recalls Craig, who included the names of people who had been killed by local police in the letter V, her contribution to the project approved by the City-County Council of Indianapolis and Marion County.

About a week later, the street mural was vandalized with splatters and streaks of gray paint — similar to the acts of vandalism on #BlackLivesMatter public artwork across the nation.

Craig, who regularly talks to youth at area schools about current events and the power of artistic expression as an art instructor, said the defacing of the mural did little to minimize the voices of the artists who gathered that day to raise awareness. While the vandalism was devastating, she said, it wasn’t entirely unexpected given the tensions in the community throughout 2020.

Unveiling of new BLM exhibit

And with a recent exhibit launched by The Children’s Museum of Indianapolis those moments will reach a larger audience — as many as the 1.2 million visitors who visit the destination each year.

Under a special initiative, the museum commissioned the artists to recreate miniaturized versions of their street artwork on 16×20 canvases, said Monica Ramsey Humphrey, director of exhibits and interactive media for The Children’s Museum. Of the 18 artists, 14 artists, including Craig, participated — recreating their artistic lettering and recording a video in which they share their personal stories, inspiration and experiences of how the mural impacted their lives. The exhibit also includes some of the concept art renderings, tools, shirts, badges and clothes the artists were wearing as part of the event.

“It’s an incredibly important movement,” Ramsey Humphrey said of the massive outpouring of people who demonstrated on behalf of the #BlackLivesMatter campaign. “The museum has a responsibility to collect and preserve moments in history for generations to come.”

Having hard conversations with youth

Craig, who regularly works with children as part of her community work, said it’s important to communicate with children what they were witnessing during that intense period of social unrest and demonstrations, and art is one of the most effective ways to bridge that understanding. Craig also is involved in the Visiting Artist Program for The Children’s Museum.

Like the exhibit, The Power of Children©, which will be expanded to add the story of Malala Yousafzai this year, the new #BlackLivesMatter exhibit will help educate children on difficult periods in American history, Ramsey Humphrey said.

“These are tough topics we want to tackle,” she added. “The exhibits play a part in bridging gaps and elevating voices and stories. We are able to give parents and children the information and tools needed to talk to one another about challenging issues that can be difficult to break down as an adult.”

Aug 02

Professionals share insights on how continuing education in law impacts their careers and organizations

By Sponsor Insight

by Miki Pike Hamstra, assistant dean of graduate programs, IU McKinney School of Law

Many professionals find it invaluable to gain knowledge of the law and how it intersects with their entity’s efforts. While some choose to pursue a traditional law degree to gain that information, there is an alternative.

The IU Robert H. McKinney School of Law offers a Master of Jurisprudence (M.J.) degree that demonstrates you don’t need a law degree to gain that skill set. Students and recent graduates of the program share why they chose it.

Ebonye M.J. Crowe, a dual-degree student and grade-level administrator at MSD Warren Township Schools, found that the M.J. degree offered more than she originally envisioned. “My initial intention was to gain knowledge of the law and pair it with my urban education studies to help me to be better informed of law and policy in my role,” Crowe said. “However, I’m learning it’s BIGGER than that! My law and UES classes are the perfect pairings. They complement one another very well and will provide me the foundational knowledge I need to understand the big picture and think more critically.”

Carolyn Dawson, a 2021 graduate of IU McKinney’s M.J. program, found that the degree has given her invaluable insights as part of her work in the contract grant service line as a research administrator pre-award at Regenstrief Institute. “I was looking for something challenging that I could use and transfer into any field I continued to work in,” Dawson said. “I wanted something that would help me look at things differently than the way I saw the world and force me to look at the bigger picture.”

Another IU McKinney graduate, Keva Ropp, shared that her M.J. studies, which she completed in 2020, helped her be a better student advocate in her role as the assistant director of finance in the department of medicine at the IU School of Medicine. “I believe my M.J. degree has been a great factor in being more educated and aware of changes in the law,” Ropp said. “It allows me to be a better advocate for the students that I encounter, my colleagues that I work with, and the IUPUI community that I support.”

Duong Quyhn Vu, IU McKinney’s first M.J. graduate, is a data scientist at UrbanLogiq. “The Master of Jurisprudence gave me a foundation in legal understanding and critical thinking, skills that help me to develop creative solutions to problems, understand technical papers, and perform research for my career,” she said. “We integrate and visualize diverse data sets so that public officials of any technical background can understand what their data is telling them and better serve their communities.”

To learn more, visit IU McKinney’s website.

IU McKinney School of Law and Purdue University introduce new agriculture degree

by Miki Pike Hamstra, assistant dean of graduate programs, IU McKinney School of Law

Agriculture is an enormous business enterprise in Indiana and as with any economic endeavor, legal knowledge is a vital part of supporting it. Issues can be as varied as drainage, probate concerns, environmental issues, food safety, technology, patents, and many more.

IU McKinney and Purdue University have teamed up to create the first Master of Jurisprudence /Master of Science (M.J./M.S.) in agricultural economics in the nation. This effort capitalizes on both institutions’ signature specialties — law and agriculture — to provide a foundation in agricultural law. Purdue’s agricultural economics expertise offers an in-depth understanding of the food system’s economics and the concepts and theories required to make effective decisions in a dynamic industry. IU McKinney’s legal training emphasizes understanding regulatory oversight, administrative agencies’ roles, policy questions, and transactional structures.

