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Jun 10

Executive education helps organizations invest in employees through MPA program

By Sponsor Insight

By Leslie Wells, associate director of communication, O’Neill School at IUPUI

In late April, 14 employees of the Crane Naval Surface Warfare Center received their Executive Master of Public Affairs degrees from Indiana University Executive Education at the O’Neill School. These graduates spent more than two years working toward this goal and are the latest in a long line of Crane employees to earn their degree through this unique program. 

What makes this path to an advanced degree so different from many others?

“The leadership of Executive Education at O’Neill is very customer focused,” says Angie Lewis, corporate operations department director at Crane. “They want to understand what’s going on within our environment. They’ve been willing to adapt certain parts of the lessons, update, and transform portions of their curriculum to stay current with our challenges and needs. That makes this program especially valuable.”

The Executive Public Management Certificate (EPMC) and EMPA programs are Crane’s largest and longest-lasting investment in employee education. Crane covers all costs of the program for employees and has done so for the past 20 years.

The application process is competitive. Selected employees must first earn their EPMC before they can apply for the EMPA program. Besides the 14 EMPA graduates, 24 Crane employees also earned their EMPC in April.

Participants who complete the 39-credit hour EMPA travel to Indianapolis 12 times during the full program’s three years for week-long courses and to Washington, D.C., for one week of class. Faculty members walk students through topics relating to economics, public policy and analysis, HR policies, and more. [WL1] [Office2] In between each week-long class, these Crane employees develop projects and presentations to prepare for the next round.

For Crane’s courses, each class is geared toward the specific needs of the company’s employees. Each cohort includes participants from various departments across Crane, a strategic decision Lewis says creates lasting relationships.

“People who work in engineering, production, and technology are in class with people who are responsible for regulatory compliance and oversight,” she says. “When you build strong cohorts of people who know how to work across boundaries, they can accomplish projects more efficiently and effectively, despite the natural tensions between their roles.”

John Kleihege, a Crane supervisory engineer who received his EMPA in April, says the courses teach students to speak a common leadership language while broadening their view of their world and their work.

“It exposes you to areas that you don’t functionally work in,” Kleihege says. “That makes you a well-rounded employee and makes it so that when you see public policy shaped, you understand the process and how to communicate about it to others.”

Communication is a key part of the program. The courses prepare students to understand and explain public policy shifts in the context of what matters most to their management teams.

“You can go to a four-year school and learn how to run a business, about bureaucracies and nonprofits, or government- and public-sector roles, but this program educates our employees about the larger system in which they work,” Lewis says.

For Crane, that larger system includes multiple U.S. Navy bases, command centers, and other units around the country. Craig Barton received his EMPA in April after leaving the Indiana-based Crane in 2017 to head to its parent command, Naval Sea Systems Command (NAVSEA) headquarters in Washington, D.C.

Barton decided to continue with his Crane cohort and cover the cost of the remaining courses himself. That decision paid off. He says the program played a direct role in landing his current position as director of contracts for the U.S. Naval Research Laboratory.

“I give almost absolute credit to the IU Executive Education MPA program for my current job,” he says. “The capstone class occurred the week before my interview. It was essentially a weeklong interview prep that helped me tie everything together. I’m very grateful to the EMPA program.”   

While the content in Crane’s EMPA course may be specific to its needs, the Executive Education team can adapt the case studies and group projects to work for other organizations, even those in other sectors. That’s because — at its core — the program focuses on teaching students to be better leaders, no matter where they work.

“The learnings transcend Crane,” Barton adds. “What you learn applies no matter where you go. It teaches you that leadership is leadership. There is no magic:  It’s simply gaining the necessary tools, learning the appropriate contexts in which to apply those tools and then executing.”

Employers interested in exploring their own Executive MPA cohort in Indianapolis or own their site can learn more about the program at the O’Neill School website, or contact Executive Education Director Sara Johnson.

Leslie Wells is the assistant director of communications at the O’Neill School of Public and Environmental Affairs at IUPUI. She joined the O’Neill School at IUPUI in 2018 after three years in nonprofit media relations and a decade in broadcast news.

Jun 03

Community investment sparks creativity

By Sponsor Insight

By Jennifer Pittman, senior director of community affairs, OneAmerica  

Springtime is a season of creative renewal. Early-season rain showers give way to colorful blooms and flowering trees. Then in mid-May in Indy, springtime pops in unexpected ways as hundreds of local artists present their work at the annual OneAmerica® Broad Ripple Art Fair (BRAF).   

The event has become a favorite annual tradition for many of the 1,400 Indianapolis-area OneAmerica® associates, who love to volunteer and soak up inspiration that lasts long after the last artist booth is packed up for the year. 

In 2018, BRAF lit a creative spark with some OneAmerica associates, who asked, “What if we didn’t have to wait a full year for this kind of artistic inspiration? Could we find a way to sprinkle a little bit of this magic throughout the other 11 months?”  

Through our strong relationship with the Indianapolis Art Center and OneAmerica leaders who enthusiastically support creative community connections, the short answer was, “YES!”  

At the time, a floor of the OneAmerica Tower downtown was undergoing significant renovations to create a vibrant, versatile OneAmerica conference center – a space for associates to brainstorm and collaborate, but also to showcase our building and culture with financial professionals and visitors from our community and beyond.  What better place to create our own mini-BRAF year-round?  

In April, the conference center became home to a rotating exhibit of two-dimensional art, curated in collaboration with the Indianapolis Art Center. Four times a year, we select a new mix of work from local artists. Artists whose work is featured receive an honorarium for each piece displayed and the opportunity to offer those pieces for sale. And our associates draw inspiration from the space, especially during cold winter months when we’re eagerly awaiting the first signs of spring…and BRAF!

By the time the 2019 edition of the OneAmerica Broad Ripple Art Fair had occurred (May 18-19) we had truly come full circle.

So what’s the connection between arts and financial services? First, art and the artists who create it matter to us because they make our hometown more vibrant. We simply can’t imagine an Indianapolis devoid of creativity or artistic perspectives. In celebration of those talents, our home office is filled with the works of Hoosier artists that enhance our workspace and elevate our spirits. Participating in BRAF is another opportunity for us to connect with and support our creative community.

BRAF also helps illustrate why our work in financial services is so important. “403b” is an essential phrase at OneAmerica, because it refers to a special type of retirement plan for nonprofit organizations – like the Indianapolis Art Center. The mechanics of preparing for retirement may seem complicated, but our philosophy is simple. Everyone deserves to retire confident in their finances, especially those who have dedicated their careers to serving others and making our community a beautiful place to be.

