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Jul 18

Is it time to take a break?

By Feature

Lilly Endowment renewal programs highlight benefits of rest

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

(As nonprofits seek ways to encourage employee retention, enhance recruitment and minimize burn out, Not-for-profit News explores the benefits of Lilly Endowment’s renewal grant programs in this first part of a two-part series.)

As a long-time dedicated nonprofit employee, Angie Hoskins understands first-hand the symptoms of employee burnout. In 2019, her stress levels hit a peak as she took on additional responsibilities at Easter Seals Crossroads during a critical transition in roles.

“I was juggling two different positions with no end in sight,” said Hoskins, who is a benefits specialist technical assistant for the nonprofit organization. “I was being pulled in several different directions and working a lot of extra hours during a transition.”

Her concerned supervisors urged her to apply for a grant through United Way of Central Indiana’s (UWCI) Human Services Professional Renewal Program, Hoskins recalled. Under the program, which is now in its 20th year of being fully funded by Lilly Endowment, offers up to $10,000 each to up to 25 human service professionals each year to pause from their day-to-day responsibilities to explore their passions and new ideas. Lilly Endowment funds similar programs for teachers, clergy, artists and art administrators.

Hoskins’ grant request to explore her genealogy by touring Ireland was approved. However, COVID-19 travel restrictions related to international travel in 2020 forced her to make a change in plans. This year, she traveled to Alaska with her husband, Shane Hoskins, for a cruise and land tour. 

After returning to Indianapolis, Hoskins said, she experienced a renewed sense of purpose. “This trip was much needed. I came back not expecting how revived I would feel. I was excited to do my job again,” she said. “It also gave me the opportunity to step back and recognize how many people I’ve been able to help.”

Going beyond recognition

Julie Koegel, program coordinator for UWCI’s Human Services Professional Renewal Program, said that the benefits of the program extend beyond acknowledging an employee’s dedication to their nonprofit work. They can prove to be a motivating factor for retention and innovation among employees in the field, she said.

Nonprofit work can be demanding for many employees, Koegel pointed out. “They’re often working long hours. Some of them are on call 24/7. Some are missing their own kids’ activities because they’re going to the activities of the children they serve,” she said. “People get burned out. During COVID, in particular, it’s been really hard because these individuals have been first responders; among the first ones being called for assistance.”

“We wanted to make sure people who have been working in this field for 20, 30 or 40 years are able to experience renewal,” Koegel added. “We also want to recognize those who are younger, who haven’t been working in the field as long. We want to keep them in the field.”

Recognizing nonprofit employees at all levels

According to Sara VanSlambrook, chief impact officer for UWCI, the grant renewal program is an important way to recognize nonprofit employees who often don’t qualify for other recognitions. 

“Too often, frontline managers and staff are overlooked,” VanSlambrook said. “Awards and recognition are often targeted to executive directors. This program is for anyone at any level within an organization. About 45 percent of the grantees over the years have been frontline staff.”

Renewal grant recipients have included employees ranging from executive directors, vice presidents and managers to receptionists, cafeteria workers and correctional officers, she said. 

VanSlambrook also said that these types of benefits in the workplace can be critical for retention.

“It communicates to human service professionals that they are essential workers, and that we value them,” she said. “It reduces stress levels for those who receive it. It brings new energy and creativity to the work upon returning from an investment like this. They usually come back with new ideas and new knowledge that will enhance their work.”

Applicants of the UWCI Human Services Professional Renewal Grant program must meet the following criteria:

  • Must be an employee of a UWCI agency, UWCI, or an invited human services organization that is actively engaged in a UWCI collaborative activity
  • Must have been employed eight or more consecutive years by a human services nonprofit agency as of the application deadline
  • Must have been employed by their current organization five or more consecutive years as of the application deadline
  • Must serve clients in the UWCI areas of service: Boone, Hamilton, Hancock, Hendricks, Marion and Morgan counties
  • Must intend to remain in human services work for at least two years after the renewal experience

Over the years of administering the program, Koegel said, she has seen it accomplish its mission among the participants. “They come back to their jobs renewed, with new perspectives,” she said. 

She also said an evaluation revealed that numerous participants said they probably would have left their jobs if they had not experienced the period of renewal offered under the grant.

“They had reached that point where they were so burned out that they were looking at other opportunities,” Koegel said. “This gave them a chance to take a step back, to have permission not to answer their voicemails, not to look at their emails, and to really disconnect for a period of time and really focus on themselves.”

Jul 05

Effective fundraising demands new strategies, timeless principles, and an open mind

By Feature

New edition of Achieving Excellence in Fundraising puts philanthropy in context

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

As editors prepared to assemble the fifth edition of Achieving Excellence in Fundraising, they shared a sense of unease, recalls Genevieve G. Shaker, lead editor and associate professor of philanthropic studies at the Indiana University Lilly Family School of Philanthropy at IUPUI.