M.J./M.S. students with a multidisciplinary education in agricultural economics and law will be able to make creative and significant contributions to their companies, the food and agribusiness industries, and food and agriculture policies in Indiana and elsewhere. To learn more, visit IU McKinney’s website.

Jul 26

What’s next?: As moratorium nears expiration date, Indiana faces an increasingly complex mix of challenges

By Feature

Threats of evictions, foreclosures and homelessness magnify the state’s shortage of affordable housing and adds pressure to frontline organizations

by Shari Finnell, editor/writer, Not for Profit News

With renovations recently completed on a two-bedroom, 1-bathroom home in Martindale-Brightwood, a neighborhood on Indianapolis’ Eastside, another family has the opportunity to get closer to one of the most heralded symbols of the American Dream: home ownership.

The house located on Manlove Avenue was completely gutted before being furnished with quality finishes and appliances, said Steven Meyer, CEO of Renew Indianapolis, which rehabbed the house — one of 20 affordable housing projects it will rebuild or rehab near Douglass Park in the Martindale-Brightwood neighborhood during the next three years.

“Our philosophy around affordable housing is that you shouldn’t be able to tell the difference between one of these houses or any other house,” Meyer said. “Whoever ends up in this home will not have to face constant problems with maintenance.”

The Manlove Avenue house also is symbolic of the massive challenge Indianapolis, like many other cities, is facing in producing enough affordable housing to accommodate increasing demand. With the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention moratorium on evictions expiring on Aug. 1, 2021, Meyer and other nonprofit leaders and city officials fear that Indianapolis will face a potential eviction crisis.

“One of the most difficult challenges facing frontline organizations is that the moratorium is lifting for everyone at the same time,” said Aaron Laramore, senior program officer for the Local Initiatives Support Corporation (LISC) Indianapolis, an organization that collaborates with residents, organizations, businesses and government officials to revitalize urban communities.

“It’s going to put a lot of pressure on affordable housing demand in Indianapolis,” Laramore added. “How many people are going to be evicted by their landlord once the moratorium is lifted? It will likely be a significant number, which will present a significant challenge for every frontline organization providing emergency needs for people. It may not happen immediately, but the process will start.”

Meyer also said that foreclosures and evictions could make hard hit neighborhoods more vulnerable, as they did with the Great Recession, “The need for affordable housing — affordable housing preservation — is at its highest level ever,” Meyer said. “During the great recession, we saw the neighborhoods hardest hit lose 20 percent of their homeowners. Currently, new affordable housing programs can’t keep up with demand.”

According to recent statistics:

  • Rent for Indianapolis properties continues to rise. As of June 2021, the monthly average had climbed to $1,047 — up from $968 in January 2020, according to data compiled from Apartment List.
  • Indiana is one of 10 states where more than 20% of renters are behind on their payments, according to the State of the Nation’s Housing 2021 report, recently released by the Joint Center for Housing Studies of Harvard University. Also, 53 percent of renters reported losing income during the pandemic. Comparatively, 8.4 percent of Indiana homeowners were behind on their payments, and 36.2 percent reported losing income.
  • Home prices continue to climb, another factor that can keep lower-income households out of the real estate market. In Central Indiana, the average home price of $250,000 is — 14.2% higher than it was in June 2020, according to MIBOR.
  • For the general market alone, Indianapolis is lagging behind a demand for 9,000 housing units a year, according to a recent MIBOR report, which states that “the Indianapolis region is underbuilding each year by 1,750 units.”

Laramore also noted that lower income households were financially stressed because many of them spend significantly more than the federal standard of 30 percent for their housing. “Affordable housing is absolutely part of the way we will recover — affordable housing and home ownership are the wealth building tools for the average person,” he said.

According to the report Out of Reach, released earlier this month, more than 145,000 extremely low-income renters in Indiana already were spending more than half of their incomes on housing — before the pandemic. The report, which was jointly released by the National Low Income Housing Coalition and Prosperity Indiana, found that full-time Indiana employees would need to earn $18.19 an hour for a modest two-bedroom apartment in Indianapolis. However, the average renter in Indiana makes $14.58 an hour. 

In response to the report, Jessica Love, executive director for Prosperity Indiana, said, “The cost of housing in Indiana just keeps rising, which means the state Housing Wage – what you really need to earn for your home to be affordable to you – keeps going up. Unfortunately, the average renter’s wage hasn’t risen much for Hoosiers, especially when compared to our Midwestern peers. And this only serves to widen the disparities experienced by the lowest income renters.”

While a significant amount of dollars are being dedicated to housing stabilization during the current crisis, including the American Rescue Plan Act of 2021, long-term plans need to continue to focus on the evolving needs of low-income households, according to Laramore.

New construction also needs to recognize the needs of the changing American household. “The housing industry is built around the idea of a nuclear family, however that household type is no longer the most dominant,” Laramore said. “We have intergenerational households, single parents as head of the household. This changing demographic has different needs than the traditional nuclear family household. We need to pivot to align with what families look like now.”

