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Dec 22

Congress passes bill to make charitable IRA rollover, other tax incentives permanent

By Feature, Fundraising

By Sherri Welch, senior reporter, Crain’s Detroit Business |

The U.S. Congress has approved a bill that would make three charitable tax incentives permanent, according to Washington, D.C.-based Independent Sector, which called the move “a monumental victory on Capital Hill” in an open letter to its members.

Independent Sector and the nonprofit sector as a whole have been advocating to make the charitable incentives a permanent part of the tax code for a decade. During that time, the incentives have repeatedly expired before, in some cases, being retroactively renewed, confounding and frustrating donors and advisers alike.

Part of the Protecting Americans from Tax Hikes Act of 2015, the charitable tax incentives set to become permanent include:

  • the IRA charitable rollover, which allows donors age 70½ and older to give to charities up to $100,000 tax-free annually from their IRAs
  • enhanced deductions for gifts of excess food inventories and conservation easement provisions under which private owners promise not to develop land in exchange for the deduction while still retaining ownership of the land.

The act also includes provisions to make the child tax credit and the earned income tax credit permanent, according to Independent Sector.

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Dec 22

Making big bets for social change

By Feature

By William Foster, Gail Perreault, Alison Powell and Chris Addy, Bridgespan, for SSIR |

When Don Fisher stepped down as chief executive of the Gap in the late 1990s, he and his wife, Doris, decided that they wanted to tackle one of the most difficult social challenges in the United States: improving public education.

Through an expert advisor, they learned about the Knowledge Is Power Program (KIPP), which at the time consisted of just two charter middle schools — one in Houston and one in New York City. And after lengthy due diligence, the Fishers committed to giving $15 million over three years (roughly three times the organization’s annual revenue at the time) to bring KIPP’s results- oriented methods to many more communities and students.

The Fishers bet big, and they bet smart.

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Dec 14

Zuckerberg’s pledge reflects a new era in philanthropy

By Feature, Fundraising

By David Crary, reporter, Associated Press |

The huge philanthropic pledge by Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg and his wife — totaling perhaps $45 billion — reflects the fast-paced emergence of a new Gilded Age of giving. The changes excite many in the charity world, but also raise questions about effectiveness, ethics and the impact on older charities that may not share in any windfall.

Foremost, there is applause for the new wave of philanthropists — led over the past five years by Bill Gates and Warren Buffett, and subsequently joined by Zuckerberg and scores of other billionaires in the United States and abroad.

The Giving Pledge, founded in 2010 by Gates and Buffet, now has 138 billionaire signatories from 15 countries who have pledged to give away more than half of their wealth. Many, including Zuckerberg, want to be personally engaged in the oversight and management of their pledged funds, and are finding nontraditional ways of leveraging them.

Amir Pasic, dean of Indiana University’s Lilly Family School of Philanthropy, drew parallels between these modern-day philanthropists and those from the earlier Gilded Age, roughly a century ago, when the Carnegie, Ford and Rockefeller families pioneered a new type of charitable foundation.

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Dec 14

Five visionary tech entrepreneurs changing the world

By Feature, Technology

By Laura Arrillaga-Andreessen for The New York Times |

Suppose you want to help people in struggling communities become better health care consumers. Or to try to prevent terrorist attacks using Big Data. Or to develop lab tests that cost a fraction of what most providers charge. Do you create a business or a nonprofit?

There is no right answer. Because for a new generation of innovators, notions of what is right are different. The important questions are: What is the problem? What solutions can I develop to address it? And, can I help more people by operating as a nonprofit, founding a company, or utilizing elements of both?

A profound change is sweeping across the entrepreneurial landscape. In the quest to improve lives or preserve the earth’s natural resources, today’s top minds are not only coming up with game-changing products and services. They are also reinventing systems and harnessing diverse tools — from cross-sector partnerships to capital markets — to meet their goals. Many of these innovative thinkers are young, coming of age in the aftermath of Sept. 11, amid the destruction of two protracted wars and the economic uncertainties ushered in by the Great Recession. They are digital experts, who, thanks to social media, smartphones and access to limitless information, have grown up with a sense of global community that transcends geographic boundaries. And they seem to have social consciousness embedded in their DNA.

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Dec 14

Five 2016 nonprofits trends to watch

By Feature, Trends

By Nell Edgington, president, Social Velocity |

This is my favorite time of year. Despite the darkness of the last few months, December is often about reflecting on the year that is drawing to a close and hopes for the new one coming.

