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Feb 04

United Way and Salesforce.org: Teaming up to change giving

By Feature, Technology

By Lynn Sygiel, editor, Charitable Advisors

We live in an era where technology seemingly changes by the minute. What’s new today is old tomorrow. The trend is not lost on nonprofits, which continually seek how to best incorporate technology into their fundraising efforts.

With figures showing recent declines in charitable giving, the quest remains: Is there a digital platform that could reframe how nonprofits connect with donors and really transform philanthropy?

Chris Herndon, chief marketing and engagement officer at United Way of Central Indiana, believes that its partnership with Salesforce.org, the foundation arm of the national cloud-based software company, has the opportunity to do just that.  

“It’s kind of a big deal,” said Herndon about the product that is now available to Indiana companies from United Way.

It is certainly a platform for nonprofits to keep tabs on.

Three years ago, United Way chapters in major markets pooled their resources to invest in digital strategies. At the time, Salesforce was one of their selected companies and the 10 United Way chapters began using the company’s marketing cloud software, receiving Salesforce’s expertise and guidance in the process.

The relationship transformed about a year ago, when the United Way chapters became colleagues with Salesforce to create an app called the Philanthropy Cloud, Herndon said. Launched in late 2018, the platform was designed by Salesforce’s foundation in partnership with United Way.

Initially, the goal was to better engage current donors and potential donors. Nationally, the trend was fewer people giving after the recession, particularly middle-class Americans who had less discretionary income.

That trend is support by the Indiana University’s Lilly Family School of Philanthropy, which reported that the share of households contributing to charity has dropped from 67 percent in 2004 to 55.5 percent in 2014, the latest year for which figures are available.

But according to Herndon, the United Way-Salesforce working group also knew that the next generation of employees wants to work for an employer that will enable them to engage with their communities. And they knew that incorporating technology was key to delivering a personal, customizable way that could be scaled.

The concept for the platform first introduced at Salesforce’s 2017 Dreamforce, and then rolled out at last fall’s Dreamforce conference.

Herndon said the term philanthropy implies a more strategic approach, and that there’s been a shift to think increasingly about corporate social responsibility and the goals each company wants to achieve.

Herndon likens the Philanthropy Cloud to a financial account where you can log in, see your investments, your volunteer activity and get a tax statement.

“This gives them a better tool to roll up all that employee giving, volunteering, and achieved community impact outcomes. It allows them to manage their matches, communicate their company’s philosophy and specific goals,” said Herndon.

On a local level, United Way began its marketing the product to its current business partners, which included an invitation-only event a couple of weeks ago. The plan is to do more of those. Currently there are about 50 United Way chapters nationally that are involved.

Ashley Furois, United Way of Central Indiana’s senior director of fundraising, said there is an annual standard per-employee fee based on the employee size per company.

“Standard would be $2 per user per month. A user is an employee, so anybody who has access to the site, if they use it or not,” she said. First Financial Bank based in Cincinnati with 170 employees in Indianapolis is the first area user.

“I think, it complements how we were already changing how we work with our current corporate partners. We’ve been changing our fundraising focus to be from that annual campaign perspective to really a year-round supportive perspective. And this is just another tool that allows us to help do that,” she said.

Nonprofits that populate employees’ profile pages pull from two different databases – Guidestar and United Way. In the short term, United Way is banking on companies and nonprofits that have relationships with companies to help populate the volunteer opportunities.

“Long term, we hope to have a portal or a way for a database to be set up so that some of these opportunities are easily accessible to the companies even if there isn’t already a relationship established,” said Furois.

For area nonprofits, it is important to make sure that their Guidestar profiles are up to date, said Herndon. When an employee accesses a nonprofit’s information, not only can they learn about the mission, but its federal tax ID and nonprofit rating appears. The platform provides the ability to make a donation or easily volunteer.

Serve Indiana’s Executive Director Marc McAleavey sees lots of possibilities. On a state level, he and his team are developing ways to engage employers to strengthen or develop volunteer programming for Indiana companies. He is excited by the opportunities for a user to create his or her philanthropic profile.

“When I saw the demonstration, I saw so many possibilities. It will help not only the company see the impact their employees are making, but also each employee can understand their circle of influence and how they’re making an impact in their communities. It’s a win-win.”  McAleavey pointed out that the Independent Sector publishes a volunteer wage value and updates it regularly. Last year, the volunteer hour was $24.60, up 2.2 percent from the previous year.

McAleavey sees future applications, too.

“Right now, it is about engaging employers. But I think that the power of the Philanthropy Cloud is you can tell an individual’s philanthropic story for a long period of time. I would love to help think through how they can open it up a little bit bigger, so that young adults or even kids start accessing the Philanthropy Cloud so it follows the person no matter where they work,” he said.

Another example, he sees for future use is vetting potential nonprofit board members. An executive committee could request it to use as a resume to learn more about an individual’s philanthropic history. 

The new platform has generated interest from companies that don’t have existing relationships with United Way of Central Indiana.

“It’s been interesting that some assumptions that some companies may have with United Way and just seeing us in a different light in terms of being progressive and innovation,” said Herndon.

According to Furois, nationally there are 40 companies who have purchased the product.

It also helps keep employees engaged by providing customized content based on the individual’s interests with content changing in real time.

“(An individual) can go in and set his or her interests, but also using Artificial Intelligence, it will see what articles you’re clicking on and looking at, and it starts to serve content that is most relevant to you. So hopefully, you get that personal experience, that customized experience, and you are going to get more deeply involved.”

Herndon said there is a multiyear plan to continue to develop the platform. The ability to volunteer for nonprofits will roll out this spring. Additionally employees that want to make an impact on a cause but do not know local nonprofits working in that specific arena can learn about organizations doing the type of work they want to support.

“If I were to oversimplify, it solves how we better connect people who want to help with people who are in need. And then as I think as we learn more about the people who want to help, we can be a bridge between what people care about and what the community needs.

“It is also creating a better experience for people. When you think about how technology has transformed every other area of our life and made it more convenient and allowed us to better engage with things we care about, it should happen in this space as well. So it’s been pretty cool at bringing this to life,” said Herndon.

Furois who has worked for United Way of Central Indiana for 10 years, is excited for many reasons.

“For me, I think the fact that we’re taking an organization that is over 100 years old and introducing something that’s new, unique and different it is exciting to me. It has possibilities for our donors and volunteers, but also for us as an organization,” she said.

Features of the Philanthropy Cloud

A company may purchase the platform from United Way of Central Indiana and then make it available to its employees.

To see a demo of the platform, click here.

  • An employee may create an individual profile, after which the platform will hone content and include what is most relevant to an employee based on interactions with the site. At anytime, an employee can edit his or her causes. For example, an employee is at lunch and hears that a colleague just had a great volunteer opportunity at an organization that deals with food and hunger. An employee can change his or her causes and save that information.
  • An individual’s profile page gives his or her giving history, if it’s recurring or a one-time gift.  Similar to Amazon, the individual can easily donate again and make the same donation. He or she can also get a tax receipt. It provides a snapshot of how the individual is giving. Based on an individual’s giving, it populates pages with articles about the causes he or she supports.
  • Locally, United Way staff will create content to add to the site.
  • On the volunteer portal, which will launch in the spring, employees have the chance to share their talents. Employees can locate and sign up to volunteer for local nonprofits and employee can also post volunteer opportunities for others in the company. Through a peer-to-peer connection, it can increase the visibility of lesser-known organizations.
  • Employees can see specific details about volunteer opportunities – their location, when they start and how to sign up. After signing up, an automatic confirmation and thank-you email is sent directly to the employee.
  • Businesses can see how their employees are giving, either by cause or in a geographic region.
  • If a company has a corporate social responsibility cause, it can highlight opportunities. Companies are asking employees what philanthropic causes they want their employers to invest in. The platform can help employers see if the causes they’ve chosen are actually where employees are investing their time and talent.
  • Future iterations will have portable profiles, so if an employee leaves a company, his or her profile can too.

United Way’s beginnings are rooted in problem solving.

In 1887, Denver had a burgeoning population that put a strain on human services. A large migration to Colorado was caused by the outbreak of tuberculosis. In order to reduce their risk of illness, individuals sought higher elevation and cleaner air.

In Denver, faith leaders partnered and created a united campaign that benefitted health and welfare agencies. They founded the Charity Organization Society to collect the funds for local charities, to coordinate relief services, to counsel and refer clients to cooperating agencies, and to make emergency assistance grants for cases that could not be referred.

Indianapolis entered the picture in 1918 during the war and was more like a war chest.

Herndon said, “There’s some iconic photos literal war chest of cash on Monument Circle and again it was the leaders of the community wanting to rally everybody together.”

The name Community Chest was widely used for United Way organizations until the 1950s.

Since 1946, the American Federation of Labor and the Congress of Industrial Organizations (AFL-CIO) and United Way Worldwide have enjoyed a cooperative relationship. Workplace giving was introduced about 40 or 50 years ago, and that was through the labor unions working with United Way to co-create the concept of workplace giving and payroll deduction.

It sees the Philanthropy Cloud and its technology as its next innovation.