Meyer said that recent developments are starting to reflect an awareness that different aspects of stabilization aren’t isolated. 

“Community development, in general, has acknowledged that different areas — affordable housing, economic development and supportive services — are all interrelated in a way that hasn’t happened in the past. We’re bringing all the resources people will need in a neighborhood to ensure they will have the most impact as possible.”

Jul 19

The journey to an anti-racist community

By Sponsor Insight

by Pamela Ross, vice president of opportunity, equity and inclusion at Central Indiana Community Foundation

Almost three years ago, Central Indiana Community Foundation (CICF) and its affiliates, The Indianapolis Foundation and Hamilton County Community Foundation, announced our new shared mission and a focused commitment to dismantling systemic racism. After spending generations committed to making the Central Indiana community stronger through philanthropy, we were faced with the realization and data-driven proof that our collective efforts were still leaving people and communities behind while others prospered. And it was clear that race still has a profound impact on the opportunity for someone to reach their full potential.

We committed to learning more, having hard conversations amongst our staff and leadership, and most importantly, developing authentic relationships with residents, listening to them — and activating what we heard. We made space to learn and encouraged our employees and board members to bring their whole selves into this work. As we’ve continued to learn more, we’ve invited others — community leaders, corporate leaders, not-for-profits, our fundholders — to join us on this journey towards equity. All with mixed success.

On our journey to be a leader in creating one of the most anti-racist communities in this nation, a few of our fundholders chose to take their philanthropy elsewhere. In conversations about race with our staff, there were times when we were challenged by the tone of voice used to share their perspective and experiences instead of listening to what was being shared.

There were times when our choice in language could have been chosen more wisely when addressing privilege and our country’s history of centering the White experience. In reflecting on those moments, we were faced with Abraham Maslow’s two options, “step forward into growth, or step back into safety.” We chose — and will continue to choose — the former. And in that choice, new funds and relationships came to fruition because of our commitment to equity and growth is not wavering.

We don’t pretend to have all the answers or have this journey figured out. We have to be intentional and authentic and willing to make mistakes — and learn from them. The process of becoming an anti-racist organization, community, and nation is ever evolving.

Centering and empowering the voices and experiences of people of color is crucial in equity work. Uplifting, trusting and valuing the lived experiences of the people most impacted by the systemic issues you’re trying to address cannot be a step you skip over. When so many companies are trying to improve in this space, too often, people of color are burdened with the expectation to draft anti-racism statements and inclusion strategies without adjustments to existing workloads or emotional support when they’re constantly reliving this trauma. This work must be an opportunity for those voices of color, not another obligation.

Anti-racism cannot be performative. If your allyship or pledge to equity is designed to primarily benefit you or your organization’s reputation, it is simply a distraction. Celebrating a new DEI hire across your social media but not giving that individual any true power or voice within the organization is not advocacy. Being a keyboard warrior by reposting a hashtag or sharing a crafted statement without acknowledging your own privilege and role in systemic issues does not lead to equality. This work must include actions and real change that may never get publicly recognized but you know it is important, nonetheless.

We, at CICF, have learned that the path towards equity is beyond challenging and continuously filled with nuance. There is no guidebook with proven solutions. It is not fast or transactional. But we must all unite in our commitment to struggle towards racial equity. The time for change must happen now.

Jul 12

Faced with hiring and retention woes, an Indiana children’s home raises the stakes with a $100,000 salary for house parents

By Feature

The facility doubled the salary of its 2010 rates, and surpassed all similar salaries in the industry

by Shari Finnell, writer/editor Not for Profit News

When Richard Lapinski took over as executive director/CEO of the Indiana United Methodist Children’s Home (IUMCH), it quickly became apparent that he wouldn’t be there to win over friends. The Lebanon-based facility was facing serious challenges, including a significant cut in referrals from the Indiana Department of Child Services (DCS) — the primary source of its youth resident placements. Difficult decisions had to be made.

IUMCH only had about 27 youth residents, down from an average of 75 to 80 — more than a 60 percent reduction, Lapinski recalled. However, the facility still had more than 110 employees on its payroll — functioning with an infrastructure that had become outdated with the loss of residents. “And that number was rapidly decreasing for a number of reasons,” Lapinski said.

With awareness increasing about best practices for caring for troubled youth, many of whom had been abused or neglected in their previous homes, IUMCH wasn’t measuring up as a preferred placement facility. “Our organization didn’t really have the structure or appropriate behavioral models in place to care for the kids properly,” Lapinski said.

Since placements were being drastically cut and, consequently, revenue from the state, the facility had resorted to using $4.2 million from its endowment to cover operational costs, Lapinski noted. “They (IUMCH) have a very healthy endowment but that was not going to last long if we stayed on that track,” he said.

Lapinski, with the board’s approval, set in motion a series of recommendations that included investing in the construction of new facilities, training of employees under a new model of care, eliminating 55 positions and, eventually, boosting the salary of its house parents to a combined $100,000 — up from the $50,000 they were paid when he first arrived in 2010.

While the internal changes sent ripples throughout the organization, the decision to boost the salary of house parents made many other organizations take notice nationally. “It was sticker shock, in a positive way. You can get a lot of people’s attention,” Lapinski said of the significant salary hike, which was designed to address IUMCH’s challenges with attracting experienced house parents and retaining them. At the same time, it sent an unmistakable message about the critical role house parents had in delivering quality, caring services to youth on behalf of IUMCH.