And as is my tradition on this blog, I like to look ahead at the trends that may affect the nonprofit sector in the coming year. I have never claimed to be a clairvoyant, but I am an admitted optimist, so my predictions are less about telling the future and more about wishful thinking. This year, more than ever, I want to see opportunity amid the uncertainty and the challenges we face.

So here are five things I’m really hopeful about for the nonprofit sector as we head into 2016.

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Dec 08

Technology helps food banks handle holiday surge

By Feature, Programming

By Erica E. Phillips, reporter, Wall Street Journal Logistics Report |

Each year, food donations coming in to Second Harvest Food Bank of Middle Tennessee surge from November through December to nearly double what the charity receives in the rest of the year.

It is a deluge of everything from canned soups, boxed cereal to crated vegetables and fruits, presenting an operation that depends largely on volunteers with a logistics challenge. To handle the rush, Second Harvest is relying on the sort of technology that retailers and other private companies use to manage the spike in activity that comes with the holidays.

The charity, part of the national network of 200 food banks that operate under Feeding America, uses logistics software made by Exact Macola to help manage the more than 30 million pounds of food it delivers from its warehouses each year. Exact Macola, a Dublin, Ohio-based company, sells business software to small and medium-size companies.

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Dec 08

“Common market” offers innovative solutions to fresh food distribution problems

By Feature, Programming

By John Bare, vice president, The Arthur M. Blank Family Foundation |

The third wave of innovation in urban ag is upon us, and it’s all about supply chain and distribution.

The first wave of innovation demonstrated the potential to grow fruits and vegetables in the middle of cities. Worldwide, now 800 million people are doing it.

The second wave of innovation revealed the sweeping demand among low-income families for fresh produce. The US Department of Agriculture (USDA) reports that SNAP spending “at roadside farm stands, farmers markets, and directly from local farmers” reached nearly US$19 million in 2014, “a nearly six-fold increase since 2008.”

The next challenge is finding efficient ways to aggregate and distribute fresh produce to small-area geographies and to neighborhoods that lack sufficient density to attract traditional suppliers. In a world where we have digitized nearly every transaction and substituted virtual for personal transactions, the innovative solutions here will have an old-school look. There will be trucks, refrigerated warehouses, and personnel washing, bagging, and delivering food.

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Dec 08

A “whole health” approach to improving access to food and food education

By Feature, Programming

By Philip Sambol, vice president of operations, Good Food Markets for SSIR |

I grew up working in my father’s restaurant. My father grew up working in his father’s restaurant. Food and food service are in my blood; it’s an intergenerational passion, and it has led me to spend the last few years trying to work out why food deserts exist. The more I have looked into it, the more incomprehensible it has become. There are people crying out for local grocery stores — or any store selling fresh food — and yet not enough is happening. I thought it was because no one was listening to communities, but I have come to realize that listening is not enough; we must do. But doing is tough, and requires that we constantly ask new questions and find new solutions.

If you’re going to think about food in the United States, there’s no better place than New Orleans; “the Big Easy,” as it’s known, is a food lover’s paradise. I arrived there in late 2012, with some savings and an income stream of royalties from my previous life. I spent the latter part of that year and early 2013 volunteering with various “food access” nonprofits, and meeting with long-time food and social justice activists to understand the problems. These conversations kept leading me back to the Lower Ninth Ward, an area devastated by Hurricane Katrina in 2005 — 80 percent of homes were destroyed or demolished. Many of the buildings remained in a state of disrepair, gutted and without electricity, and many of the former residents were still looking for a way to get back home.

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Dec 01

Is Indiana ready for its changing demographics?

By Feature, Programming

By Lynn Sygiel, editor, Charitable Advisors |

Ellen Miller is an optimist, a person who sees the glass as half full. She looks at statistics that show the nation’s 65-and-over population is expected to double to 83.7 million by 2050. And while many see that as cause for alarm, Miller sees it as an opportunity.

“It’s no surprise to anyone that our society is aging. We’ve known it’s coming. It’s predictable,” said Miller, executive director of U-Indy’s Center on Aging since 2001. “People like to frame the aging of our society as, ‘Oh, my gosh, our society is aging.’

“It’s just as easy to say, ‘Cool, our society is aging, we’ve never had these kinds of demographics before.’ What’s the opportunity to think about this and use it to our advantage?”

In 2010, Indiana’s 65+ population was 13 percent, but by 2030 that will increase to 20 percent. The foremost question appears to be: Are we ready for this changing demographic?