Since 1964, we’ve been helping nonprofits in our hometown and across the country with their tax-exempt retirement plans. And in 2016, OneAmerica launched a Tax Exempt Center of Excellence (COE) website to serve as a central hub for financial professionals to access everything from market insights to information about tax-exempt products and services. It’s another way we serve those who serve others, by sharing our experience in the unique challenges and opportunities in the tax-exempt marketplace and providing other financial professionals supportive tools and resources.

At OneAmerica, we’re firm believers that strong community partnerships require 360 degrees of connection between community organizations, the people they serve, and our associates. The new OneAmerica conference center rotating exhibit is just one more shining, creative example of this philosophy in action.   

Jen Pittman is a leader with passion for building a stronger Indianapolis community.  Her professional pursuits and personal endeavors represent a unique blend of corporate, government and nonprofit impact.

OneAmerica is the marketing name for the companies of OneAmerica. Products issued and underwritten by American United Life Insurance Company® (AUL), a OneAmerica company. Administrative and recordkeeping services provided by McCready and Keene, Inc. or OneAmerica Retirement Services LLC, companies of OneAmerica which are not broker/dealers or investment advisors. Neither AUL, OneAmerica Retirement Services, McCready and Keene nor their representatives provide tax, legal fiduciary or investment advice.

Jun 03

One workforce strategy: EmployIndy’s community-based career navigators

By Feature, Programming

By Lynn Sygiel, editor, Charitable Advisors

Visit WorkOne Indy’s new location and learn about its services.

Attend the family-friendly open house on June 15 from 11:00 a.m. and 1:00 p.m. to check out the new facility and learn more about EmployIndy services. Bring your resume because there is a job fair during the event.

The address is: 4410 N. Shadeland Ave. (the former Carpe Diem charter school).

When Delores Mockabee found herself without a job four years ago, her emotions ran high. At times she felt hopeless and helpless, after her job was eliminated. That is until she spent time at the WorkOne office on Indianapolis’ westside. Each time she visited the office, she was greeted by passionate, caring and supportive employees.

Fast forward. Now, she is on the other side of the table. After taking advantage of WorkOne’s services, she landed a job with ResCare, a subcontractor for EmployIndy. She now pays it forward as a career navigator.

“Depending on the level of job you had, it is hard because it is like, ‘What are people going to think,’” said Mockabee. “It is a passion for me to be able to give what I got when I came to WorkOne.” Indiana’s network of American Job Centers is branded WorkOne.

In her daily work, she is one of 11 navigators who splits time at 19 satellite locations in Indianapolis. This position is designed to help connect the agency with people where they live. The navigators’ home base is WorkOne Indy, a full-service center that opened in January. Each has established a schedule to provide satellite personnel and clients with consistency. Mockabee’s sites are the Garfield Park, East Washington and Central libraries. While there, she works in the computer area and uses a large portable sign to identify the agency and its services.

“It’s been enlightening for me. Every library has a different culture. You have to figure out how you fit in, how you support and how you encourage. A lot of people who come here would not go to the eastside. Here, we’re able to offer services, and people are starting to know that we’re here and we’re available. I had a lady who came three times when I was here to help with her resume because she was computer illiterate.” Mockabee has also supported a pharmacist and a chemist, helping them develop individualized plans and utilize available resources.

Her first client created dental molds, but she was replaced with a machine. Mockabee said, she began with an Indiana Career Explorer assessment to identify her client’s strengthens, which is particularly helpful if people don’t know what to do next.

A navigator’s responsibilities don’t end after a client secures a job. There is a regular check in with the client for 90 days. Once the individual reaches that milestone, the case is transferred to another WorkOne staff person who continues the connection for a year.

Mockabee shared a story about one young man who completed the Commercial Driver Training, CDL certification. After a short time in the new job, he called her to say that he didn’t know if he could continue the travel to small towns. After reassuring him that they could find him another job, two days later he wrote: ‘I love my job, I make more money in one week than I make in a month.’ So, it really changed his life.

“We do support and help people. First thing is to get a job, then get a better job and then ultimately a career. Most exciting for me is working with people who end up in a career. This starts their future all over,” she said. And hers, too.

Besides partnering with libraries, EmployIndy has added sites at adult education centers sites in Warren, Washington and Wayne townships. CAFÉ on the city’s far eastside and Ivy Tech are other partner sites.

“These are potential clients. We want to be right there to catch them and help them with whatever else they need or help move them on to the next step of a career,” said Joe Backe, EmployIndy’s communication manager.

According to Backe, working in libraries has allowed the agency to not only expand its footprint, but removed some barriers. At the Shadeland WorkOne full-service center, for example, no one under the age of 16 is permitted in the building. That precludes people from bringing their children. But at a library, children can look at books, while mom or dad connects to services. At the WorkOne center, people can also be pointed toward a satellite location, which might be more convenient.

Those services can range from career development, to job searches, to skills development.

Although EmployIndy has been around since the 1960s in some form, and the Indianapolis mayor is responsible for appointing the members of the board. The board — with input from community stakeholders, residents, and EmployIndy partners, including the mayor’s office — is responsible for the strategic direction of EmployIndy. As part of the mayor’s initiative, the agency is working to be more neighborhood focused and target specific areas where unemployment, crime and poverty are higher, and residents may have given up hope of entering or re-entering the workforce.

Chief Operations Officer Marie Mackintosh joined EmployIndy three years ago, and was part of the team that designed the strategic plan to support the mayor’s initiative. She views the agency’s role as ensuring that residents are ready for the jobs and careers that employers bring into the community. One of the plan’s tactics was creation of the career navigator positions.

“People are not widgets, they are complex human beings. When you think about the fact that we’re asking our navigators to help those complex human beings who have so many different assets and strengths, but also potential barriers. Think about how much finessing that requires and the complexity of that,” she said.

Mackintosh said that another strategy was to consolidate the three centers located around the city into one full-service center. Housed in the former Carpe Diem charter school building on the eastside, the building can accommodate a weekly job fair for up to 20 companies, offer workshops and training and provide multiple services. An open house on June 15 will showcase the center’s services. It’s a family-friendly event, so kids under 16 may attend.  

Since the full-service center opened at the beginning of the year, another benefit has been an uptick in the number of people coming to the office monthly, which averages around 2,500 people.

Mockabee believes that bringing everyone under one roof has been good, and is a more efficient way to work. Part of a navigator’s job is to keep abreast of community resources that can be shared with clients. To facilitate that EmployIndy regularly communicates with other workforce development partners.

“We have monthly eco-system enrichment meetings where we bring together WorkOne staff and a growing number of neighborhood partner staff who are doing this coaching work on the frontlines. We talk about things like Gateway to Work, which is the new program coming out of the Family Social Services Administration in July. Individuals will be required to do more work-search requirements in order to keep Medicaid benefits. We want to make sure that we as a community don’t let anyone who is on Medicaid, drop off just because they didn’t work with a partner organization like ours to stay on,” said Mackintosh.  