The strategy worked. Highly qualified house parents, many working at larger, well-known institutions throughout the country, suddenly took interest in relocating to Lebanon, Ind., for the opportunity to work at IUMCH. “We, at one point, didn’t actively recruit,” Lapinski said of the surge in interest.

Initiating difficult discussions

Before arriving at the IUMCH in 2010, Lapinski had first-hand experience with understanding the unique challenges facing nonprofits dedicated to the care of youth facing numerous risk factors, such as abuse, neglect and abandonment. He had previously served as executive director of the Presbyterian Home for Children in Amarillo, Texas.

He and his wife, Stephanie, also served as family teachers for five years at Father Flanagan’s Boys Town in Omaha, Neb. In those roles, the couple lived in a family home with up to eight youth, providing 24/7 care.

It was that previous experience that convinced Lapinski that IUMCH had to overhaul its approach to caring for its youth residents, especially after he observed the day-to-day practices at the children’s home.

During his first meeting with IUMCH’s executive committee, which also was attended by board members, Lapinski was blunt. “I told them if I was a youth, I would hate to live here.,” he recalled. “It was more like a detention facility than a residential group home for youth. When I told them that, they looked at me and said, ‘We were always told that this was the best place in Indiana if you had to be placed out of the home.’”

At their next meeting, Lapinski showed them footage taken from cameras throughout the housing facility. Among them were instances of restraints of youth residents. “We would restrain you on a daily basis, so I showed them five restraints. I didn’t pick the worst five, I just ran it in a loop,” he recalled. “After I scraped their jaws off the table, then we were able to gather their thoughts.”

Lapinski also reminded them of the DCS’s decision to drastically reduce placements with their facility — another convincing sign that major changes were needed.

“We had gone for nine months without a referral from DCS,” he said. “Keep in mind, not even with their worst kid, one that they had a hard time finding a placement anywhere, we didn’t get that referral. So we needed to make some changes. And it was difficult because we had staff members who had been here for 20 and 30 years. They were ingrained in how they did things and didn’t want to make any changes.”

The team called an emergency meeting to discuss switching to a teaching family model, an evidence-based trauma informed care model approved by the American Psychological Association. “I really didn’t need to convince anybody … the writing was on the wall that we needed to make those changes,” Lapinski said. “DCS had stopped placing youth with us. They were picking the organizations that they were going to continue to utilize and we were not one of them.”

Moving toward an unprecedented pay scale

The IUMCH team arranged a visit to the Virginia Home for Boys and Girls, a facility that was similar to the Lebanon group home — and had fully transitioned to the teaching family model that was first implemented by Father Flanagan’s Boys’ Home. Currently, the Teaching Family Association has agencies throughout the United States and worldwide, including Australia, New Zealand and Canada that are using the model. Lapinski serves as the board president.

As a result of those initial meetings and tours, IUMCH committed to the construction of six new teaching family homes as a new state-of-the-art on-grounds school, which opened in 2015. They also agreed to eliminate 55 positions as they transitioned to the new model of care.
They soon realized the transformation of their care model could not end there. IUMCH was facing recruiting, hiring and retention challenges with family house parents — an experience that is common in the industry because of the intense demands of the position.

Under IUMCH’s job description, family house parents are a married couple who would commit to living within a group home. While they have their own private apartment, they are committed to caring for six to eight youth five to six days a week. “It’s such a unique position to try to hire for,” Lapinski said. “You need to find a couple that works together who are also trained in the family teaching model and really have a passion for the mission of caring for youth. At minimum, they’re working with the youth 80 hours a week.”

Currently, the average salary nationally for a teacher family couple is a combined $58,000.

“When I first started implementing the model (at IUMCH), we were paying $50,000 a couple — or $25,000 per person. It really isn’t that much money, but when you consider that housing, food and utilities is provided, it’s really like $72,000 to $75,000,” Lapinski said.

Although IUMCH was recruiting nationally — including in Alaska, Ohio, California, Nevada, Florida and Texas, they found it increasingly difficult to find house parents or family teachers, especially during periods in which the economy was stable. They increased the salary offer to $58,000 but still had challenges locating the right couples for vacant positions.

Lapinski said it was critical to find couples that were committed to the care of the youth. “If you really don’t have the passion and the commitment, you won’t last four to six months in this role. Not only is that bad for the organization, it’s absolutely terrible for our kids who already have reactive attachment disorder,” he said.

Faced with the prospect of closing one of its group homes due to the lack of staff, Lapinski said he analyzed how they could effectively recruit the best couples to fill the roles. The answer? Raising the salary for family teachers to $100,000 — at least more than $20,000 than any other organization paid for the position.

“Needless to say, we didn’t have a problem hiring family teachers and being able to drill down to find the most qualified couples that we could recruit,” Lapinski said. “It really put our organization in a wonderful place by providing stability. Our turnover is considerably lower now. The average turnover for a family teaching couple nationwide is 18 months. We’ve had couples here for four years.”