That is precisely what the Central Indiana Community Fund’s (CICF) Senior Fund is focused on. Miller, H. Ken Bennett, executive director of the Center for At-risk Elders and Jim Leich, the CEO of LeadingAge Indiana, are three of the fund’s advisers, and each brings first-hand work experiences to the discussion table.

Since 2003 when the Indianapolis Retirement Home closed, the $10 million endowment which resulted has gone to support programs and opportunities for low- to moderate-income older adults in Central Indiana. The fund was placed at CICF, which manages it and relies on 10 advisers to help make grant decisions.

Over the past several years, the advisers have approved proposals that push the needle on issues such as community housing, social and civic engagement and the arts. The fund accepts requests in four areas of interest.

  • Basic needs. Among the services in this interest area are transportation, food and emergency food and services.
  • Health and wellness. Includes prevention and screenings and neighborhood community wellness and fitness programs.
  • Environment of choice. Services can be affordable housing and home modification programs and support for strengthening residential care programs for low-income adults.
  • Life-affirming opportunities. Creation or support for programs for seniors to thrive culturally and intellectually.

In 2009, the fund committed three years of support for the Elders at the Table (EAT) Initiative. The project brought service providers together to improve the food delivery system for seniors, and not only provide access to nutritious food and meals, but include chances to socialize. Key to the project was service providers working collaboratively.

“You shouldn’t have five service providers home-delivering meals in one area and zero in another,” said Miller. “Those organizations that we brought together are still working together.”

Although a portion of the grants still provides operational support for some programs, the Senior Fund has worked to spur new thinking said Leich.

“We’re always looking for new and innovative things. We’re seeing more innovative ways to do home modifications. We’ve seen some volunteer programs pop up,” he said.

These three advisers would like to see more grant requests in the environment of choice and in life-affirming opportunities areas.

Bennett, who has practiced elder law for 33 years, said one grant from the Senior Fund has helped nursing homes restructure to ease the paperwork burden and increase staff time with residents. Another grant funded adult daycare, Joy’s House, a nonprofit with innovative programming. Still another provides funding to Connect2Help 2-1-1 to help caregivers find information and referrals.

And while there is work to provide diverse programs for seniors on a local, state and national level, Miller said there has been a gradual shift in thinking.

“It cannot be just because it’s a nice thing to do for older adults. It needs to be ‘We need a healthier society, we need an economically sound society’ and it’s good on all of those fronts,” said Miller. “It’s this kind of general shift towards, ‘Let’s think about how we can support people of all ages.’”

In 2002, the United Nations’ Madrid Plan of Action challenged communities to think about ways to make cities and towns accessible to all, and that’s exactly what the statewide Lifelong Coalition has been working to build.

For several years, Marie Beason, the director of Special Initiatives at the Indiana Philanthropy Alliance, has spearheaded the group made up of public, private and philanthropic partners. They work across public and private sectors to secure broad, inclusive support for policies, investments and direct services that support more age- and ability-friendly communities.

Bennett urges groups to think about new long-term care models for Hoosiers. He cites Dr. William Thomas’s work, and said Thomas’s first project was the Eden Alternative in the 1990s. Bennett thinks another Thomas initiative, the Green House project, which designs group homes in residential neighborhoods where 11 to 12 elders – and their caregives – live together, is worth studying.

Bennett said how long-term care is funded in the state is the next big issue. LeadingAge’s Leich, who runs Indiana’s association of nonprofit retirement communities, said some communities are continuing to grow and do innovative things. But overall it is a stressful time as the funding changes. He is seeing more nonprofits working collaboratively and consolidating.

“In some ways our association serves as their corporate office. We do a ton of training, we did 54 education events last year, and we’re increasing that this year,” said Leich.

With an aging demographic comes the need for an array of services for everything from independent living for healthy vibrant people to end-of-life care for those in nursing homes.

“I think the challenge is being able to figure out how do we allow people to progress in that continuum in the best way, in the most independent way that they can,” said Miller.

At one end of the spectrum, U-Indy’s Center is working with IU’s Regenstrief Institute and IU’s geriatrics department to find ways to decrease unnecessary hospitalizations for nursing home residents.

Called the OPTIMIST project and funded by the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid services, the partners have been studying the root causes and systems that need changes, then suggests those modifications. Indianapolis was one of seven demonstration projects funded for four years, and the project has just applied for a second round of funding.

“We’re really excited to be a part of that one and our role at Center on Aging is to be involved in the education portion — what do staff who are working in nursing homes need to know to understand — knowledge, skills and ability – to be able to make this kind of transition,” said Miller.