EmployIndy’s graphic is a visual representation of organizations involved in the Marion County Workforce Ecosystem.

With unemployment low, one of the challenges for EmployIndy is that state and federal governments have been reduced. This year, the agency will face an 11 percent cut, however, what hasn’t changed is the need to retrain and develop skills of workers for this century.

“I try really hard to advocate for smarter, more efficient ways that we can try to help people that maybe don’t cost as much, but that are cool ways that we can connect individuals to ways to up skills,” said Mackintosh.

“What we’re trying to do is figure out how we work within the existing landscape of neighborhood organizations and offer our additional resources where it makes sense and isn’t duplicitous. So Delores might go to a library because Mary Rigg Neighborhood Center or Boner Center is down the street and they already do similar types of services through their Center for Working Families model.

“While they offer basic employment services, they may not offer a particular workshop. So, we would bring that workshop to the neighborhood or to other neighborhoods that maybe aren’t as aware of the things we do. We’re really trying to build that system and be hyper aware of the other organizations that exist in a particular neighborhood that we might be able to have some sort of a relationship. The question we ask is: How do we augment and work in a symbiotic way rather than a competitive way?” Mackintosh said.

One way is through workshops offered in tandem with partners. Rick Hightower, a career facilitator for ResCare, recently offered a 90-minute session at Fathers and Families Center for WorkOne. Males in the program are exposed to between 20 and 25 hours of workforce development workshops. That day the five males were exposed to the importance of networking, resume building and a variety of websites to look for jobs. Hightower’s rapid-based session provided the participants web-based sources of free tools. One, a job-scan website, matched a resume to a company’s job description. WorkOne also publishes a monthly learning events calendar, which lists as many as nine different trainings or meet-ups daily.

With Indiana investment in workforce development through its Workforce Ready Grants, career navigators can direct clients to some of the state’s most in-demand professions. Educating the community about Next Level Jobs Workforce Ready Grants, specifically that people in their targeted neighborhoods, is part of their work.

Mackintosh credits Gov. Holcomb’s administration for its pillar of workforce education and the governor’s workforce cabinet.

“It combines the efforts of the Commission for Higher Education, the Department of Workforce Development, business people and others to discuss some of these tough issues you’re talking about.

“In the last legislative session, they increased the funding for Workforce Ready Grants, which are state training dollars for people who don’t have a college degree to be able to reskill and the state will pay for it. It could be short-term certifications. They have to be in higher demand industries, so it’s advanced manufacturing, transportation and logistics, IT and business, health and life sciences and building and construction.”

“People are on this whole continuum of readiness for employment today. The plant workers who have been dislocated over the last couple of years, whether at Carrier or someplace else, what they have going for them is an incredible work history and ethic. I personally have great faith the average American worker could reskill and find better opportunities in this economy even today, if they can wrap their mind around that reality after they’ve grieved that the job they had for decades is lost.  But if we compare that to an individual who is maybe 19 years old, who comes from multi-generational poverty, who didn’t finish high school and doesn’t have the basic skills or role models to be able to hold down a job, that’s a very different sets of issues that we’re dealing with,” said Mackintosh.

One new opportunity allows career navigators to recommend individuals who they believe are ready for a better job.

“We have a team of business recruiters here on site at EmployIndy who receive all those referrals and look at the skill set of the individuals that are being referred and try to connect them to our employer partners. Whomever is serving in the capacity of that career navigator has the professional authority to say, ‘You know this person is really ready for an opportunity in logistics or an opportunity in technology or advanced manufacturing, here are the reasons why I think they’d be a great fit.’

“Every single person who is turned over to our recruiting team receives a phone interview, and then based on how that goes, we provide feedback to the navigators. We call all that work our referral portal, but it’s very clear what we’re trying to do, and I think that’s really special and still in its infancy.

Mackintosh said it’s modeled on a Goodwill of Central and Southern Indiana practice to talent source.

“What employers want the most is strategies for how to get their talent pipeline sorted. They appreciate the work of EmployIndy’s career navigators and they are looking for us to do even more,” she said.

May 27

The top 3 must-do’s in effective strategic planning

By Sponsor Insight

By Hannah Gooding, consultant, Hedges

Imagine having to map out a family road trip without knowing your destination. Sounds a bit backwards and overwhelming, right?

Too often, barriers of time and resources leave nonprofits of all sizes and at all life-stages operating this way: with no clear destination or a strategy for getting there. Nonprofit leaders may feel like all they can do is to “keep driving.” They provide their services. They steward their donors. They submit their grant reports. They maintain the status quo without ever getting to stop and ask: Where are we trying to go? What do our participants need? What are we trying to solve and how will we know we’re successful?

These questions are natural stepping stones in a strategic planning process — a process nonprofit organizations should undergo every three to five years.

However, for many organizations, a strategic plan can feel like a box to check. When that happens, nonprofit executives may attempt to answer these important strategy questions in a board room on a Saturday lacking external perspectives, buy-in, or consensus.

When checking the box is the end-goal, nonprofits lose sight of the value of good strategy. Good strategy is a product of a thoughtful, flexible process that can’t be tackled in a board room — even with the most diverse and talented board and staff in the world. Good strategy is not a strategic plan. Without a process that is inclusive and destination-driven, a strategic plan is just a bunch of buzzwords that sits in a binder or in a file on a desktop. Indeed, as President Dwight Eisenhower once said: “Plans are useless. Planning is everything.”

So how should organizations approach a strategic planning process that will result in real strategy?

First, there is value in having a conversation with your funders about why a strategic planning process would be game-changing. Funders want to invest their resources in organizations that are guided by good strategy. In fact, many offer capacity building grants or award endowment funding so that organizations can truly invest in a planning process.

However, to ensure a strategic planning process is worth the investment of both your time and resources, there are three important things to keep in mind.  

1 A strategic planning process should be inclusive. Incorporating a diverse range of perspectives and experiences is the best way to develop a strategy that is not only realistic, but also exciting for your key supporters and relevant to those you serve.

A strategy-rich planning process starts with setting the perspectives of your participants, volunteers, partners, donors, and other stakeholders as the decision-making foundation. You can do this by facilitating one-on-one interviews, focus groups, surveys, or “town halls” to glean important feedback about what is working well and how your organization might need to shift, adapt, or grow.

At this stage, a third-party facilitator becomes incredibly important, providing the necessary neutrality to collect real information. This individual can be the buffer if a participant needs to share concern about mission-creep or that the model your donors love isn’t working for the clients who actually experience it. As one of our participants put it: “No one wants to tell you your baby is ugly.”