The investment in the salary increase was well placed, Lapinski said. “They’re worth every penny,” he said. “Our family teachers are truly the backbone of our organization.” The organization also increased the pay scale for assistant family teachers, who typically are recruited locally.

Lapinski noted that it wasn’t difficult to get buy-in from IUMCH’s board for the salary increase. “It was a lot easier than I thought it would be,” he said. “When we were faced with closing a home down because we couldn’t staff it, and that caught our board’s attention.”

Overall, the changes have been instrumental in helping IUMCH effectively carry out its mission. “We’re able to provide better services to the children we serve and achieve cost savings by reducing turnover and the rehiring and retraining of staff,” Lapinski said.

The organization also won the trust of the DCS, which now makes about 500 referrals a year to IUMCH, Lapinski said.

While the drastic changes were challenging at times, Lapinski said he never lost faith in the process. “You could call me the hatchet man,” he said. “However, I never lost a minute of sleep because I knew the end result was going to be much better for the kids.”

Jul 12

3 essential practices to create an inclusive board culture

By Sponsor Insight

Ask the challenging questions needed to achieve alignment with diversity goals

by Erin Hedges, president, Hedges

Despite good intentions, there is still much diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) work to be done in the nonprofit boardroom. A June 2021 report from BoardSource indicates that while boards may be getting slightly more diverse, they are far from representing the communities they serve, and recruitment practices too often lack alignment with diversity goals.

At Hedges, we are challenging ourselves to question traditional board governance practices and identify new ways for organizations to create a more diverse, equitable, and inclusive board culture. Resulting from our learnings, we share three practices for nonprofit leaders to consider:

  1. DEI work should be grounded in an organization’s “why.” Too often, the purpose of recruiting diverse board members is to “check a box” provided by funders on a grant application. This narrow approach misses the opportunity for important board-driven conversations that can identify how diversity in representation, lived experiences, and perspectives can unlock greater potential for the organization. By taking time to uncover the reasons “why” an organization needs more diversity in the boardroom, boards can identify the specific purpose for board-led DEI efforts and create a collective responsibility to move these efforts forward.

To get started, BoardSource offers specific questions boards can ask themselves to explore an organization’s purpose for having a more diverse boardroom including:

  • Is our organization’s reputation being negatively (or positively) impacted by our board’s composition vis-à-vis diversity?
  • If someone were to make assumptions about our organizational values based on our board composition, what would they be likely to think?
  • How well are we cultivating a deeper understanding of the community or communities that we serve and bringing their perspectives, needs, feedback, and priorities into our strategic boardroom discussions?
  • Are we ever at risk of making decisions without fully understanding how these decisions may affect those we serve?
  • If we were to make a deeper commitment to diversity, inclusion, and equity, what would that mean for our mission, our work, and the people we serve?

Once the board can formulate responses to these types of questions, it will gain clarity as to “why” board diversity matters and what the organization has to gain. The board will have identified its purpose in developing a plan to recruit and successfully support more diverse members that can bring valuable, new contributions to discussions, deliberations, and decision-making for the organization.

  1. Bylaws can be a powerful DEI tool. Moving DEI intentions into action is key to successfully creating an inclusive boardroom. In addition to developing a plan to use as a playbook, board members can consider incorporating DEI provisions into the organization’s bylaws. Not only will these provisions guide and direct board members, but also provide accountability measures that will increase successful outcomes of these efforts.

Including DEI provisions in bylaws demonstrates that DEI is a core organizational value. NEO Law Group offers specific recommendations of how organizations can accomplish this. One of our favorites is stating the diversity goal from your plan (i.e., greater diversity in representation, lived experience, and perspectives) in your bylaws. A favorite focused on equity is including an equitable compensation provision that all employees should be paid a fair and reasonable wage. A favorite focused on inclusion is adding a Conduct of Meetings provision to allow directors other than the president to chair meetings. A full list of their recommendations can be found here.

To ensure these DEI commitments are reflected in an organization’s approved bylaws, review each section of the current bylaws and determine how they need to be revised to reinforce DEI commitments. Building these commitments into bylaws will provide accountability to organizational leadership in moving to more diverse, equitable, and inclusive board governance.

  1. Board member value should be viewed beyond what they can give or get. Historically, nonprofit organizations have relied on their board for fundraising and, in fact, we have recommended this practice many times over. But when boards set minimums for board member financial contributions and give/get policies, barriers based on a person’s “treasure” are created. At Hedges, we are challenging organizations to let go of the old giving and getting minimums and, instead, encourage individual giving amounts that are “personally meaningful” to each board member.

Organizations with giving minimums or give/get policies for board members should ask themselves what barriers to board diversity and inclusivity are these policies creating? What perspectives, lived experiences, or talents might we be missing on our board because of these policies?

That’s not to say that board members shouldn’t still be involved in fundraising. When training organizations to fundraise, we ask board members to identify a part of the fundraising process that aligns with their preferences and comfort level. Whether it is identifying potential donors, cultivating donor relationships, directly soliciting gifts, or providing donor stewardship, we have found that all board members are able to play a role in fundraising efforts. In this way, an organization acknowledges that a board member’s time and talent are as equally valuable as their treasure.