Jan 14

Big App: Big Brothers Big Sisters tech solution

By Feature

Editor’s note: January is National Mentoring Month celebrating mentoring and the positive effect it can have on young lives.

By Lynn Sygiel, editor, Charitable Advisors

In 2010, Darcey Palmer-Shultz and Amy Pomeranz Essley had a significant problem to tackle. During their combined nearly 30 years of working for Big Brothers Big Sisters of Central Indiana (BBBSCI), they had taken on many issues, but this particular challenge gave them pause.

Big Brothers Big Sisters, which pairs adult mentors with kids in need of role models, had a match-retention rate they wanted to improve.  Palmer-Shultz and Pomeranz Essley knew that could be higher. But how to go about it?

Simultaneously, and perhaps serendipitously, Cummins, the Columbus-based engine company, entered the picture and made the nonprofit a unique offer.

BBBSCI could apply to train side by side with Cummins employees in the Six Sigma methodology, a series of techniques and tools for process improvement developed by Motorola in the 1980s.  Many manufacturing companies now use the method.

“It’s a lot more uncommon for nonprofits to use it, but Cummins had an opportunity where they would allow nonprofit partners to have somebody go through training and work with their team,” said Palmer-Shultz, the CEO of Big Brothers Big Sisters  who enrolled in the 2010 training.

For the Six Sigma study, Palmer-Shultz focused on how to improve the organization’s 12-month match retention rate. She was the only nonprofit leader in the room and found the process invigorating. She said the study resulted in defining 24 improvements that helped keep more of its matches together.

But this study led to other innovations, said Pomeranz Essley, who serves as chief program officer.

“While we were doing that research, we heard from Bigs (the organization’s nickname for its mentors) that they really wanted ideas of additional things to do with their Littles. So that’s kind of how we came up with the second study,” said Pomeranz Essley. At the time, Big Brothers Big Sisters was providing advance tickets for events and discounts, and the Bigs wanted more of this type of help. She enrolled in Cummins training in 2013 to learn the process and begin planning how to tackle the request.

Like the first training, this was another in-kind contribution from Cummins.

The result of the second study was a useful, but a somewhat unwieldy list of 200 different activity ideas outlined on an Excel spreadsheet.

“And we were like ‘Now, what do we do?’ We had to have some way to communicate this list out to Big volunteers,” said Pomeranz Essley. 

Palmer-Shultz said they assumed they would simply post a list of activities on BBBSCI’s website – – pages and pages of them — but they quickly came to the conclusion there had to be a better way.                              

That realization was sparked by the fact that nearly 50 percent of the organization’s volunteers are under the age of 30.

“Again, we were thinking fairly small in the beginning, and then we got to the point, ‘If people are going to use this, it’s going to have to be what people are using now. It cannot be a piece of paper or whatever we might be able to come up with,’” said Palmer-Shultz.

So they reached out to a BBBSCI board member who had helped develop a web application for a one-day Giving Tuesday fundraiser to see if he might have ideas or questions for them.

That board member, Drew Linn, is the chief strategy office of Counterpart. Counterpart, formerly WDD Software, first used a web-based fundraising application platform in 2014 for Big Brothers Big Sisters’ inaugural #GivingTuesday campaign, called AppToGive.

According to Linn, the Cummins studies established the “whys” but together they determined that an app was the best solution.

Counterpart was able to develop the software for the administrative side for BBBSCI’s match-support specialists and others who manage the portal, but brought in another company, Crafted, as a partner because mobile is its expertise.

Development took place between August and December of 2015, with the launch in early 2016. The app cost about $60,000 to build with funding coming from Cummins, The Glick Fund, Opus Community Foundation, Midland Atlantic Properties and Lilly Endowment.

“We had some unique funding that paid for this, so we weren’t pulling from anything and definitely that made it possible. We had in-kind from our partners, which made a huge difference as well, significantly reducing the expense,” said Palmer-Shultz. Without partners who were invested in it, she said, they probably would have had to scale back what they were able to implement.

Called the Big App, it provides adult volunteers with a constant reminder of their training. Today, there are over 123 intentional-match activities and events that align with the 12 Indicators of Thriving. The tool helps Bigs find different opportunities and keep track on a pie chart of what they’ve done with their Littles.

“Each activity is linked to an Indicator of Thriving, which includes developing things like emotional competence. Scrolling over the indicator provides a definition, which is a helpful reminder. So as Bigs are using it and tracking activities, it shows them over time areas they are addressing,” said Pomeranz Essley. The hope is that having exposure to activities in the 12 areas will help staff see increased youth outcomes and growth.

“Basically, it allows a Big to more deliberately engage with his or her Little. As a tool, it organizes information about things to do,” said Linn, who’s also a Big. “It used to be email hell. Literally, it was an avalanche.”

The tool has streamlined communications between staff and volunteers, reduced internal printing costs and it allows the nonprofit to do ‘push notifications.’ For example, when BBBSCI has ticket opportunities that are relevant only for high school kids, they can target a segmented audience.

Since launching over two years ago, 98 percent of BBBSCI’s matches use the app.

“It was a change for them, but they really started to see the benefits of it,” said Pomeranz Essley. When the nonprofit implemented the first project, its goal was to get to 75 percent retention. Retention now exceeds and is sustained at over 80 percent.

In hindsight, there are other reasons why is the app is helpful, said Palmer-Shultz. The organization knows that what they ask of volunteers is a high threshold – overall length of commitment, frequency and responsibility to do it independently.

“Even though we support, coach and offer quite a bit, trying to make it as doable, rewarding and as simple as possible to be effective is really important,” she said.

While Counterpart provides two spreadsheets monthly, it collects and stores all the data. Linn said together they are now figuring out what is valuable and prioritizing the metrics. Ultimately, his company envisions providing an administrative dashboard to look at specific match engagements. The BBBSCI’s match specialist would already know what activities a Big and Little did, and be able to spend more time on the relationship and even helping to plan for the next one.

“So I feel like those are the things that are going to come next which not only saves the Big time, it saves the match support specialist’s time and now you’re focused on outcomes instead,” said Linn.

During the building stage, there was conversation about whether it was exclusive or if it should be built to have the capability to add agencies. Early on, the decision was the latter.

In the summer of 2016, the team presented at Big Brothers Big Sisters national conference, and since then, nine Big Brothers Big Sisters agencies have signed on: Lexington, Ky., Omaha, Neb./Council Bluffs, Iowa; Louisville, Ky.; Madison, Wis.; Appleton, Wis.; Minneapolis/St.Paul; Salt Lake City; Orange County, Calif., and Columbus, Ohio.

Agencies pay an annual fee, which helps cover maintenance costs and keeps the app fresh and up-to-date, including updating the organization’s new brand. Several agencies have paid to add features. Each, however, must receive Central Indiana’s approval first. BBBSCI owns the app code. 

“Technology changes fast. This last year, we used (the fees) to upgrade just the behind-the-scenes engine because it was running slower and not as efficient. And it’s only three years old. And so, that didn’t get them any of the other ‘I-cannot-wait-for-this-upgrade stuff,’” said Linn. 

Currently BBBSCI and the agency partners are in discussions about what this will look like in three to five years.

“It’s figuring out what we want this to do and how we want to keep using it in the future.”

Essentially Central Indiana designed the first round based on what it needed.

“But we have all these partners who have really good ideas and we are starting figure out together what the next step is,” said Palmer-Shultz.

 Centric Innovation Award

This past fall, the Big App won a Centric award. 

The Indianapolis-based network of resources brings together hundreds of leaders and practioners for a full-day event.

At the gathering, the Indiana Innovation Awards are given to individuals and organizations that are leading innovation in the state. This year, the Big App and its partners — Big Brothers Big Sisters of Central Indiana, Counterpart, Crafted — were recognized for this tech application.

Advice to other nonprofits

Counterpart’s Linn provided some advice to nonprofits.

It is important to remember that sometimes the nonprofit and the tech company speak two different languages.

“It’s an education process for both sides,” he said. It was often that when the nonprofit asked a question, the tech company thought there was a problem. :In a sense you’re not even prepared for the question.

Pomeranz Essley said she didn’t even know the questions to ask.

It’s important to keep it simple.

“Our firm is nearly 25 years old, and we’ve learned over those years that you need to focus on the most minimal scope that provides value so it will engage the users.

“You can build a Cadillac but do you actually need power windows if you’re in Alaska. You and I can sit here all day, and we could dream and some of the stuff won’t be used. Remember for most nonprofits, you’re talking about a limited budget and no body wants to waste money. It needed to be very intentional.”

Dec 03

Why you need to know about donor-advised funds

By Feature, Fundraising

By Lynn Sygiel, editor, Charitable Advisors

Michele Thomas Dole has spent her career helping others realize their philanthropic dreams.

During the day, she is a senior trust officer at Fifth Third Private Bank. She advises clients about trust administration and estate planning, and builds client relationships to help accomplish their financial goals. For the past 15 years, outside of work, she has been an adjunct faculty member at the Lilly School of Philanthropy and has helped design curriculum for both the school and the Women’s Philanthropy Institute.

She admits much has changed in the field of philanthropy, and her daily work experience keeps her teaching relevant. Among the most striking change during her tenure is the ubiquity of donor-advised funds (DAF).