An inclusive strategic planning process not only leaves room for honesty, but also provides a space to build buy-in with your closest allies, partners, and supporters. Asking your stakeholders for their ideas is the quickest way to ensure you have their support when it comes time to implement (and fund) those ideas. Asking your participants for their feedback is the best way to ensure your work is grounded in integrity and purpose.

Take for instance, when the Coalition for Homelessness Intervention and Prevention (CHIP), on behalf of the Indianapolis Continuum of Care, set out to develop the Indianapolis Community Plan to End Homelessness. It engaged 400 community stakeholders — including 170 individuals who were experiencing or had experienced homelessness — in the planning process. By doing so, Indianapolis residents and more than 80 unique agencies were able to make their voices heard and collaborate to create a true community plan.

Key funders, who were included in the planning process, decided to orient their funding priorities around the strategies that were developed. One of their priorities became the commitment to raise and align $4 million toward implementing the strategies identified in the plan. Through careful crafting of the Indianapolis Community Plan to End Homelessness, the Continuum of Care not only set the strategy for addressing one of the most pressing challenges in our city, but unified key perspectives and achieved vital seed funding in the process.

2 A strategic planning process should be oriented toward a clear destination. It should set the results you want to achieve, or the difference you want to make, as the yardstick by which you test all of your decisions.

A good strategic plan should act like a compass — not prescribing every specific turn you must take, but a tool that reminds you what direction you should be going to get to your destination. However, like a compass, a strategic plan is useless unless you know where it is you’re trying to go. Setting a destination is essential for setting strategy.

A strategy-rich planning process doesn’t just ask: “How do we keep going down this path?” Instead it asks: “What do we want to be different for our community and our participants, and what do we need to change about our approach to make that vision a reality?” One of our clients, for example, answered this question by simply saying: “We have to stop being all things to all people.” This realization articulates what so many nonprofits experience when they lose sight of their true destination — an attempt to do everything “okay” versus one thing extremely well.

When a strategic planning process is destination-driven, it puts your endgame into clear focus and pushes your organization to make decisions based on what gets you closer to your real goal and greater impact.

Keep in mind that your destination:

  • should align with your mission;
  • should be specific and measurable;
  • should elevate the insights of your key stakeholders; and
  • should put your participants’ needs front and center.

3 A strategic planning process should be holistic. Setting strategy should include an assessment of what we at Hedges like to call “The Four Pillars of Organizational Health.” In addition to considering the strengths, challenges, and opportunities of your programs and their impact, strong strategic planning takes into consideration plans for strengthening the organization’s leadership and culture, development and financial management, and marketing and communications. 

An organization must be able to measure the impact of its programs with the use of strong data, foster leadership and a culture throughout the organization, execute engaging and effective fundraising strategies while maintaining strong financial management, and communicate its impact to key stakeholders and the broader community.  Like four legs of a table, these Four Pillars of Organizational Health will provide the strength and balance your organization needs to realize your strategic vision even during times of uncertainty and change.   

In a strong strategic planning process, you will take the information you learned from your inclusive research process, align it with your clear direction, and finally set your plan to holistically align with each of these four pillars. This approach allows you to focus on the overall health of your organization in a way that optimizes your resources to create sustainability. While a holistic approach takes more time and resources, the end result builds the capacity of your organization to further expand its impact in the most meaningful way.

As you approach a strategic planning session/process, remember, setting strategy is a process and the process is everything.

Don’t waste your time on a strategic plan that documents the status quo. Especially now, when the philanthropic landscape is changing, unrestricted dollars are elusive, and community needs are becoming increasingly complex, good strategy is more important than ever.


Hannah Gooding is passionate about three things: nonprofits, problem-solving, and pie. She has been a consultant with Hedges since 2017. With a background in nonprofit program management, her expertise in research and strategic thinking has supported dozens of nonprofit organizations in Central Indiana.

May 21

Nonprofits: How to report collaborative activities

By Uncategorized

By Lauren Kreutzinger, manager, VonLehman CPA & Advisory Firm

A collaborative arrangement may be the simplest relationship between nonprofits for accounting purposes. These are typically contractual agreements in which two or more organizations are active participants in a joint activity.

One example would be a private school that’s jointly operated by two religious organizations. Another would be a nonprofit that provides free clothing and operates a shop at the local homeless shelter.

It is important to note that the financial reporting rules in these arrangements depend on the type of collaborative relationship entered into by the parties.

Reporting costs and revenues

In any collaborative arrangement, the nonprofit considered the “principal” for the arrangement should report costs incurred and revenues generated from transactions with third parties on a gross basis in their statement of activities.

Generally, the principal is the entity that has control of the goods or services provided in the transaction. But Generally Accepted Accounting Principles (GAAP) should be followed for each particular situation.

The nonprofits should present payments between participants according to their nature, following accounting guidance for the type of revenue or expense involved in the transaction. Participants in a collaborative arrangement also are required to make certain disclosures in their financial statement footnotes. For example, they must report the nature and purpose of the arrangement and each organization’s rights and obligations.

When two nonprofits form a new legal entity  

In some circumstances, two organizations may determine that the best route forward is to form a new legal entity. A merger takes place when the boards of directors of both nonprofits cede control to the newly formed entity. The historical values of the assets and liabilities of the organizations are combined, and the accounting policies of the original entities must be brought into conformity for the new entity.

If one nonprofit cedes control to the other

Another option is for the board of one organization to cede control of its operations to another entity. For example: One nonprofit allows the other nonprofit to appoint the majority of its board as part of its decision to engage in cooperative activities. In such a case, an acquisition takesplace, with the remaining organization considered the acquirer. The remaining entity must record the acquisition based on the current value of the acquired organization’s assets and liabilities.

If there’s an excess of current value over original cost to the organization being acquired, that amount is recorded as a contribution. If the value is lower, the difference is generally recorded as goodwill not as an expense. But, if the operations of the acquired organization are predominantly supported by contributions and returns on investments, the difference is recorded as a separate charge in the acquirer’s statement of activities.

Let’s say your nonprofit assumes control of another entity and GAAP requires you to consolidate financial statements with the other. You should account for your interest in the other nonprofit and the cooperative activity by applying an acquisition method described in GAAP.

If the shoe is on the other foot, and it’s your nonprofit that cedes control of its operations to another entity, that organization may need to consolidate your organization (including the cooperative activity) starting on the “acquisition” date. If your nonprofit will present its own separate financial statements, you must determine whether to establish a new basis for reporting assets and liabilities based on the other entity’s basis.

When the new legal entity houses a joint activity

In many cases, a new legal entity is formed only when the outcome is to house the cooperative activity instead of all activities of the organizations that are collaborating. This would be neither a merger nor an acquisition.