There are other new programs that target specific populations. One in particular is for adults who have no one to help with medical and care decisions. In 2010, Robin Bandy and Dr. Lisa Harris began Wishard’s Volunteer Advocates Program, as the hospital struggled to find guardians to make health-care decisions for patients who did not have family members available. In 2013, it combined with the Center for At-Risk Elders (CARE) and began operations as a nonprofit. Since then CARE has assumed guardianship for 205 adults, 118 of which are adults over the age of 65.

And there is other work that still needs to be tackled. One area that Bennett sees a need for improvement is advocacy for elder issues.

The only way, according to Miller, that legislation and perceptions are going to change is awareness. The fact that the Indiana Housing and Community Development Authority (IHCDA) and other state agencies and organizations have an aging piece on their website is a win.

“We need to be ready to care for this aging population, but also determine how we benefit from the aging and use legislation to allow people to age with the maximum dignity, maximum choice, maximum independence for as long as they’re able.”

Miller said there are a number of Indiana schools that have aging studies programs and Bennett mentioned law schools that have elderly law courses. But is it enough?

“If I had my way, there isn’t a student who came out of undergraduate education without having a course in understanding the aging of our society and their own aging. Aging isn’t something to say, ‘Oh, I hope it doesn’t happen.’ How do we understand the aging of our society, the aging of our families and those that we love and care for, and the aging of ourselves?”

Dec 01

Center for At-Risk Elders (CARE)

By Feature, Programming

Center for At-Risk Elders (CARE)
H. Kennard “Ken” Bennett, executive director, senior counsel
120 E. Market St.
Suite 1190
Indianapolis, IN 46204
www.indianacare.org

When Ken Bennett started practicing elder law 33 years ago, it wasn’t with the intention of running a nonprofit. His practice focused on health-care advocacy.

During the course of his private practice and through personal experiences, he realized there was no surrogate decision-maker to help remedy issues of neglect, abuse and exploitation of elders. Prosecutors administer Indiana’s adult protective services.

Bennett said the state’s adult protective services don’t go far enough.

“They focus on criminal prosecutions. That isn’t to say that they won’t step in to provide remedies, it’s just that they don’t have internally the ability to do much about it,” said Bennett.

In 2008, the Adult Guardianship State Task Force was convened to determine the need and support development of adult guardianship services across the state.

As a result of that work and a grant from Indiana’s Family and Social Services Administration (FSSA), there are now 10 volunteer guardianship programs around the state, a state office and Volunteer Advocates for Seniors and Incapacitated Adults (VASIA) statutes passed in Indiana.

In 2010, Robin Bandy and Dr. Lisa Harris began Wishard’s Volunteer Advocates Program (WVAP) as the hospital struggled to find guardians to make health-care decisions for patients who did not have a family member available. The idea was to provide temporary, emergency guardianships up to 90 days and then turn them over permanent guardianship to other agencies with guardianship programs and services. Bennett worked as a volunteer on several cases.

“There was nobody that the law recognized with health-care decision-making authority, and this posed a significant problem for the hospital because you cannot very well treat someone except in emergency situations without consent,” said Bennett.

In 2013, the Center for At-Risk Elders (CARE) and began operations as a nonprofit. Since then CARE has assumed guardianship for 205 adults, 118 of which are over the age of 65.

Beyond legal guardianship, these services can include getting the individual an immediate medical assessment, liquidating assets, filing an application for benefits, including Medicaid, finding appropriate housing and checking in regularly with the person.

“As we were working together, Wishard got to know CARE, and it dawned on me, and it dawned on them, ‘Well, CARE’s the best nonprofit to take over our program.’ They were coming to the end of a funding cycle, through Retirement Research Foundation,” Bennett said.

Volunteers come from all walks of life, but have one thing in common — they are willing to go the long haul.

“We have about 65 trained volunteers, and we do a one-on-one match. These folks will live for years. So you may be matched with somebody, if you’re willing to go that long, for many, many years.”

Volunteers at CARE are medical students, law students, social workers, retired nurses and retired palliative care nurses. Part of CARE’s funding comes from three area hospitals and state funds that were split evenly between the volunteer groups in the state.

“It’s really a remarkable volunteer group, but all come from the same commitment of wanting to help. I think there’s a lot to learn on everybody’s part on how best to recruit and train. I think it’s also fair to assume that we will never have enough volunteers for the demand,” said Bennett.

Right now, callers who are not part of CARE’s referral network have to be turned away. But Bennett hopes as CARE finds ways to increase funding, it can be expanded to the public at large.