Last year, the number of donor-advised funds in the U.S. rose to nearly a half million. Some predict that in the next five years, donor-advised funds will be among the top five U.S. charities. Given this growth, she believes nonprofit staffs and boards should be well versed in the nuances of this tool.

“It is astonishing to me how pervasive donor-advised funds are. It feels like they are touching every aspect of charities. They’re just so much more commonplace than they were 10 years ago,” said Dole. And her students have kept pace. She finds that they are wholly aware of donor-advised funds and many have stewarded donations made with these grants.

Established and managed mainly through community foundations and Jewish Federations in the mid-1930s, for decades they were typically known as community trusts. It wasn’t until some 60 years later that national sponsors emerged. Fidelity Charitable was the first, according to Tony Oommen, a planning consultant for the company. He is one of 12 professional advisers for the company and is based in Chicago.

With the advent of national charity sponsors, donors everywhere had access to this tool, however, it wasn’t until 2006 that it burgeoned.

“Prior to the last 10 years, donor-advised funds weren’t really on the radar of most people. This was in part because there was no actual definition of a donor-advised fund in the IRS code until 2006 with the enactment of the Pension Protection Act.

“Before that it was really just a program within a public charity, where a donor contributed and then recommended where those grants were going,” said Oommen, who has been a financial adviser for over two decades.

“I think that’s where it really picked up. People became more aware that this could be something that could simplify charitable giving. In Fidelity’s case, it was based on the idea of democratizing charitable giving. And Fidelity, as a private company, could take company capital and sink it into a nonprofit to provide resources to develop a program.”

Nationally, contributions to donor-advised funds have increased as a share of total giving over the past decade. For 2017, donors contributed $29.23 billion, or the equivalent of 10.2 percent of individual giving.

The 2006 IRS definition is a legal statute, specifically defining an account or program. The Treasury Department followed with a study to determine if there were abuses or potential abuses in order to craft future legislation and regulations. The study results released in 2011 found no major infractions, Oommen said.

Since then, what donor-advised fund sponsors have been waiting for are potential regulations. The most meaningful IRS guidance, according to Oommen, came last December when the IRS released a notice, known as 2017-73. The notice sought public comments on excise taxes in certain situations. Actual regulations, however, have not yet been released.

Interestingly, Indiana the 17th largest state by population, ranks fourth in the U.S. for donor-advised fund charitable sponsors, according to the National Philanthropic Trust report. There are 58 in the state.

In Indiana, the Lilly Endowment began its GIFT Initiative in 1990 to launch and develop community foundations across Indiana, which contributed heavily to the number. Community foundation program officers can be eyes and ears on the ground.

Dole cited a recent family that was in process of establishing a donor-advised fund. They hadn’t determined their primary areas of interest nor the charities they wanted to support. She recommended the community foundation establish the fund because as a local foundation it would know the family’s  ‘backyard.’ A program officer would know whom to call at the local charities if the family wanted to tour to learn more. She also recommended that the family prepare questions before the tour.

“For people who want an opportunity to teach and impart their family’s values on the next generation, donor-advised funds are another tool that can bring families together to do the kind of thoughtful philanthropy they want to.”

According to Oommen, the main reason this vehicle has become more popular is that it cuts down on the red tape and makes charitable giving simpler. It provides one receipt for all annual gifts and reduces the barriers for people who want to make a difference and execute their good intentions. But he sees it as more than that.

“It’s easy and tax efficient,” Oommen said. “The vast majority of people that give money to charity give cash. But cash is the most expensive asset to give to charity because in almost all cases, the donor has had to realize taxable income or just ordinary income or capital gains tax to free up cash to give.”

With a donor-advised fund, contributors can choose appreciated long-term capital asset instead. The charity sponsor can sell it and then liquid assets are available for grant making.

“A lot of people don’t get good advice, and they never really run through the math of what a difference that makes,” he said.

The second reason, according to Oommen, is that an individual can give more in years when it’s tax advantageous to do so and set aside money for future giving. Some people, too, can set aside a retirement distribution by giving income that is being taxed higher while they are still working and set aside for future distributions.

“So the implication of that is that you can give more in a year when it’s advantageous to you to do so from a tax perspective and set aside money for future distributions to charities,” he said. “The whole idea is simplicity.”

In that vein, Fidelity banded together with three other donor-advised fund sponsors – Schwab Charitable, Kansas City Community Foundation and BNY Mellon Charitable — to create a widget. A nonprofit can add it to its website. Called DAF direct http://dafdirect.org/, when hyperlinked, it preloads the charity’s information for the donor and all the donor has to do is key stroke the dollar amount.

Oommen believes this trend of donor-advised funds is going to continue and will increase overall giving. During an economic recession, he said, charitable giving dips. So when times are good, donors can set aside money that can be distributed and help to offset that dip.

But even as popular as these funds are, donors don’t necessarily understand the potential.

“I would say that it is the charity’s duty to understand how to raise funds from people who have these DAFs or will be setting them up. Get educated about it and how the process works. Talk to your donors about why they are using them. Understand the language of those professional advisers.

“Track donors who are making grants from donor-advised funds separately. Somebody who has set up a donor-advised fund account has put some thought in and probably is getting some advice and setting aside money strategically and intentionally for a future distribution.”

It is important, he said, to talk about testamentary transfers using a will or trust. Often he said that gift officers and estate planning attorneys miss donor-advised funds because they aren’t included in the intake questionnaire for a new client.

“It’s just not part of the taxable estate that’s governed.”

But the bottom line is it’s good all around. Oommen emphasizes that Fidelity’s goal is to help increase overall the amount that’s given in the U.S. The percent of GDP – 2.1 percent — has been roughly the same for the past 20 years.

“If that could just move from 2.1 to 2.5 percent of GDP that would be about another $80 million for charitable giving and that’s the concept of growing the pie rather than just slicing up a finite pie.”

 

Nov 05

Helping young people reach their potential

By Feature, Programming

By Lynn Sygiel, editor, Charitable Advisors

Today’s young people are tomorrow’s _______.  It’s a common expression and you can fill in the blank many different ways. It’s an inescapable fact that young people eventually grow up and turn into something.

Today’s adults, as every generation does, hope that transition is a positive one and one that will make the world a better place.

It’s also an accepted premise that many young people need a little help along the way and many nonprofits (and for-profits) are there to lend a hand.

According to the Minneapolis-based National Alliance for Secondary Education and Transition: “Youth development is a process that prepares a young person to meet the challenges of adolescence and adulthood and achieve his or her full potential. Youth development is promoted through activities and experiences that help youth develop social, ethical, emotional, physical, and cognitive competencies.”

In other words, how do you turn young people into successful adults?

Five years ago, an index to measure the youth development in multiple countries was created for the British Commonwealth. The purpose of the Youth Development Index (YDI) is to be able to compare five key areas for young people: education, health, employment, civic participation and political participation.

And as part of this effort, young people were asked for their opinions on the subject. For Eva Maria from New Zealand, youth development “is when, as a young person, you can believe in a future. A real future.”

Clearly, senior staff at Boys & Girls Clubs in Indianapolis would agree with Eva’s assessment. While there have been substantial changes in professionalizing the youth worker field since 1893 when the local club was first established, several things have remained constant.

First and foremost, young people come to the clubs to build relationships. For Maggie Lewis, the organization’s president since May, and LeeAnn Harris, who is senior director of club operations, this focus has been critical to the nonprofit’s longevity.

Research shows that a key factor to promote resilience in youth is the consistent presence of a single caring adult. Harris said that every survey of the views of the clubs’ young people reveals exactly that.

“It’s never, ever been about a program. The number one reason that they come in our doors everyday is because of our staff and the relationships that staff form with young people,” said Harris who has worked for the nonprofit since 1989.

“No matter how appealing technology becomes or how integral it becomes to young people’s success or their day-to-day interactions, no matter whether it’s moving young people toward the workforce or just trying to help them get their homework done, whether it’s a kid who only comes to eat or somebody who comes because they want to be on the robotics group, the only way we successfully serve any of their needs is to have that positive adult mentor relationship,” said Harris.

According to research compiled in the early 1990s by the late psychologist Norman Garmezy that single factor has a significant impact on children living in poverty. But the Boys & Girls Clubs believes it is also about adapting to the needs of young people.

In May, for example, the nonprofit added a new program at its Finish Line Boys & Girls Club on Indianapolis’ Far Eastside. The Pivot Re-engagement Center is a program for 16- to 24-year-olds and is a partnership of the club, Community Alliance of the Far Eastside (CAFE) and other local organizations. Partnering with EmployIndy, the strategy is to move young people toward employment or other options.

About two-thirds of the young people that are served at the club are not in school and are not employed.

Both Harris and Lewis are advocates for young people and think that sometimes adults tend to write them off as lost causes.

“I think we’ve proven time and again, but even recently through our re-engagement center that young people just want opportunities to be successful,” said Harris. “We’ve not had any problems or incidents there.”

She said that the goal for the program that started in May was to register 100 young people, but it’s at 700 and counting.

“These young people have had some bumps along the way and so they’ve come to us to get a better direction and to make the best of themselves,” said Lewis.

It circles back to believing in a future, and according to Harris, that starts in elementary school.