However, to determine the proper accounting treatment, it’s important to look at which, if any, collaborator has control over the activity.

Seek help

Reporting your collaborative activities with other organizations in your financial statements is an important responsibility. Your VonLehman advisor can help you understand the rules and how to comply with your specific reporting obligations.

Lauren Kreutzinger is a manager with VonLehman CPA & Advisory Firm. She specializes in providing auditing, review, compilation, and business advisory services for a wide range of nonprofit organizations. She serves on the firm’s Nonprofit/Government Service Group and has achieved the American Institute of CPAs’ Nonprofit Certification. She frequently contributes nonprofit industry related content for the firm’s website and newsletters and has also presented at various nonprofit educational seminars hosted by VonLehman and other industry leaders.

May 06

Interns share value of internships

By Uncategorized

By Pamela Clark, director of student services and admissions and Abby Rolland, communications project manager, Lilly Family School of Philanthropy

Who benefits from internships?

In the nonprofit sector, internships provide crucial, practical experiences for students preparing for careers in the field. At the Lilly Family School of Philanthropy, both undergraduate and graduate students in philanthropic studies complete at least one internship.

Tyrone Freeman, Ph.D., believes internships are a vital part of the undergraduate learning experience.

“They provide students with pre-professional opportunities in the workplace that expose them to careers and organizations of interest.

“Internships test students’ abilities, build their networks, and let them try out various professional roles and workplace cultures before they make their own career decisions,” said the director of undergraduate programs and assistant professor of philanthropic studies at the Lilly Family School of Philanthropy.

Students find that internships enhance and contribute to their experiences overall. Claire Ralston, a senior in the philanthropic studies program, wanted to intern at Shepherd Community Center. So, she reached out to chief development officer Steve DeBuhr in order to discuss creating an internship that not only gave Ralston firsthand experience of work in the sector, but also benefited the Center.

Ralston spent last summer refining the Center’s stewardship process, helping with events, and managing volunteers. Her internship gave her tangible skills to be transferred to a future career. “It was a well-rounded experience for me.”

Her supervisor, DeBuhr, noted the benefits to the nonprofit. Not only did she implement her book learning, but her work as become its standard operating procedure.

“Claire was able to implement what she’s learned at the school and combine it with an attention to detail and a desire to pursue excellence. Her work has become our standard operating procedure for our newly formulated stewardship program, and any on-going benefit to Shepherd attained by thanking or connecting to our donors will in no small means be attributed to her work,” said DeBuhr.

Kathi Badertscher, Ph.D., director of graduate programs and lecturer of philanthropic studies, added, “the internship course provides the culminating experiential learning opportunity for students to apply their graduate-level education in practice.

“Students work or volunteer in a wide range of nonprofit settings, from “voluntourism” to special event planning to capital campaign management, based on their interests. They gain experience in setting priorities and contending with some of the realities of philanthropic work such as human and financial resource constraints.

“Internships provide a crucial bridge between the classroom, real-world issues in philanthropy, and skill development in a professional setting,” Badertscher said.

Macy Jackson, another senior in the bachelor’s degree program, spent last fall with Gleaner’s Food Bank of Indiana working with their grants and foundations department. She read and analyzed past grant reports and gathered the information in one place in order for current staff to utilize the information for future grants. She also wrote grant proposals, a practical skill she knows will be useful when she looks for full-time work.

“I’ve been able to use what I’ve learned in class, such as knowing the best way to talk to donors and foundations, in my work. I enjoy working with organizations and figuring out how I can integrate what I’ve learned to help them.”

Savanah Strever, director of grants and foundation relations and Jackson’s supervisor at Gleaner’s, also shared her thoughts on the advantage of hosting an intern.

“Having Macy allowed us to tackle several projects that otherwise may have been put on the backburner. She helped create systems and tools that will improve efficiency, ultimately resulting in increased fundraising capacity for those in need,” Strever explained.

Students are not limited to internships in Indianapolis or their hometowns. M.A. alumna Kelly Mitchell, the current Treasurer of the State of Indiana, spent her internship at a nonprofit organization in Kathmandu, Nepal.

“Being on the front lines and seeing the powerful effects philanthropy can have impacted me a great deal,” she explained.

Current bachelor’s degree student Kelsey Harrington spent time in South Africa, learning that building relationships and sustaining long-term impact are important aspects of philanthropy.

Her experience helped her earn an internship at the George and Frances Ball Foundation last fall, which will evolve into a full-time role once she graduates. This is an additional side-effect of some internships that is not limited to Harrington.

Nationally, more than 40% of the total expected number of new hires from 2011-2012 were expected to come from a company’s internship program, according to the National Association of Colleges & Employers (NACE) 2012 Internship & Co-op Survey.

Nonprofits are no different. The opportunity to screen potential employees is one benefit for nonprofits who host internships. In addition, both the organization and the intern can determine if the pair fits together well.

JoAnna Ness, M.A. ’18, earned her current job as the Communications Director for the Steuben County Community Foundation after a summer internship there working in communications. “During my internship, we discovered it was a great fit on both ends, and the timing worked out perfectly.”

How can an intern benefit your nonprofit organization?

  • Address an organizational need.
  • Gain fresh, energetic, and knowledgeable “staff” at reduced cost.
  • Screen potential employees.
  • Increase interaction with the university and gain access to faculty expertise.
  • Contribute to professional growth of the student.

Erin Wuertz, B.A. ’18, has a passion for domestic violence victims. Volunteering at Coburn Place led to an internship in philanthropy, which then evolved into another internship there in events management. Since then, Wuertz first earned a full-time role as a mentor, and now coordinates the organization’s volunteers.

Finally, senior Natalie Laskowski spent last summer as an intern with the Future Farmers of America (FFA) Foundation on their development and donor services team. Laskowski worked with projects ranging from annual fund data analysis to endowment reporting to corporate sponsorship engagement. Her internship extended to the fall, and she then received the opportunity to begin full-time work as the Development Coordinator in the spring.

Her commitment to FFA and creativity in learning did not go unnoticed by FFA Foundation President Molly Ball.

“Natalie is awesome. She takes a project and looks at it from a different angle in order to find innovative ways to approach an issue,” Ball explained.

At least four graduating students in the bachelor’s and master’s degree programs this year alone will work full-time with organizations that previously hosted them as interns.

 “We’re grateful to the many nonprofit organizations that have partnered with us and our students in providing rich experiences that support academic objectives, and look forward to continuing current partnerships and establishing new ones with nonprofit organizations,” Badertscher said.

Interested in learning how you can benefit from having an intern? Contact Pamela Clark at pamelac@iupui.edu.  