Creating change takes intentionality and patience, but the need for greater diversity, equity, and inclusion in our boardrooms is urgent. By taking time to figure out the “why,” building DEI commitments into bylaws, and valuing individuals for all that they bring to board membership, boards can lead the way to greater impact within their organization and community.

Erin Hedges is the founder and president of Hedges, an Indianapolis consulting firm that advances social change by strengthening Central Indiana’s philanthropic sector. Hedges is launching Lead with Purpose, a new training series to equip individuals for effective nonprofit board service. More information about Lead with Purpose can be found here.

Jul 06

For nonprofits, moving forward requires looking back

By Sponsor Insight

Research reveals top concerns among nonprofits as they work on recovering from pandemic

by Leslie Wells, assistant director of communications, Paul H. O’Neill School of Public and Environmental Affairs at IUPUI

New research on COVID-19’s impact on the nonprofit sector finds that organization leaders who want to find a way forward must first look back at how they have weathered the pandemic thus far. While the past 15 months have been a challenge for every sector, associate professor/researcher Marlene Walk is optimistic about the future of nonprofits.

“It’s very interesting how nonprofits rose to the challenge while still serving those in need,” says Walk, who teaches at the Paul H. O’Neill School of Public and Environmental at IUPUI. “For many smaller nonprofits, this was a survival situation for both their clients and them as well.”

After analyzing data and examining trends, Walk has three pieces of advice for nonprofits as they navigate the return to work and the future of their organizations:

  • Ask employees for their opinions, including about remote work and whether it can/should continue.
  • Determine which organizational practices can be improved upon.
  • Evaluate which new technologies adopted during the pandemic should be institutionalized.

Walk and O’Neill student Abby Klippel recently worked with Mandi Stewart, an associate professor at North Carolina State University, and Kerry Kuenzi, assistant professor at the University of Wisconsin-Green Bay, to analyze 77 COVID-19 impact reports collected through the National Council of Nonprofits. These reports detail how nonprofits have operated since March 2020. The data analysis covers more than 23,000 nonprofit organizations across 43 states.

The team released its updated report on May 5, 2021, focusing on three areas of impact: financial indicators, human resources and employees, and the most common COVID-19 concerns.

Survey results: Common COVID-19 concerns

Organizations in 13 states answered questions about their most pressing issues. Among them, finances were the most common COVID-19-related worry for organizations in nine of those states.

Nonprofits in eight other states ranked “struggling with how to safely offer services during a global pandemic” as their top concern.

Lastly, nonprofits in six states were primarily worried about their own organization’s human resource considerations, including their employees’ job status, salaries, and overall well-being.

The human toll

That third area is Walk’s primary research focus — the employee side of the equation.

Previous studies from Johns Hopkins University showed the nonprofit sector lost about 13% of its workforce from March 2020 to February 2021.

“That mirrors what we see in our research,” Walk says. “It will take years for that workforce to recover that number of lost workers.”

She says while large organizations will likely be fine, how smaller organizations handled the pandemic will have a big impact on their future.

“We’re really interested in the employee perspective,” Walk explains. “How do they perceive their organization’s changes? If a nonprofit laid off 20% of its workforce, how does that impact those who are still there?”

Their research found that many nonprofit workers saw their hours reduced, their pay cut, and, in some cases, their jobs put on hold or eliminated. Much like in other sectors, many also saw a shift to predominately remote work.

“These organizations need to look at what worked well from an employee perspective, not just a financial perspective,” Walk says. “Our fear is that employees may feel this pandemic was such a critical incident, and that their employer didn’t handle it well, that they will choose to leave.”

Another report Walk is working on, due out later this year, seems to also show the other side of the spectrum.

“Our initial research is showing that some employees have doubled down on their commitment to the nonprofit sector,” she says. “It really depends on how they were personally affected by COVID and how they think their organization handled it. Was their psychological contract, those unwritten expectations of their organization, violated? That has a big impact.”

Financial stressors

When it came to the financial impact of COVID-19, Walk admits the team wasn’t surprised by the findings. Many organizations reported individual donations and membership fees were down. In fact, 90% of responding organizations in Nevada saw individual donations plummet and 68% of nonprofits in Texas saw a decline in earned income.

Grant revenues were down as well. Nearly 35% of respondents in Texas reported a delay in grant processing, which can affect cash flow. About 16% of those in Connecticut saw a reduction in state grant funds.

But one of the hardest hit areas were arts-related nonprofits.

“It’s important to keep in mind that nonprofits are really diverse,” Walk says. “How an organization was impacted really depends on what types of nonprofits we’re looking at. The arts sector was hit very hard because they often have outward-facing events as a main source of revenue. Having concerts virtually is just not the same.”

In fact, 90% of West Virginia’s responding nonprofits reported cancelling events due to pandemic precautions, while the same was true of 25% of nonprofits in Alabama and Georgia. Reports like these indicate that the arts sector is the slowest sector to recover, with studies projecting it will take at least 18 months for it to bounce back.

Walk stresses that it’s important to focus on more than earned income, though. She uses social services as an example of organizations that were hit from both sides.

“Social service organizations had to adjust to drops in volunteers, increases in demand and expenses to provide for clients, and shifts in procedures due to distancing and cleaning requirements,” she explains.