“We’ve seen that even with the school-aged young people that we serve. It’s amazing how, if you’ve never had an opportunity to create a vision for your future outside of what you see in your own community or even if you do have an opportunity to have that vision, hope itself can be knocked out of you before you ever turn 16. We see that all the time, and that’s our job to give them opportunity,” said Harris.

The nonprofit recently received a grant from Finish Line Youth Foundation that matches school-aged young people with employment opportunities at Finish Line stores. It also has a similar grant through Boys & Girls Clubs of America with GAP and Old Navy to support workforce development.

Again it’s about adapting. For several years, at clubs nationally and locally, there was a downturn of the number of teens participating. Many teens were looking for work opportunities. Boys & Girls Clubs saw this as a good way to address the needs of the population it serves and is helping them become a ready workforce.

Another thing that has changed in Indiana is there is now a career path for youth workers. Across the state, there are now education programs, which include certificates, associate degrees and higher education programs to certify and educate youth practitioners.

This year, Indiana is piloting an online program with the Child and Youth Care Certification Board (CYCCB), which is based in Texas. Practitioners in Indiana are able to use an online form to submit applications for Child and Youth Care (CYC) certification.

Practitioners can complete all required paperwork and submit documentation electronically. Over 300 Indiana practitioners, pursuing certification this year, are expected to use the online system, according to Jeananne Reich who is managing the program for Indiana. So far this year, nearly 200 were awarded the certification. Harris estimates that 75 percent of Boys & Girls Club Indiana’s staff are certified.

Lewis said over the 125 years, the facilities have changed from places to swim and play sports to places to obtain basic needs.

“Today, youngsters come to our clubs for basic needs. I cannot stress enough that they are coming for basic needs,” she said.  According to Lewis, poverty is the number one issue where the clubs are located. Annually, the nonprofit serves nearly 7,000 kids at its five facility-based clubs and five school-based sites.

Over half of club members’ households have an income of $25,000 or less, but families are asked to pay $15 for a young person to attend for the school year.  Over 75 percent of the young people are eligible for free or reduced lunch. Last year, it served nearly 300,000 meals and snacks, making it the second largest provider of Second Helpings meals.

In 2001, area schools began hosting after-school clubs. Although those programs are smaller, they are effective, according to Harris, since transportation is not an issue, making attendance more frequent. At these locations it is easier to establish relationships with a child’s teacher. In the city, the loss of community schools makes it more challenging. A given facility can have kids attending 50 different schools.

“There’s been great research done that proves the obvious that the more often a kid attends, the greater the impact you’re able to have. So although it’s a smaller number of kids, we know we have increased impact there because kids are with us almost every day,” said Harris. Second Helpings dinner meals are provided at the school locations, too.

Currently, there are five school sites. Two in IPS — School #44 and Jonathan Jennings — and three in Warren Township — Liberty Park, Raymond Park Middle School and Pleasant Run School. Earlier this year, three school sites closed when a 21st Center Community Learning Center Grant distributed by the Indiana Department of Education was not awarded. Students from George S. Buck (#94) were directed to the new Finish Line Club, which opened in 2016.

Harris and Lewis agree that although the adjectives describing the mission have changed, the basic mission has remained the same. It’s always been about helping young people reach their full potential.

“The part of our mission statement that I think speaks most to youth development is the part that says that we help young people reach their full potential. There are a lot of phrases before and after that — about productive, caring, responsible citizens through this program and that program — but it’s always been helping young people reach their full potential,” said Harris.

After serving as president of the nonprofit, Lewis, who is an elected member and former president of the Indianapolis City-County Council, said that if she were talking to her fellow council members, she would say, “Our youth are banking on us to get this right. They are looking to us for guidance and direction. And while there are a lot of other things happening in our community that take our attention and take our time away, they still need adults to guide and direct them.”

Oct 15

Finding “lemonade” in the new tax law

By Feature

By Lynn Sygiel, editor, Charitable Advisors

When the Tax Cut Jobs Act (TCJA) of 2017 passed Congress in December, many news stories focused on the concerns of nonprofits about the potential impact on individual charitable giving.

Under the new law, the standard deductions increased dramatically to $12,000 for single filers and $24,000 for married couples filing jointly. The increase, coupled with the reduction or elimination of other itemized deductions, raised fears that many taxpayers who previously itemized and claimed charitable deductions, might claim the standard deduction instead and  forgo making donations.

But Professor Russell James III, who teaches graduate courses in charitable giving at Texas Tech University, believes there are other ways to look at the law’s effect that suggest making lemonade out of lemons.

While James knows it will take some time to determine how the law will impact nonprofits’ bottom lines, he said that most articles haven’t told the more complicated story about where nonprofits might focus their energies.

In the past, researchers would estimate, and then wait a couple of years when hard tax data was used to compare reality with their estimates. The problem the law presents is that it is assumed fewer people will itemize, resulting in less hard data.

“Because we’ve lost those itemizers, it’s going to be a crazy long time before we really can be confident about the impact of these policy changes,” said the Department of Personal Financial Planning professor who wrote his dissertation on charitable giving at the University of Missouri.

While nonprofits will have to wait and see for the results for mid-level donors, here’s where the lemonade comes in. James’ advice for development departments is that there are some benefits to the new tax law particularly in the estate-giving and planned-giving space.

“There is a lot of focus on the negative impact for the mid-level donor group. However, these are people who weren’t itemizing last year are not going to be itemizing this year,” James said.

“If we move beyond the mid-level donor and look at the top 10 percent wealth group, this tax act is nothing but bonus after bonus after bonus for charitable giving, and the reality is that money comes from the top 10 percent.”

Hidden in the details of the new law are several changes that actually increase the value of charitable deductions for many of these donors. It is also important to note that some of the biggest tax advantages for donations for this group were left untouched.

James shared several examples.

  • Donating appreciated stocks, bonds, or other assets instead of cash still avoids all capital gains taxes regardless of whether or not a donor itemizes.
  • Donor-advised funds were also left untouched.
  • Donors age 70½ or older are better off donating directly from an IRA.

Beyond the charitable tax benefits unaffected by the new tax law, for other donors, the tax benefits for giving have actually increased.

One of James’ first recommendations is that nonprofits investigate accepting appreciated assets. He just finished a study that analyzed 1 million tax returns from nonprofits from 2010 to 2016. For the first time, a few months ago the IRS released 990s in an electronic and readable format, which simplified complex data analysis.

Essentially those seven years of data indicate which nonprofits have grown their fundraising.

“One of the most important predictors (for increased funds) was whether or not the charity received assets, in particular securities and real estate,” he said.

Just looking at organizations that raised more than $1 million, those that just raised cash increased total fundraising 11 percent. Those organizations that received securities during that time, combined fundraising growth over the same period was 66 percent.

“So you’ve got this massive indicator of fundraising success that is driven by whether or not organizations are raising money from gifts of assets, than just disposable income cash. The power of noncash gifts to predict long-term fundraising growth applies to nonprofit organizations at every fundraising level,” James said.

“The point is, I think organizations would be well-served to use the new tax law as an excuse to convince their donors to start giving assets rather than just disposable income.”

James offers this example:

“Let’s say you own some Apple stock, and it’s gone way up in value. You can, instead of giving cash to your favorite charity, donate that highly appreciated stock that has all that capital gain in it to the charity. If you owned it for more than a year, you get 100 percent tax deduction on that.

“And then you can take that cash that you were going to give them this year, and just buy brand new Apple stock. You haven’t changed your portfolio at all, in terms of how much stock you own, the only difference is you wiped out all that capital gains from your portfolio,” said James.

Gifts of appreciated assets are cheaper because the donor avoids capital gains taxes, James said.  That strategy is more powerful because capital gains tax rates are much higher than last year. The gift isn’t reliant on itemizing, but the advantage is still relevant.

“This is a big win for the donor, but also for the charity. The donor is now thinking about gifts from assets (i.e., ‘the big bucket’) rather than simply gifts from monthly disposable income (i.e., ‘the little bucket’).”

James also suggests that if a donor’s favorite charity doesn’t know how to accept stocks or bonds, the donor can simply gift them to a donor-advised fund and then have a check sent to the charity.

Many nonprofits, he said, are afraid of accepting assets because it’s more work and more hassle.

He argues that that is where a nonprofit can take a seemingly negative and turn it into an advantage by saying, ‘Hey, there’s a way that you can still get tax benefits from your giving. Here’s how we do it — appreciated assets.’

“That actually has long-term positive effects for fundraising of the organization as long as fundraisers aren’t scared to ask for gifts of wealth rather than just gifts of cash.”

And the other change is that there are now donor-advised funds that will accept any kind of valuable property, including items like partial ownership of a racehorse or unharvested crops, providing donors with more options.  A nonprofit can put it in the hands of a fund and after it’s sold, disburse the proceeds to the organization.

For those donors using donor-advised funds, he recommends bunching. Donors should consolidate contributions in one year, so the deductions will exceed the standard and provide an incremental tax benefit. Then the donor writes checks from the donor-advised fund over the years he or she has taken the deduction.

For those 70½ and older, giving from your IRA qualifies as part of your distribution and is better than a deduction. It is not reported as income and the gift counts towards the required minimum IRA distribution. This tax benefit is the same regardless of whether or not the donor is itemizing.