Pamela Clark currently serves as the director of student services and admissions for the IU Lilly Family School of Philanthropy. She enjoys working with students and supporting them in achieving their academic goals. She earned a bachelor’s degree in elementary education from the University of Evansville and a master’s degree in adult education from Indiana University.

Abby Rolland serves as the communications project manager at the Lilly Family School of Philanthropy, and is also working towards a master’s degree in philanthropic studies. She holds a bachelor’s degree in history from Gettysburg College

May 06

Youth councils get kids involved in government

By Feature

By Lynn Sygiel, editor, Charitable Advisors

When you are in high school, you worry when the assistant principal calls you down to the office. Paige Kendall was no different. She was terrified when, as a freshman, her name was called over the PA. 

The reason for the visit, however, was anything but punitive. In fact, it was an honor. Greg Werner, the assistant principal at Southridge High School in Dubois County, had a proposal. Huntingburg Mayor Denny Spinner was interested in launching a youth council in the city, and he was looking for kids with leadership skills to help get the project off the ground. Werner wanted to know what Kendall and five other students thought of the mayor’s idea, and if they liked it, would they help recruit classmates?

Kendall, now a junior, obviously liked what she heard. In the three years since her angst-ridden trek to the assistant principal’s office, Kendall has not only helped recruit others, but she’s been an active member of the council which launched in 2017.  And for the past two years, she’s been president of the 12-member Mayor’s Youth Council, which launched in 2017. It draws its members from the only public high school in the corporation with a student body of 531.

Huntingburg isn’t the only Indiana community engaging young people in this way. A growing trend, voices of young people are being heard in 34 municipalities in Indiana. Aim, formerly called the Indiana Association of Cities and Towns, supports the effort, and now offers statewide programs through its Youth Councils Network.

“Over the years, we have learned from many mayors and town leaders that youth councils are a fantastic way to connect with students and ensure municipal policies and programs take into account the needs of citizens of all ages. They are also a wonderful pipeline to recruit talented young people into public service, by showing them firsthand how local government works and how it can be a positive influence on people’s lives,” said Aim’s CEO Matt Greller.

Huntingburg’s Kendall is also serving on Aim’s first Youth Councils Network state board and helped plan the annual Youth Summit that was held in February. For the past two years, the summit took place at Indiana University in Bloomington. This year nearly 200 young people attended the two-day event.

Another Aim program is its Youth Legislative Day, which took place in April. The event started at IUPUI and ended at the Statehouse. Part of the day’s schedule was to learn about the top issues being debated by Indiana lawmakers.

While each council’s number of youth representatives vary, as do the tasks they complete, the reason for their existence is similar. Communities from Fort Wayne to Loogootee/Shoals, Indianapolis to Princeton and Angola to Evansville increasingly are tapping into an effective way to allow young people to whom the long-term future belongs help plan for it.

So just what motivated Spinner to start a youth council in Huntingburg? It started with a simple question.

Mayor since 2011, his city earned a Stellar Community designation in 2014. This Indiana award began in 2011 and recognizes smaller communities, and now regions, that have collaborative plans for community and economic development and is annually given to two Indiana communities.

After Huntingburg received the award, someone asked the mayor if there was anything he would do differently. That question got him thinking, and he realized there was a gap.

“We did not have a lot of engagement from our youth,” he said. “So how do we fix that?”

It was at an Aim conference that he discovered a solution. While attending a session about mayor’s youth councils presented by several mayors and Jim Dittoe, he sought more information about how to get started. The NCAA had engaged Dittoe to develop a youth program, and he had also helped Frankfort’s mayor establish its youth council. Spinner realized a council could provide him ongoing input from his city’s youth. So, he, like Frankfort’s Chris McBarnes had done, invited Dittoe to submit a proposal.

“What Jim provided was that structure I was looking for. He had had experience with some other communities in forming the same type of organization. We followed his blueprint to get the first year together, and it provided to be very successful,” he said.

This week when Richmond launches its council, it will be the 21st municipality in Indiana that Dittoe has advised.

“I’ve had the terrific opportunity of working with young people who are very optimistic. They’re determined and they want to tackle the tough issues within a community,” said Dittoe.

“We want them involved now. Not just being told what to do, but coming up with ideas and solutions and the challenges of working with people in positions such as the mayor, such as the chamber of commerce. We want them directly involved so they learn by doing.”

And getting involved and learning is just what Kendall and Cameron Buschkoetter, a Southridge senior, have done. And the result has been to develop a passion for the community.


“We really want to focus on making Huntingburg the best it can possibly be and making us and other people come here, want to live here and make their life in Huntingburg,” said Kendall.

The council’s first project was to elicit more youth involvement in the “5-5-5,” a series of monthly 5K fun walk/runs that gives the community a chance to exercise with a group. Created by Mayor Spinner, they happen on the second Friday of the month from April through August at 5 p.m. Thus its 5-5-5 designation.

The mayor’s challenge to the youth council was more peer involvement. Starting with a survey, the youth council asked all the high school students what was missing. Their approach was through old-fashioned paper surveys distributed through the school’s homerooms. Then they tallied the responses. There were some surprises.

“There were a lot of people that said if (the runs) were more of a competition with teams, they would be more willing to do it. And honestly, we should have thought of that. Teenagers love competition,” said Kendall. The council created teams of four, and each month, the first entire team to cross the finish line won Holiday World & Splashin’ Safari Tickets. Over 100 students participated each month.

The youth have also named a new city road. One result of the Stellar designation was an overpass, which was approved as a city street. The youth council brainstormed names for it, and then submitted its choice, Progress Parkway. The City Council gave them a thumbs up. 

“They loved it, so we actually named the overpass in Huntingburg,” said Kendall.

With just over 6,000 people, the small southwestern community boasts the filming of a few movies, including “A League of Their Own.” And Buschkoetter, who has spent his junior and senior years on the council, said the city’s slogan “Like No Other” fits this close-knit community. He firmly believes that when he finishes at Purdue University, he will return. What he learned from this year’s project was patience.

This year the council was singularly focused on the My Community, My Vision program challenge. In its fifth year, young Hoosiers determine what their hometowns need to attract younger generations seeking vibrant living spaces. Each of the five communities selected were partnered with an IUPUI School of Public and Environmental Affairs’ graduate student. Huntingburg worked with Michael Hendrix. 

The youth council members worked to develop plans for a park in the community, and in April, presented their plans for a second basketball court and received $5,000 to implement a project. They also have presented their plans to the city’s Park Department, which provided them with cost estimates and have requested additional funds from the Dubois County Community Foundation.

Buschkoetter said it was a strenuous process that included meetings with a reviewer and creation of a PowerPoint to explain the project.