Respondents in Missouri indicated an average expense increase of $302,417 per nonprofit during the study period, while Pennsylvania respondents indicated a total estimated $95.3 million in additional operating costs.

Looking ahead

Between the numbers, Walk sees signs of hope and further proof that the nonprofit sector is resilient and capable of adapting to change.

She points to the increase in collaboration, resource sharing and partnership development during the pandemic that helped nonprofits survive and serve their clients. Some smaller nonprofits even added health care to their employment packages, which would be a positive trend — if it sticks around.

“There will be collateral damage, unfortunately, but I tend to be more positive than negative,” Walk admits. “I think the sector as a whole will recover and continue its mission to serve.”

To read the full article and access the data tables, visit States of COVID-19: Synthesis of State-level Nonprofit Reports on the Impact of the COVID-19 Pandemic.

Jun 28

Hundreds of Hoosiers participate in free wellness program designed to combat stress, trauma, PTSD and burnout

By Feature

Eskenazi Health and Center for Mind Body Medicine training provides attendees with tools for healing in the midst of pandemic

by Shari Finnell, editor/writer, Not for Profit News

As experts seek to gain a better understanding of the long-term impact of COVID-19 on mental health, about 1,500 Hoosiers have recently enrolled in evidence-based training to proactively equip themselves with self-care tools, including meditation, guided imagery and biofeedback under Eskenazi Health’s Hoosier Heartland Healing Collaborative.

The free statewide initiative, which is sponsored by Eskenazi Health, in partnership with the Center for Mind Body Medicine, comes at a time when people are increasingly acknowledging the need for managing stress and trauma, said Megan Hider, Mind-Body Program supervisor at Eskenazi Health.

“I do think the conversation has really changed, in a good way, about how we think about stress, and our emotional health, spiritual health and how we physically function,” Hider said. “Wellness and mindfulness have become more mainstream throughout society. We’ve all been dealing with trauma and secondary trauma. We need to chip away at the stigma of trauma, whether it’s everyday trauma or a natural disaster, or whatever we experience.”

As part of the program, which was partially funded by the Herbert Simon Family Foundation, individuals participate in small groups of 8 to 10 people led by a facilitator who has gone through a two-part training program. The participants are asked to commit to a series of 2-hour weekly sessions during an 8-week period. As part of the training, participants learn numerous self-care skills that have been scientifically proven to lower levels of stress, improve mood, enhance resiliency and optimism, and help prevent chronic health conditions.

Hider said that the free training, which is open to any Indiana resident, can better equip first responders and other employees who are in a position of helping others. By learning the self-care techniques themselves, they can manage the stressors in their own lives so that they can better focus on helping others in challenging situations. “With everything we’ve been going through in the past year, it came at a perfect time,” she said.

The benefits of the training were quickly evident, said Christy Gauss, MSW, LSW, owner of SCP Consultants and a former school mental health facilitator for the Indiana School Mental Health Initiative. Gauss, who underwent intensive training to become a licensed group facilitator under the Mind Body program, said it was a powerful experience.

“I didn’t know what to expect when I went into it,” Gauss recalled. “You learn the science and skills of self-care in an environment where you have peer-to-peer support. It’s all about you and what it means in your own life before you start learning how to teach everyone else.”

Gauss said that type of firsthand learning is essential for those who support others, including first-responders, teachers and nonprofit employees. The potential for burnout can be significant for these groups, she added.

“You have to learn how stress is impacting you first,” she said. “You need to put on your own oxygen first, which we can be very bad at.”

Hider said the training can be very empowering for the attendees, who are able to devote an uninterrupted span of time to focus on themselves during each session. “It gives you space to become self-aware of your feelings, emotions and body sensations,” she said. “You’re able to learn about the physiology of the body and what happens when you’re stressed and when you’re calm.

“You are given the ability to heal yourself in a unique way that doesn’t happen in other spaces,” Hider added. “If we want to show up to places of service and places of community, we must be advocates for ourselves.”

For more information about the Eskenazi Health Hoosier Heartland Healing Collaborative or to sign up for a session, visit the program’s site here.

Jun 21

3 hot topics in treasury management right now

By Sponsor Insight

by John Haggarty, vice president; Gail Bradley, vice president; and Dave Voris, region manager, treasury management, Horizons Bank

As part of our interactions with nonprofit clients, we consistently hear about topics related to interest rates, credit card acceptance, scams and fraud. Here are a few tips to help you address challenges in these areas.

Interest rates
Many nonprofit organizations, especially in the wake of the pandemic, struggle to have enough funds to fulfill their mission — notwithstanding that the current interest rate environment has drastically reduced the earnings that can become available from their reservoirs of cash.

We’ve heard nothing to indicate that short-term investment rates will be increasing in the near future. Several issues are keeping interest rates down. First and foremost, interest rates were drastically reduced in March of 2020 in an attempt to support the U.S. economy, during a period we know now as the beginning of the pandemic. And, in the latest jobs creation report from March, employment numbers are improving but not at a rate for the Federal Reserve to begin raising rates despite concerns about some inflation.

There also is an extreme amount of cash built up within the banking system, brought about by corporations that have conserved cash as a strategy to work through the uncertainties caused by the pandemic. This cash build-up also is caused by less than normal spending among consumers who have been housebound during the past 15 months.