James said it’s important for nonprofits to remember that when the tax rates get higher, the avoidance of paying taxes becomes more valuable.

Sep 24

Project management tools: What’s best for your nonprofit?

By Feature, Technology

By Lynn Sygiel, editor, Charitable Advisors

When Annie Cornett was hired by Bloomington-based Social Legends two years ago, the company tracked its projects by using Excel. Teams used both Microsoft’s OneDrive and Dropbox to share files.

While this system worked really well for a long time, as the company started adding people, it just wasn’t practical.

“From an efficiency standpoint, we really wanted to look at how we could improve tracking all the different tasks that we were doing and be able to maintain records of what was done,” said Cornett, a consultant.

And this company is not alone. Many are looking for project management tools, and the software industry has responded.

With virtual project teams on the rise, and the advent of mobile apps, project management software tools are a burgeoning trend. Earlier this year, several lists offered the top 50 project management tools. Not just the top 10, but the top 50.

The definition of “project-management software” varies widely, and the needs are likely to depend on the project, the team and project-management style. What’s available out there and what tools might support a nonprofit’s project-management needs? So with all these choices, how does a nonprofit or small business decide what is the best fit?

Here are steps that two local nonprofits used or are using to make that decision. Social Legends is a consulting firm and Prosperity Indiana is a membership organization that focuses on community development. Tech Soup, a nonprofit international network of non-governmental organizations (NGOs) that provides technical support and donations and discounted rates on technological tools to nonprofits, also weighed in.

Social Legends

Cornett began with a general online Google search to investigate various systems and reviews of different products. It’s important, she said, to realize that there are people who are doing the comparison work.

Project management services are typically online systems designed for collaboration on projects. These systems allow team members and supervisors to keep an eye on details to complete a project and provide both a big picture of all projects and the nitty-gritty details about work being completed.

One key factor for Social Legends was how user-friendly a system was and how well it would integrate with other programs.

“We didn’t want to spend a lot of time in training, trying to understand a new system, learning all the new bells and whistles. We wanted it to be pretty intuitive. And we kind of just wanted to jump in and run with it pretty quickly.

“We didn’t want to select a system and in a year and a half have to move on to something else because it doesn’t have the capabilities to integrate the way we wanted it to,” she said.

Once Cornett narrowed the selection to four software programs, other staff members jumped in and tried each demo system back-to-back.

“It’s worth exploring from a free trials standpoint. We got in and just played. A lot of companies will give you 30 days for free. You can get in, tool around and see what the different functionalities are and how easy it is to use whether it’s adding a project or adding a task or tracking your time in system.

“So we had to get in the weeds a little bit toward the end and use those different systems, and we really just looked at the different research that had been done and compared the functionalities.

“It’s really intuitive in a lot of ways, but I think a lot of people get scared,” she said.

Staff members also tested some of the online training videos. One or two people blind-tested the system by doing some of the basics. They had no background knowledge.

“It was kind of a test run on our end, too, to see how user-friendly the system was going to be,” she said. “They didn’t have any problem with the basic functionality, adding a project, adding a task, putting your details in, figuring out reminders, checking things off.

“That really was kind of one of the selling points of this system for us,” she said.

Social Legends selected Teamwork Projects, which is cloud-based. For about a year and a half, it has used the smallest office plan, which is $49 a month, and has five users ranging in age from 27 to 42. It has helped align work plans and provide storage space for 40 projects. The company’s information is stored on its website and goes to the cloud, too.

“It allows all of us to work remotely and file share. So if we have a project and we’re working on a job, we can leave the file in the system for the next person. It’s just more efficient,” said Cornett.

And while it has different functions that they don’t use, they determined they could grow into them.

“It’s going to have all these functionalities, but you don’t have to use them all either,” said Cornett. “It allows you to customize it to how your team works, which is what  is really nice about the system.”

Cornett said everything in the tool is centrally located, including tasks, timelines and notes. For the company it has helped to ensure quality control – files don’t get lost between team members and, there’s no confusion on a timeline and all of the current versions of all the files are in the system.”

Another feature is the ability to archive a project.

“We can save all the data, and we can save all the different steps, timelines and all the documents. It’s really helped us to kind of streamline storage as well.”

When Social Legends has needed technical assistance, it has received good responses. Teamwork Projects is always looking to improve and has been responsive to suggestions from its clients.

Social Legends isn’t done investigating the system. Every month, staffers identify an additional feature and determine if it’s a good fit and will improve the quality of their work.

There is another feature that has been a boon to their work with clients – adding an external user to a specific project.

“When we’ve worked with different clients on certain projects, we actually created their project plan in our system and have been able to give them access to it,” Cornett said. “I will say when we have brought outside users into the system, we’ve not had problems with them having usability issues either.”

Although Cornett said they don’t run into many nonprofits that are currently using a project management system, she sees how the ability to add users could be helpful. The system allows adding access, which can be particularly helpful with committee members.

“I can see it being a great tool to help manage those smaller groups that get pulled into those kinds of activities along the way,” Cornett said.

“I could see a lot of nonprofit organizations really liking the ability to track time on various projects and events. When they wonder, ‘How much time am I putting into that? What is the return on the investment?’

“It has the option to do the time tracking and really look at ‘How much time did we spend on something?’ You can do it from your phone. It’s easy to jump into a meeting or when you start work on a project, you can turn the time tracker on really quick and easily. So we’ve done that for a few projects just to see how long this is really taking us,” she said.

The only drawback, Cornett said, is getting used to a new system and a new routine.

“It’s just the switch culturally for us to a new system. You kind of have to retrain your brain, you have to retrain your team a little bit.”

Prosperity Indiana

Jessica Love, executive director at Prosperity Indiana, is currently on the quest to find a project management tool.

“I’m in a nonprofit group and folks talk a lot about project management tools that they have found useful: Monday and Asana,” said Love.

One goal for her is that the software provides a visual snapshot of projects.

While her staff is using ToDo List and it works for some projects, like the organization’s annual conference, it doesn’t provide her a comprehensive look at all that the staffers are challenged with completing, and they don’t use the team function well.

“Although we track indicators and our team members individually keep track of their work plan, we cannot visually see the incremental progress we’re making on our work plan. We can have a sense of it, but I think it will be helpful for us to be able to just pull something up at any moment and see where we are,” she said.

Love has delegated the exploration process to another team member who is researching available software and developing a spreadsheet to share how the tools compare.

“We’re looking at different options. We want to see at any time where we are with projects, and better than just printing reports.”

And while there are reviews and ratings online, the search doesn’t stop there. Some solutions will have all the tasks a team is looking for, while others will only have a few.

Love knows this all too well.

“I also think if it’s not working, don’t keep using it,” she said.

“If you explored it, you thought it was great, you found this awesome system and then it didn’t work for you, you cannot keep making it work. We did that, when we got our new CRM. We did so much research. We talked to all kinds of other associations. We thought we had scoured the research and felt really good about it.

“And then we used the system. And even though it was really painful to have to admit, we completely went to a different CRM.”

One thing that Love wants to be able to do is at any given time know the stage of project so she can support staff members better.

“I try to be encouraging when staff members accomplish something, but I don’t always know. I may encourage them at a time when I have time to and not encourage them on something else that was really awesome because of my own capacity. So my fear is that when I do provide encouragement or recognition of their work, it may feel like a moving target: ‘Oh, she really liked this one.’”

Some reviewers recommend a Gantt chart, a tool that allows a manager at any time to see who is doing what, and how various tasks are related. It helps everyone use available resources more effectively.

“So I think a new tool is going to help us all manage ourselves individually and to give me a better understanding of where staff is with certain things. It will help if we can see it visually. I’m so visual and I know a lot of people are,” Love said.

Her goal is to help her employees balance their work better and also celebrate their accomplishments.

“I’m envisioning that it will help me communicate to them what success looks like for me. That’s one of the things that I personally want to improve,” she said.

In total, the nonprofit will have seven to 10 users with access to a project management tool. Love admits she doesn’t even know what to expect for pricing and what they might be able to eliminate.

Love recognizes that it is important to acknowledge that there is no one perfect system and it’s important to understand that just because it works for somebody else, it may not work for her team and match the nonprofit’s priorities.

“So we’re exploring. There will still be that gut check of not just doing what’s big and flashy. We want to explore and see what works best and stack them against each other before we pick one.”

TechSoup

Nick Mediati is TechSoup’s marketing specialist. For over three decades, the nonprofit based in San Francisco has solicited donations of technological products and then sells them to nonprofits for a nominal fee. This year its philanthropic services and giving programs reached the milestone of benefiting over 1 million NGOs in 236 countries and territories.

“Personally, I am not too attuned to how nonprofits as a whole are using project management tools, but it would not come as a surprise if many organizations weren’t using such tools.” However, he feels there is more interest.

While Mediati personally uses old-school pen and paper lists to track tasks, his department uses Wrike to track team projects and tasks.

“It is a pretty power-packed tool, and I think we’ve only scratched the surface of what it can do. I personally rely heavily on its built-in calendar, which lets you get a visual overview of your upcoming projects and tasks.