And while awards and accolades are certainly not the main reasons for these young people’s involvement, real dollar awards are making their projects reality.

At Aim’s recent summit, the Kendallville Youth Council won the excellence-in-youth-leadership award. The award honors a council that made lasting efforts to better its community and comes with $5,000 to support a community development project. The council opted to use the money on an alley improvement after learning about similar projects throughout the state. Communities like Frankfort and Angola have taken little-used alleys and turned them into gathering places for the community.

And adult politicians are benefitting, too. Mayor Spinner said the youth council meetings are the highlight of his month.

“They’re not afraid to tell me if they have a concern or what they think the community should be doing. Having the opportunity to have an open conversation with students in their high school is the most positive thing. It’s giving them an opportunity to learn more about the city, to learn more about how government works, to learn more about how to engage with other people and take a leadership role, they’re all positives,” he said.

“They can see that they can make a difference in a small community and they can have their voice heard, and they can have a real impact right here. And showing them the positive things that are going on gives them a feeling that this is a good community to be part of.”

The existence of youth councils has the potential to enhance civics understanding for many young people who are potential future leaders in the places they live.

That’s what happened in Frankfort. The mayor, Chris McBarnes, was elected at 23, and at the time was the youngest Indiana mayor. Early in his term, he contacted Dittoe about starting a youth council.

Now, Isac Chavez, a young man who was on that first Frankfort youth council, is graduating from college and returning to Frankfort, and he’s running for an at-large spot on the City Council (Election Day: Tuesday, May 7).

“It’s a terrific example of what can happen encouraging young people to become involved as leaders,” said Dittoe.

Apr 29

Not-for-profit News’ Sygiel wins SPJ award

By News

(photo credit: Freddi Stevens-Jacobi)

Charitable Advisors’ Not-for-profit News was among the organizations receiving first-place prizes Friday night at the 2018 Best in Indiana awards hosted by the Indiana chapter of the Society of Professional Journalists.

Editor/writer Lynn Sygiel was honored for her three-story series “Recent legislations’ impact on nonprofits,” which looked at how changes in tax laws and a long-heralded student-loan forgiveness government program affect nonprofits and their employees. The stories were submitted in the Best Non-Deadline Story or Series category.

A weekly e-publication which provides information about area nonprofits, the Not-for-profit News competed in the category for newspapers or publications with fewer than 30,000 subscribers.

“We are very excited for Lynn and the Not-for-profit News to be recognized for her excellent work,” said Bryan Orander, Charitable Advisors president.

Charitable Advisors is a social-purpose business that since 2000 has focused on strengthening the nonprofit sector by increasing communication among organizations, creating a one-stop jobs portal and offering consulting services that help boards build sustainability and bridge leadership transitions.

The entire list of winners can be found here. Proceeds from the Best in Indiana contest help fund the Indiana chapter’s college scholarship program. The two winners of $2,500 scholarships for the 2019-20 school year were Lydia Gerike of Indiana University and Emily Ketterer of Franklin College.

Here are links to the Not-for-profit News’ winning series:

Apr 08

Effective altruism applies science to giving

By Feature

By Lynn Sygiel, editor, Charitable Advisors

Diehard punk rock fans may know Peter Murphy as the former front man for the once-popular British goth band Bauhaus. Bauhaus broke up in the early 80s, but Murphy is currently back on stage with a 40th anniversary reunion tour.

Getting excited? Getting your ear plugs ready? Calm down. This story is not about that Peter Murphy. 

This Peter Murphy teaches philosophy at the University of Indianapolis. He’s a bit more genteel, but in many ways, beats a philanthropic drum as loud as his namesake rocker.

Murphy, who teaches a graduate course at U of I called “Poverty, Ethics and Effective Giving,” trumpets a philosophy known as “effective altruism,” or more simply EA.

As part of the class syllabus, students are introduced to the tenets of EA, and their final assignment is designed to apply what they’ve learned. Each year, Murphy secures funds from local donors, and as a group, students must reach a consensus about which organization or organizations will be the recipient of those funds.

“When they try to persuade one another that this is the organization we should give money to, they always set up rules. (One is) you have to give evidence, and the evidence that you give has to meet some kind of rigorous standards,” he said, which is an EA hallmark.

But for Murphy this isn’t just a course. Over the past 25 years, his philosophy students have studied Peter Singer and other scholars who have written about poverty ethics. Murphy was introduced to Singer’s 1972 paper “Fame, Affluence and Morality” as a college student, but his interest in the plight of the world’s poorest people was actually sparked earlier by his brother.

“When my brother went to college in the mid-1980s, he brought home a book that was quite popular at the time called “How the Other Half Dies: The real reasons for World Hunger” by Susan George. It was a best-selling book in the United States, and it was reporting on how roughly half the people in the world were dying of easily preventable causes,” said the Canadian-born Murphy.

Curiosity led him to continue to investigate EA, which has Singer’s ideas at its core. EA, a philosophy and social movement, started in 2011 at Britain’s Oxford University and uses evidence and reasoning to determine the most effective ways to benefit others. It differs from other philanthropic practices because of “its emphasis on quantitatively comparing charitable causes and interventions with the goal of maximizing certain human values.”

“I really see effective altruism as the convergence of people in philosophy who have been interested in ethics with social scientists who came in with randomized-controlled trials,” said Murphy. “The trials have brought out a lot of surprises at least in international giving. There are all sorts of things that have turned out to be absolutely ineffective that are very counter intuitive.”

Effective altruism has also provided a framework for Murphy and his wife, Dana Harrison, for personal donation decisions.

“When we met, we were almost kind of at extremes, and for both of us individually, our personal charitable giving was really important. When I first learned about effective altruism, it was really challenging, and I definitely had a defense response,” said Harrison, who, when she met her now husband, had just left her role as executive director of Dress for Success Indianapolis. He challenged her to think about her investments based on scientific data, not just emotion, in order to do the most good.

The couple encourages others to learn about EA’s framework when making charitable contributions, and they also think it’s important that Indiana’s nonprofits are aware of and keep track of the movement.

Cindy Collier couldn’t agree more.

For the past 15 years, she has been a consultant to corporations, government, foundations, nonprofits, and prior to that, worked for Health and Human Services at the national and state levels. She believes that the EA movement is helping to harness commitment, good work and people’s desire to make a difference.

“Instead of just trying hard, we’re going to succeed more often, and I think that’s the really wonderful aspect of the whole movement. It’s not just caring and trying, it’s taking the caring and the trying, and really making change,” said Collier. She has read “Doing Good Better” by William MacAskill, one of the co-founders of the EA movement, and has recommended it to friends.