A combination of the above, along with recently introduced assistance from the federal government, the overall banking system is so flush with deposits that higher interest rates do not need to be paid to attract additional deposits. Since we expect this condition to last for at least 12 to 18 months, we recommend that nonprofit organizations not lock funds into long-term certificates of deposit simply to achieve some additionally higher rates. They should also consider asking about the option of tiered money market rates instead of traditional certificates of deposit. Learn more about these options here.

Credit card acceptance
To help with donation cash flow, nonprofit organizations should allow donors to submit funds directly with online payment portals. An online payment portal is a convenient solution that increases revenue, generates material operating efficiencies, expedites transactions, improves customer service and convenience, and powerfully enhances any enterprise payments platform.

How does it work? A unique web address is provided and linked to a secure landing page. This portal can support both consumer and business-to-business payments.

These donations can be established as one-time donations or as an ongoing monthly or quarterly donation. That functionality can assist with various donations becoming an annuity instead of a one-time event. Learn more about the features of an online payment portal here.

Protecting against fraud
Another major concern among nonprofit organizations is the risk of fraud. There are several ways to help your business or nonprofit stay safe from scams and fraud.

For example, Horizon’s Positive Pay enables clients to easily detect counterfeit and fraudulent and unauthorized items on a daily basis through online banking. The checks are compared to the issued check file that is uploaded to the secure portal. Any mismatched items will be flagged for the user to review for payment. Protection against check fraud as well as unauthorized ACH transactions can avoid much expense and interruptions to an organization’s operations.

Our Reverse Positive Pay also allows users to review all incoming and paid checks for potential fraud scenarios, making an organization’s checking transaction management process less prone to faulty checks and their attached business losses.

Another precaution we take at Horizon is Detect Safe Browsing. This software provides real-time security so clients don’t become victims of online fraud.

To learn more about how you can defend your nonprofit organization against fraud, visit our site.

John Haggarty, vice president, Gail Bradley, vice president, and Dave Voris, region manager, treasury management, represent many years of experience in understanding the unique needs of nonprofit organizations. They focus on wrapping specially designed depository products, treasury management, and funds management together to help each nonprofit organization manage their cash flows in the most economical way.

Jun 21

Developing a successful hybrid-work model

By Sponsor Insight

By Cody Lents, Partner and Change Manager at COVI, Inc.

Empower employees with choice
As vaccinations trend up and restrictions trend down, a significant number of workers are set to return to the office in coming months. Your extroverted employees are undoubtedly excited. However, their introverted counterparts may not share the same enthusiasm. So, how can you maximize morale and culture to enable the best performance out of both groups?: A thoughtfully-designed hybrid Work-from-Home (WFH) model that prioritizes both the needs of your organization’s employees and processes.

Lay the groundwork for success
The first critical step in transitioning into a hybrid WFH model is developing and communicating processes that level the playing field for both in-house and remote workers. Set clear expectations about your organization’s internal communications, cyber insurance, bring-your-own-device (BYOD) policy, etc., to ensure that remote workers don’t feel left behind compared to their in-person colleagues.

While remote work can be an opportunity to cut “traditional” office costs, leverage it as an opportunity to invest in your workforce. Consider using what your organization saves on overhead to provide your employees with a stipend to make working remotely more comfortable. This allows employees to outfit themselves at home with equipment like an ergonomic chair, an extra monitor, noise-canceling headphones, etc.

At the office, consider re-developing your organization’s layout to better accommodate a hybrid approach: dedicated “open-space” plans for those in and out of the office, private offices for focused work, and spaces specifically designed to encourage collaboration/socialization both face-to-face and virtually.

Invest in your infrastructure
The next critical step in transitioning your organization to a hybrid approach is ensuring your infrastructure is capable of handling the needs of employees working in different spaces. Now may be the time to upgrade your organization’s software to the enterprise level so that you can take advantage of security, communication and collaboration features.

Migrating your organization’s servers to the cloud is another way to streamline efficiency for your remote workforce. This makes it easier for your employees to collaborate and share files via a centralized location in which they can upload/save their work to.

Don’t compromise on security
With employees using a mixture of personal and company devices, it’s imperative that your organization communicates a clear security policy to ensure the safety of your data. The following three steps are a great start to a more secure digital infrastructure:

  • Determining what endpoint protection your remote workers need will aid in virus prevention. Windows Defender is a great antivirus software included in Windows 10, however, it does not meet the compliancy and security minimums of today’s security landscape.
  • Implementing two-factor authentication [2FA] is a secure way to ensure that only admins and users are allowed into accounts that would otherwise be vulnerable to cyber attacks.
  • Utilizing a virtual environment that allows devices to connect to a secure server or service, as opposed to a user’s internet connection, allows your organization to keep information encrypted, private, and safe.

Questions?
Now is the perfect time for a comprehensive technology assessment to prepare for the new-normal in our evolved workspaces. If you want to discuss what an assessment entails or if you need assistance implementing a hybrid-work approach for your organization, reach out to COVI at cody@gocovi.com for help. COVI is an Information Technology (IT) agency specializing in productivity, security, support and strategy services, located in Indianapolis, Indiana.