“It’s definitely had a learning curve, but it also has made it easier to track down deliverables for projects so we’re not left to track them down in emails, on Slack, or wherever else.

Mediati, too, believes that when selecting a project management tool, it is important to take several for a test drive.

“You often don’t know the pros and cons of a project management tool until you actually dig in and use it, and many — though not all — project management tools provide either limited-time trial versions or stripped-down free versions so you can get an idea of how they work without making a monetary commitment.”

His recommendation is to start out by determining what the organization’s needs are and what are its pain points.

“Depending on your needs, maybe you don’t need a full-fledged project management solution. Consider if a full-fledged, high-powered task management tool would require too much mental overhead to use. As a former colleague once put it, task management shouldn’t be a task unto itself,” he said.

Mediati said another consideration is whether you have a preference to track projects using an online tool like Wrike or Asana, or a traditional piece of software like Microsoft Project, which TechSoup offers.

In the end, he said a lot of it comes down to personal preference and the approach you and your organization take to managing projects and tasks. Ask for staff input, including what they may have used and what they liked or disliked.

Mediati also suggested when considering a tool to ask about nonprofit discounts. One of the services that TechSoup has been able to offer for other products is a reduced rate for registered nonprofits. The company website’s comments space has several nonprofits requesting Monday’s and Asana’s project management tools.

And while not currently offered, TechSoup is currently negotiating with Asana to offer a potential 50 percent discount to qualified nonprofits.

“The biggest challenge can be learning a tool’s limitations and adapting your workflow to them. Pretty much every tool out there has its benefits and drawbacks, so there will be a learning curve.

“I can think of plenty of reasons to use one, but for me personally I would point to the fact that it keeps people accountable. Everyone on the team knows what they’re responsible for and when they need to provide their part of a project,” said Mediati.

Aug 27

Student loan forgiveness: With work it could happen

By Feature

By Lynn Sygiel, editor, Charitable Advisors

The topic comes up frequently. Just about every election cycle, candidates talk about the spiraling cost of higher education.

According to 2017-18 figures provided by the nonprofit organization College Board, the average total cost to attend a four-year state college or university is $25,290. The price tag for a private institution is a staggering $50,900.

So what’s a student to do? For many, the answer is borrow and worry about the consequences later.

According to the Federal Reserve, outstanding student loan debt across the United States has grown to $1.5 trillion. That affects about 1 in 4 adults under the age of 30. Those with a bachelor’s degree owe a median of $25,000, according to the Pew Research Center.

Matt Heston is part of this group. He graduated from IU’s School of Public and Environment Affairs (SPEA) in 2015 with a master’s in public affairs (MPA) and a concentration in nonprofit management. He landed a job at the University of Cincinnati Foundation, a nonprofit, but was saddled with student debt from both undergraduate and graduate school.

Heston wasn’t necessarily looking for a lifeline, but it was during grad school that he heard of an innovative, but not-so-well-known federal program that might offer some relief, at least for nonprofit workers such as Heston.

The helping hand was the Public Service Loan Forgiveness (PSLF) program, which originated in 2007 when Congress passed the College Cost Reduction and Access Act. The program is for nonprofit and government employees. The idea is seemingly simple: Work for 10 years in one of those two sectors, make 120 payments based on your income, and then have the rest of your loans forgiven.

In theory, the concept seems sound. In practice, not so much, as Heston and others have found. The PSLF program has a host of confusing and somewhat complicated requirements that are difficult to navigate.

“When I took this job, I recognized that I was working for a nonprofit, and the loan payments that I were making could qualify towards PSLF, but I had not yet signed up for it,” said Heston. After two and a half years of work, and at the urging of his colleagues who were on that track, he applied for the program.

That’s where simplicity ended for Heston.

He found out that working full time for a nonprofit wasn’t the only condition he had to meet. His loan had to be the “right” kind of loan (a direct loan from the government), and he had to be making the “right” kind of payment (a monthly amount based on a percentage of your income).

After graduation and prior to submitting an employer certification form, he had made regular loan payments. But his hopes were dashed when he was rejected because those two-and-a-half year payments were not income-based. Additionally in 2016, he married. His wife, an optometrist, also had student loans. In order to qualify for PSLF, though, not only did he have to change his type of repayments, but his income would be combined with hers, escalating his payments because they would be based on the entire household income.

“To qualify for PSLF, I had to jack up my payments by like another $600 a month. It was just not possible for us to utilize that service. We determined that it’s probably best to slog it through all the way to the end. In the long haul, my savings would have been $3,000 or $4,000,” Heston said.

Laura Mazur also got her degree from SPEA the same year and heard about PSLF from her professors. She had $45,000 in student loans.

While she had been making regular payments that she believed could be applied toward forgiveness, it was at the urging of her brother-in-law that she checked to see if she actually qualified. When a borrower submits an employer certification form, not only do they learn if the job qualifies, but if the loan type and repayment plan is correct.

“I’ve always worked in government, and I know the government qualifies, but what I didn’t realize is that only certain repayment plans qualify. So that’s where I ended up losing a bunch of time. I had made over two years or 23 payments and didn’t end up qualifying because I was on the wrong payment plan,” said Mazur who now lives in Denver. “That was very upsetting.”

Something, too, that she didn’t realize is that you don’t actually apply for forgiveness until you are ready, in other words, all 120 payments are made. In February, she started anew and will now reach her 120 payments in 2028. At that time, according to Mazur, a very small amount will be forgiven.

Of the seven young professionals interviewed for this story, all but one never talked with a loan company staff member that was collecting the payments, but rather did all the research and communication online. The Department of Education contracted several companies, including FedLoan Servicing, but in 2012, assigned all PSLF accounts to FedLoan.

For Mazur, a co-worker who had submitted an employer certification form, helped guide her the second time around, showing her where to find the repayment information. Her monthly payment would increase by $100, and while she mulled participation, she asked her employer to submit the form. Personally, she thinks submitting the form should be a requirement.

“While it’s a lot of paperwork to fill out annually, people will be a lot less annoyed than if they make it through 120 payments and at the end of it, find out that none of those payments qualify,” she suggested.

Another SPEA graduate, Noor Shaikh, also lives in Denver. She has made 24 payments toward her $80,000 debt. If she continues at her current repayment level, she will be forgiven half of it.

“It’s kind of scary especially now that you keep hearing about problems and a little terrifying knowing that I relied on an electronic form to decide the next 10 years of my life,” she said. She would tell all students with loans to talk with their college’s or university’s financial aid office. “They have to have training about this stuff, but I just don’t remember seeking them out when I was in school.”

Extended payment plans. Wrong kind of payments. Employer certification. The requirements are on the Department of Education Federal Student Aid website, but the bottom line appears to be not just “buyer beware,” but “buyer, make sure you do your homework.”

With that in mind, meet Michael Lux, a 2012 graduate of George Washington University Law School, and the self-dubbed Student Loan Sherpa. Since 2013 Lux has blogged and answers questions recent graduates, colleges and others pose about student loan problems. He focuses his efforts on student loan strategy and advocacy.

Lux said when he graduated, his future seemed bleak. He had six straight years of student loans and limited job prospects, which prompted his move to Indiana. His first job was for the Indiana attorney general’s office, and then he worked for the Marion County prosecutor’s office. Both jobs qualified him for PSLF.

Along the way, however, he spent time researching the code of federal regulations to find the answers to student loan questions and saw value in sharing what he was learning.

“At a certain point, it just struck me, ‘This should be information that people easily have access to. You shouldn’t need a law degree to pay off your student loans.’

“It’s a stressful subject for people, and it can be confusing. I try to help people navigate these issues themselves. I’m a firm believer that you don’t need to hire a student loan expert to analyze your particular student loan situation,” said Lux.

From his time at the prosecutor’s office, he has 40 of the 120 payments necessary for PSLF. If he goes back to government work, he’ll pick up where he left off. There is no gap limit. He currently makes a monthly payment, which does not count toward forgiveness.

He agrees with Mazur’s brother-in-law that the best way to track progress is to submit an employer certification form.

“I suggest people do that on a yearly basis and whenever they change employers, so that those records stay up to date. And what that does is say, ‘I’m working for an eligible employer,’ but it also triggers a review of your student loans. It will make sure that your loans are eligible and create a paper trail.

“After one year, you’ve got a record that says, ‘I’ve made 12 payments toward eligibility.’ And the next year you do it, you’ve got your 24. Year after that, and the really important reason is to do it, is if you’re on the wrong repayment plan, or your loans aren’t eligible, those are the things that can be fixed. But the sooner you identify the issue, the sooner you can fix that and start the tally toward 120. That’s why it’s really important.”

While there are other forgiveness programs, he reminds those considering the PSLF of the three main qualifiers: eligible employer, eligible loans and eligible repayment plans.

He believes that in the past few years, the Department of Education has gotten much better at providing information to empower individuals to make the right choices and having a coherent strategy from day one will save you a lot of money.

None of the interviewees for this article personally knew anyone who has hit the 120 mark. That may be because according to the Department of Education, borrowers who met requirements would first see remaining outstanding balances forgiven beginning last October. Despite an estimated 42 million federal student loan borrowers, only 139 have fulfilled the eligibility criteria needed to have their loans forgiven at any time over the next two years.