“You want to feel good about helping people, but if the next year you come back and nothing has changed, that good doesn’t really feel so good when you haven’t really made a difference,” she said.

“We need to be more agile and try something different to get the results that we want whether it’s health, education, poverty reduction, no matter what the topic might be. If the needle’s not moving, we really need to think about investing in a different way to get different outcomes,” said Collier.

Harrison has often described the movement as “outcomes and evaluation on steroids.”

People who are EA followers believe in flexibility and open-mindedness, said Murphy, and are prepared to abandon a project if it isn’t working.

Local funders, too, have changed evaluations about programming to include data, but not yet to the level of executing randomized-controlled trials.

As a board member for Project Home Indy, Collier remembers the Women’s Fund asking for evidence that the group’s local model would work. As the first funder of a program for teen moms at risk of homelessness, it sent a due diligence committee to meet with staff.

“We have a lot of great foundations, and I have uniformly seen them ask those right questions, thinking about metrics. I have seen them ask what it’s going to be like after services, what’s the impact and what is being tracked. That really changes the culture,” she said.

Harrison thinks that at a minimum every nonprofit should research what models work before adding new programs in order to ascertain that its model hasn’t been disproven already in a dozen communities.

Which is why she was excited to recently learn about the work of the George and Frances Ball Foundation in Muncie. The foundation’s team just completed a study of 130 communities in the U.S. that have had cradle-to-career efforts. The team’s intention is to compare the components and identify what change happened. This is of special interest to Harrison as she serves as TeenWorks’ interim chief executive.

Daydreaming a bit, she wonders what could change if the foundation presents its findings to its nonprofit community and shares which models work and which don’t.

“How would nonprofit leaders react if the three things that worked they would never consider or the things that didn’t work were core to their programming? What is the impact of that and what is our readiness to hear those messages?”

Both Harrison and Collier believe applying EA’s model to areas like arts and culture would be difficult, and acknowledge that measuring poverty and education gains are easier than measuring enjoyment.

Small nonprofits don’t normally have researchers or statisticians on staff or empirically researched randomized-controlled trials.  However, they do see steps for nonprofits to take.

Collier has witnessed some funders asking: When we give you this money, what will be different?

“The nonprofit has got to be able to tell them, ‘Here’s what will change. Here’s the impact we can have.’  It’s thinking about the measurements and the expectations.’

“To me, the great part about this movement is not to make people cynical, but to make them more questioning,” said Collier, and she believes it will become a permanent way to determine what gets funded.

“When you are talking to donors, you are appealing to hearts or checkbooks to make an economic difference. But effective altruism is really about both. I think it’s a way to totally raise the bar about what we want to support.”

And while MIT and other social scientists are aware of EA, there has been limited application in the U.S. with most trials being done in developing countries.

One area, though, that Murphy and others have said is ripe for application is mass incarceration and sentencing. For people in prison or jail, it may be possible to lessen hardship in communities by cutting down the use of incarceration, and that is the leading conjecture of those in organizations that are based on EA principles.

“Do you get any additional deterrents by sending a person away for 10 years for cocaine rather than just 18 months or do they actually become a more hardened criminal if you send them away for 10 years? So, they’re trying to measure things like outcomes on families, employment rates and the economy in a local community. Oftentimes these young men if they can turn it around, they can be at their peak economic performance in terms of productivity and they can really be out there helping themselves and their communities thrive,” said Murphy.

He also believes there are good candidates in the community that meet EA’s principles and standards, making it a movement worth paying attention to.

Apr 08

What is effective altruism?

By Feature

Compiled by Lynn Sygiel, editor, Charitable Advisors

The effective altruism movement started with a simple question: Was there a way to apply data and reason to altruistic acts?

In 1993, two economists Michael Kremer and Rachel Glennerster traveled to Kenya for a vacation. Both had studied economics at the University of Oxford, met at Harvard and married. At the time, Kremer was an MIT professor and Glennerster worked for Treasury.

While overseas, they visited a friend who was working in Kenya and wondered if there was a way to scientifically test which good intentions are most effective. Kremer’s friend worked for a Dutch charity that was providing child sponsorships in Kenya. The group was trying to improve school attendance and test scores. But which of their efforts were making a difference — uniforms, adding teachers, flip chart or textbooks.

Kremer suggested they try a randomized controlled trial to determine what intervention was most effective. They would monitor and collect data from 14 schools of which half would be a control group. By collecting data in all the schools, they could see which fared better. The idea hadn’t been applied to development world. Testing each program one by one, Kremer found that there was no discernible improvement and these interventions had no effect on student outcomes.

Then a friend at the World Bank suggested deworming to cure parasitic infections in children with an annual pill. Kremer did an experiment to see whether it had an impact on education. What they learned was that the program worked to reduce absenteeism, a chronic problem at these schools. What was more impressive is that in a follow up 10 years later, children who had received the medicine worked an extra 3.4 hours per week and earned 20 percent more.

Kremer’s revolutionary approach gained a following and saw dozens of young economists running trials of development programs. By then, Glennerster had become executive director of the Poverty Action Lab at MIT and by 2007, the couple cofounded the nonprofit Deworm the World Initiative, which provides technical assistance to developing countries’ government to launch deworming programs.

And according to William MacAskill in his book, “Doing Good Better,” it is a way of thinking about how to make the biggest difference and uses evidence and careful reasoning to try to find an answer.

MacAskill helped develop the idea while he was a student at the University of Oxford and defines effective altruism as “using evidence and reason to figure out how to benefit others as much as possible, and taking action on that basis.”

Effective altruism, according to MacAskill has five key questions:

  1. How many people benefit, and by how much?
  2. Is this the most effective thing you can do?
  3. Is this area neglected?
  4. What would have happened otherwise?
  5. What are the chances of success, and how good would success be?

Initially, the movement was focused on individual-level charitable giving, and MacAskill also co-founded, Giving What We Can, with a fellow graduate student. The organization encourages individuals to give at least 10 percent of his or her income to the most cost-effective charities.

About the same time, two New York hedge fund analysts starting GiveWell, an organization that does in-depth research to determine which charities do the most good with every dollar. It compares for example how much good $1000 will do depending on which organization you give it to. GiveWell partnered with Cari Tuna and Dustin Moskovitz and started the Open Philanthropy Project.

In the process, the term effective altruism (EA) emerged as a community formed around these groups. Since 2013, EA has held conferences, run by the Centre for Effective Altruism at Oxford University. In 2015, the conference took place on Google’s campus in Mountain View, and in 2016 at the University of California, Berkeley.

Last fall, Vox Media launched Future Perfect, a new section to cover under covered issues. The twice weekly publication is inspired by the EA movement and is funded in partnership with The Rockefeller Foundation.