As of that third quarter of 2017, the latest available data, there are 739,719 borrowers who have submitted one or more approved PSLF employer certification forms. However, fewer than 1,000, according to the Department of Education, will be eligible in 2018 because in the early years of the program there was limited availability of income-based repayment plans.

Five states have filed lawsuits against Navient for not properly informing borrowers. The most recent, California, was filed in June.

Lux said that borrowers are assigned a company from the government, but one of his suggestions to improve the servicing is to have borrowers select their service.

“It would create a real incentive for these servicers to actually provide a quality service. Right now their only incentive is to meet the minimum terms as required by the contract with the government and that’s it,” he said.

Michael Lux suggests several resources: https://studentloansherpa.com/favorite-student-loan-sites/

Aug 06

Mays Family Institute advances deep convictions

By Feature, Fundraising

By Lynn Sygiel, editor, Charitable Advisors

In December of 2014, Bill Mays’ obituary lauded his entrepreneurial savvy and financial skills. Not only had the Indianapolis businessman run successful companies, but he had supported over 100 others by sharing his time, talent and treasures. These weren’t his only accomplishments – he and his wife, Rose, were generous philanthropists who donated to community organizations and educational entities.

So it’s not surprising that when his family and friends sought to honor his legacy and his family’s continued commitment to community and philanthropy, they would seed a project designed to endure.

The name was christened by Indiana University President Michael McRobbie in 2015, and after conversations with Lilly Family School of Philanthropy staff, morphed into the Mays Family Institute of Diverse Philanthropy. And while Lilly Family School’s Dean Amir Pasic didn’t know Mays, together with Mays’ family and Mays’ friend, Lacy Johnson, Pasic shaped the concept and came up with a plan.

“His family and close friend decided that one of the most important pieces of his legacy was his philanthropy, and it should be commemorated and remembered. As they talked to us about memorializing something in his name, it became clear how important diversity and inclusion are in the world of philanthropy,” said Pasic.

 

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A Diversity Speakers’ Series will bring nationally prominent speakers to Indianapolis to examine diversity in philanthropy and nonprofit organizations during the 2018-19 academic year. The events are open to the public. Additional speakers information for the spring will be added.

The Mays Institute Speakers Series schedule.

  • Oct. 4, 5:30 p.m., IMA at Newfields, Helene Gayle, CEO, Chicago Community Trust
  • Oct. 30, 5:30 p.m., Indiana Historical Society, Jim Moore, CEO, University of Illinois Foundation
  • Nov. 6, 7 p.m. Spirit and Place Festival, at Shelton Auditorium, Christian Theological Seminary, Race Matters: Faith & Philanthropy in Black Communities. Starsky Wilson, Dr. Brad Braxton and Aimée Laramore
  • Jan. 15, 2019, 5:30 p.m., Central Library, Susan Taylor Batten, CEO, Association of Black Foundation Executives

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Initially, the Mays family and Johnson endowed scholarships for a graduate and undergraduate student. The first Bill Mays Fellowship for a graduate student will be awarded next year and the Lacy Johnson Family Scholarship for an undergraduate will be given out in 2020. Recruiters have already started attending diverse conferences to spread the word, hoping to attract students from underrepresented populations.

Pasic said there are foundations and other association initiatives to boost philanthropy, but saw that the school could have a unique role.

“It quickly became obvious that there was a need and a demand for research and the academic voice to play a role in complementing that effort. There is also the importance of understanding what’s going on more deeply,” said Pasic.

According to Ann Boyd-Stewart, the Lilly School’s assistant dean of development and alumni relations, the team has worked since 2015 to secure operating funds from businesses, leaders in the community and foundations.

After $250,000 was raised for operating expenses, some funds were used to sponsor a diversity summit in 2017. The goal was to listen and learn from scholars and practitioners on what role the Lilly Family School of Philanthropy could play in advancing diversity efforts throughout the philanthropic sector.

The Institute was officially launched last month. Una Osili was named the dean’s fellow and will conduct research studies on various aspects of diversity and philanthropy. The Mays family made it clear that this is an institute focused on historically underrepresented communities and individuals. It will attempt to glean information about donors from these areas – information that is already understood about traditional donors groups.

For Rose Mays, Bill’s widow, the research that the Institute will focus on is exciting because from her perspective as an academic, research findings cannot only shape practice, but have the potential to help those in the field see the power of giving in underrepresented communities. Not only can it help be more sensitive to those characteristics, but help guide practice as well.

“Much of our family’s giving has focused on advocacy, especially advocacy for marginalized groups. The institute’s focus on diversity, equity and inclusion in the philanthropic sector aligns with those values and allows students, faculty and the community to experience an array of insights and perspectives on these issues,” Mays said.

Mays recognizes the value of philanthropic service and with her family, has fostered many educational opportunities. As a retired professor and administrator at IU School of Nursing, she understands how things work in higher education and the value of an institute.

“The Mays Institute Speakers Series and Dr. Osili’s appointment will increase awareness and understanding of robust philanthropy that is an integral part of all diverse communities,” said Mays. “Not only is there value, but there is power. I have seen the Women’s Institute at the School of Philanthropy and how that really helped shine a spotlight on women’s giving.”

The Mays Family Institute joins the Lake Institute on Faith and Giving and Women’s Philanthropy Institute as a Lilly School of Philanthropy program. All three have office space and dedicated employees, and while the Mays Family Institute is the newest, it is expected to grow.

Based on external information gained at the 2017 summit, Pasic said that research is one area where the Lilly School can lead.

“We are a unique voice by the fact that that we don’t represent a particular constituency — we don’t represent foundations, we don’t represent the fundraising profession, we don’t represent the wealthy or the volunteering groups. We are truly independent, so we are a great place to convene and allow people of different perspectives to come and be heard,” said Pasic.

Included in this first-year effort is the Diversity Speakers’ Series that will bring nationally prominent speakers to Indianapolis to examine diversity in philanthropy and nonprofit organizations during the 2018-19 academic year. The events will be open to the public with the first taking place in October.

This academic year, according to Pasic, diversity and inclusion are the major themes with efforts underway to have faculty incorporate more systematically diversity and inclusion into their courses and the school’s curriculum.

“We have one course on race and justice in philanthropy but we also want to make it go across the whole curriculum more broadly. So it’s become one of our priorities to look at for this year and for the future of the school,” said Pasic. “The family’s interest was a wonderful coincidence.”

Boyd-Stewart said a social justice course is a good example. The school offered a graduate and undergraduate course that studied the topic, but faculty suggested there shouldn’t be just one course, but rather the topic should be infused across the curriculum.

“When teaching about writing an RFP, shouldn’t the type of community have an effect on what is written? What if it is responding to a Latino community? It’s made us really step back and think about how we become more welcoming, not just our school, but in our curriculum,” she said.

The initial operating funds have also been used to send students to different conferences, like the Association of Black Foundation Executives.

Moving forward, the focus is to grow the Council of Advisors, the institute’s governing body. Right now, according to Boyd-Stewart, there are nine members with Lacy Johnson chairing the council. The council’s focus is to raise operating support for lectures, student projects and training programs. They also have a five-year goal to create a $5 million endowment to provide funds for a strong support system, which includes hiring an executive director.

For Mays, becoming self-sustaining is important, but learning more about underrepresented populations is critical.

“My hope is that we’ll know more about their giving and be better positioned to meet their needs and hear what their concerns are in pursuing their philanthropic interests,” she said.

“We really want to engage the community, which is very diverse. It may be a challenge, but I think it’s a working challenge,” said Boyd-Stewart. “The conversations that I am having with people about the Mays Institute are very emotional. After all, the definition of philanthropy is love of mankind.”

Jul 16

Never a more paramount time to connect young professionals in Indianapolis

By Feature, Leadership

By Caitie Deranek Stewart, board member, YNPNIndy and YNPN National

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Conference special

For Not-for-profit News’ readers, YNPNIndy and YNPN National invite you to join us at the conference. Register with the code (CApromo18) to receive a $35 registration discount.

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The nonprofit sector in Indy faces some pretty monumental challenges: homelessness is on the rise, the opioid epidemic is hitting our community hard and the school violence seen in other places is now happening in our own backyard.

As professionals passionate about creating safe, healthy communities for our clients, our neighbors and ourselves, it’s easy to be disheartened or to want to keep our heads down.

At the Young Nonprofit Professionals Network (YNPN) — we know you are working tirelessly every day to create a more just and equitable world, putting in long hours and then volunteering in your free time. You’re driven and ambitious. You aren’t just talking about making a better tomorrow — you’re working every day to shape the world we all live in.

But do you feel like you need a shot in the arm? Something to inspire and motivate you to keep going?

Two years ago, I was lucky enough to attend YNPN’s 2016 National Conference and experience the potential benefits of the conference.

Amassing the top nonprofit talent from across the country in one room allowed me to see that this was going to be a different experience from any other conference I had ever attended. This was my shot in the arm. Looking around the room, I felt excitement circulating through the air. People from across the country were ENGAGED—sharing tips, tricks, and experiences on our space. Community was created in a flash.

More importantly, a kinetic energy — the kind needed to change the nonprofit sector — was being transferred before my eyes. Even while discussing difficult subjects like inequality and how to make careers in the nonprofit sector fulfilling and sustainable, attendees were building connections. Between learning concrete skills they could apply right away, young people with a passion to change the world were being inspired to lead.

And now you have the opportunity to get a similar energizing experience. This summer, YNPNIndy is leading efforts to bring this incredible experience to Indianapolis. Our theme this year is Change in Action: Equity and Advocacy for Self, Sector, and Society.

There has never been a more paramount time for young nonprofit professionals to be equipped to take action on behalf of themselves and others in the workplace and help to make ALL SPACES fair and diverse. In Indianapolis and across the country, examples of the impact of inequality are rampant. Building awareness and skills to make this change possible is essential to making the world a better place, and this conference can make that possible.

For that reason, it’s important that you attend, to get exposure to new ideas and tools that will help you be your own best advocate, as well as continue advocating for marginalized communities and (most important) impact the systems you influence with REAL CHANGE.

Here’s a glimpse of the inspiration we have planned and you won’t have to travel (For the full schedule go to: http://conference.ynpn.org/schedule). You’ll hear from incredible speakers nationally and from across Central Indiana including:

  • Kimberly Peeler-Allen, our keynote speaker, who has been working at the intersection of race, gender and politics for almost 20 years. Peeler-Allen is the co-founder of Higher Heights, a national organization building the political power and leadership of Black women from the voting booth to elected office.
  • Yolanda Caldera-Durant, director of programs at Fund the People, will lead a workshop about how to invest in the nonprofit sector’s most valuable resource: its people. Caldera-Durant runs a campaign to increase awareness about the deficit of investment in nonprofit professionals who represent 11 percent of the U.S. workforce. She brings years of experience in grantmaking from the Connecticut Health Foundation, Annie E. Casey Foundation and Fairfield County Community Foundation.
  • Matthew Feltrop, executive director of The Patachou Foundation, fighting to end childhood hunger, food insecurity and low food access in Indianapolis. According to Feltrop, it is unacceptable that that Indianapolis—often called the breadbasket of America—is still facing a debilitating hunger problem.
  • Michael Twyman, professor at the Indiana University Lilly Family School of Philanthropy, will lead a workshop exploring the origins of race, racial ideologies, and the politics of racial classifications in the context of American history.

For Not-for-profit News’ readers, YNPNIndy and YNPN National invites you to join us at the conference and register with the code (CApromo18) to receive a $35 registration discount. It’s time to take unified action to make our world better. Attending #ynpn18 is the first step.

Sign up today at conference.ynpn.org! Also, follow us on all social media @YNPNIndy for updates leading up to the conference.

Editor’s note: this guest article was written by Caitie Deranek Stewart. She is the associate director of development at the IU School of Medicine. Prior to joining the IU School of Medicine in the fall of 2014, Deranek Stewart was the donor relations specialist at the IU Lilly Family School of Philanthropy. She is an active volunteer with a number of initiatives and joined the board of the YNPNindy chapter and the YNPN National Board in 2015.

Jun 11

Slow to adjust, nonprofit boards ramp up effort

By Feature, Leadership

By Lynn Sygiel, editor, Charitable Advisors

Diversity. Its definition may vary, but its merits are championed in just about all walks of life: schools, the political arena, the entertainment industry and especially the workplace, which includes the nonprofit world.

For over two decades, BoardSource, a Washington, D.C.-based organization designed to support today’s nonprofit leaders, has studied the issue in relation to how nonprofits are governed.

Late last year, BoardSource released Leading with Intent, a biennial study of nonprofit board composition, culture and performance. While there were some encouraging trends, the study laid bare some disturbing truths about board attitudes and actions regarding racial diversity and diversity in general.

The study found that the nonprofit sector has made little progress when it comes to building more racially diverse boards. The first study in 1994 found that just 14 percent of board members were people of color. The 2017 results increased that participation only slightly to 16 percent, although minorities now represent 39 percent of our country’s population. Twenty-seven percent of boards are 100 percent white.

That said, there are some encouraging local efforts to change the compositions of nonprofit boards.

Jeb Banner has been part of this movement. In 2006, he co-founded Indianapolis-based SmallBox, a creative agency working with nonprofits, and has since co-founded several nonprofits and served on multiple boards. Today he is the CEO of Boardable, a board management software company designed to help boards communicate.

While he’s often been in boardrooms where the topic doesn’t arise, he thinks there’s definitely intentional change happening.

As co-founder and past board chair of The Speak Easy, a collaborative workspace that serves entrepreneurs, Banner worked to balance the representation on the board.

“It was our intention to serve female entrepreneurs in particular because we feel like they’re under-resourced and the boys club thing has to be blown up in the tech world,” said Banner, who rolled off the board in 2016.

The Speak Easy, with two sites and three satellites founded in 2011, has continued this mindset, and later this week will announce its executive director, the third woman to lead the organization.

For Jenny Vance, who has been on The Speak Easy board for three years and is the current Speak Easy chairwoman, board diversity is critical and cited an example from television’s Tina Fey to illustrate her point.

Fey recently told the story of being the only female comedy writer on a team. She would write something that was funny, but it was more relatable to women and the men on her team didn’t get it. But because her opinion wasn’t relatable to others at the table, she wasn’t seen as contributing in a strong way.

“It’s about knowing there are people to relate to and who represent their interests. By doing that first, I think all those other things become possible,” said Vance.  

“By just having checkmarks of diversity, we’re not really meeting the reasons for having a diverse board. If we really dream big about who gives our members the best service, then once we’ve identified key roles to fill, I think it’s a matter of how we fill those roles while also ensuring diversity.”

She also knows that The Speak Easy continues to have work to do. The organization has matured, and is currently in the midst of this operational change. And while some board terms have concluded and the spots are unfilled, board members determined it wasn’t the best time to add new members, wanting the new executive director to have a voice in the process.

Impact is another reason to strive for a diverse board. A report released in February by the Lilly Family School of Philanthropy found that the simple pursuit of diversity could result in other areas of growth and progress that deliver rewards in the short and long terms.

The study “Impact of Diversity: Understanding How Nonprofit Board Diversity Affects Philanthropy, Leadership and Board Engagement” was researched by the school in partnership with Johnson, Grossnickle and Associates and BoardSource. One of the findings was that a diverse board improves the organization’s philanthropic engagement on three levels: participation, fundraising and advocacy.

Vance believes that takes work and that the community needs to invest in helping to grow new leaders to expand talent that is available.

“We need more people growing in the leadership roles. Investment in that is so important to us being able to see the future change in terms of diversity,” she said. “It’s got to be a community effort. It has to be part of our thought process in our government, in our entrepreneurial community, our tech community, our talent development.”

Two years ago, the Indianapolis Foundation, as part of its 100-year celebration, did just that. With help from organizations in the community, it identified a pool of candidates and then selected 10 young professionals as fellows whom they would invest in for three years.

Tamara Winfrey-Harris, CICF’s vice president of marketing and community, joined the staff just after the announcement and has become the fellows’ liaison.

The program was designed to add diversity to boards on the basis of age.

“There is a real barrier to entry for a lot of millennials,” said Banner. But I think that the reality is that some of these older leaders that have given so much to the community are going to have to step down, step aside in time, pretty soon to make room for women, minorities and the youth.”

The Indianapolis Foundation, besides awarding each fellow access to $10,000 annually for three years or a board term, has provided leadership training, and confidential sharing sessions. All 10 fellows continue to serve.

“In the first quarter of 2017, we brought someone in to talk about general board procedure and governance, and then the next quarter, we had our CFO talk about how do you read a financial statement and what are the things that you should look for as a board member. We tried to give them the tools that they need to be successful as board members,” said Winfrey-Harris.

Along with identifying these young professionals, the foundation tried to place them on boards of prominent organizations.

“Those boards tend not to be as diverse, there tends to be financial obligations that not always young people or people of color can meet, and those are boards where a board member has influence, and that’s important that we give those people influence,” Winfrey-Harris said.

Adrianne Slash, a Community Health Network diversity and inclusion consultant, was one of those selected. Slash is also president of The Exchange at the Indianapolis Urban League.

“I thought it was incredibly ambitious for CICF and the Indianapolis Foundation to say, ‘We are going to do this work because it’s important for the future of Indianapolis,’” said Slash.

“The opportunity to develop homegrown, dedicated Indianapolis talent and to invest in them really speaks to their investment in us and those organizations that they are connecting to the younger generation.

“They took a chance on us and I like to think that we’re doing really well and that people are seeing the worth and the value of having a fellow on their board. I do think that the level of scrutiny that the foundation used in making sure that they had mature younger voices sitting around the table did a great service.”

At onset there were board-training sessions for the 10 fellows.

“The trainings have been phenomenal. In our trainings, we’ve looked at governance, we’ve looked at finances, we even had the hard conversation about the way things are reported out in meetings, and whether it’s the best practices or not,” said Slash. “We’ve learned how to ask the questions around finances, how do we engage specifically if there are board members who are not acting with decorum and respect for everyone at the table.”

Slash said that the meet-up time has allowed honest conversation about board membership.

“So when this fellowship is over, will I just curl up and go away or will more board service come from it? I think the answer is more will come from it.”