Shaker, who had been involved with the textbook previously in its 30-year history, led a team of more than 50 authors — all with ties to the Lilly Family School of Philanthropy — during one of the most transformative periods in the history of philanthropy. The work on the edition started in 2019 but the team paused as the global COVID-19 outbreak upended the nonprofit sector, philanthropy. The publication was released this spring and was co-edited by Eugene R. Tempel, Sarah K. Nathan, and Bill Stanczykiewicz.

“There was so much happening with fundraising as a result of that period of time,” Shaker said, recalling the uncertainty around the deadly pandemic, heightened awareness about DEI (diversity, equity and inclusion) following social justice protests, economic upheaval, and the rush to virtual engagement.

Several questions emerged during that time, she said, including: “How might this be changing things?” “What are the tried-and-true principles we believe still hold?”

“New editions come out about every five years,” Shaker said. “We wanted to make sure those principles were sustained. How can we make a book, attending to the changes this moment, that also will speak to people several years from now?”

In the end, the team decided to move forward, with the understanding that it may take some time to unearth how the events of 2020-2021 will continue to change fundraising and giving. “We couldn’t wait another two to three years to see what happens longer-term. It’s so important that people have a new book, so we went ahead — even with some uncertainties about the ultimate impact of this period.”


Preparing for what’s next in fundraising

One of the editor’s key takeaways is that principles and strategies of effective fundraising will continue to evolve but many of the foundational principles outlined by the late fundraising expert and The Fund Raising School founder Henry A. Rosso remain relevant, according to Shaker.

The revised book introduces new material and research related to fundraising ethics, virtual engagement and online giving, engaging diverse donors, crisis fundraising, planned giving, and crafting appeals. “The digital revolution has been enormous and it’s continuing through innovations like crowdfunding and artificial intelligence,” Shaker said. “Platforms are still emerging and broadening the ways we can communicate with people. That’s a huge change that we’ve seen over these past 20 years.”

Another development is heightened awareness about engaging diverse donors, Shaker said. “We are always seeking to learn more about different communities of donors, to provide more recognition for their philanthropic approaches, and to be intentionally welcoming and supportive of them as donors,” she said. “This change has been happening prior to the last few years, but it’s more at the forefront of all of our minds as we work to create a more diverse, equitable, and inclusive nonprofit sector.”

Adapting to change

According to Shaker, recent events served as a reminder of the importance of constantly evaluating the effectiveness of current fundraising strategies. 

“We cannot do the same things year after year and expect the same result,” she said. “We must be evaluating outcomes. If, for example, a mailing is getting half the response than previous years, you must be open to changing your approach.”

Shaker noted that Tempel, lead editor of three previous editions and founding dean emeritus of the Lilly Family School of Philanthropy, often stressed that nonprofit organizations can’t afford to operate as closed systems. “Leaders need to approach their nonprofits as open systems — gathering information, listening, and paying attention to what’s happening in the world, in their community, and in fundraising — and adapting all the time,” she said. “COVID, in a way, was a reset for some organizations. It required them to change and they’re not going back.”

Without the pandemic, some nonprofits still would be entrenched in practices that may not necessarily have been working for them, Shaker added.

Guiding principles of fundraising

While the pandemic accelerated the adoption of online giving and virtual engagement, research also revealed that some of the original principles advised by Rosso more than 30 years ago remain unshakeable, Shaker said.

“It has proven some of the things that we believe about fundraising, including the importance of having strong relationships with donors and finding different ways to engage with donors at all capacities,” she said. “Those principles were reinforced during COVID. The pandemic stressed the importance of knowing your donors as people and considering their circumstances, while continuing to communicate with them about your nonprofit’s work, needs, and the circumstances of those you serve.”

The textbook also addresses perceptions about fundraising, many that stem from some cultural and societal beliefs about openly talking about money, Shaker said.

“Fundraising can be misunderstood, even within our own organizations. There are some misunderstandings about what fundraising is and how it takes place,” she said. “We are often battling those misconceptions and educating others about philanthropy and fundraising. At a personal level, many of us are raised in households where talking about money can be taboo. This is an additional challenge, which can take reflection and practice to overcome so it doesn’t impact the way we interact with donors.”

Shaker said that the pandemic also reinforced people’s enormous capacity for generosity through donations and volunteerism.

“It was a reminder that philanthropy is for everyone,” she said. “It reinvigorated and reminded us of the power of human generosity. And that a more inclusive definition of philanthropy includes thinking about all the things that people are doing in addition to giving financially.”

More information about the fifth edition of Achieving Excellence in Fundraising is available at achievingexcellenceinfundraising.com/.

Jun 20

The Milk Bank expands its footprint through an innovative partnership

By Feature

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

It’s been 17 years since The Milk Bank opened as a nonprofit that provides families in Indiana and throughout the nation with donated human milk. And for years it has faced an uphill battle in helping the community understand the sometimes life-saving benefits it offers to infants, much in the way blood donations are accepted.

An innovative partnership with Versiti Blood Center of Indiana, another nonprofit focused on tissue donation, and the recent formula crisis could significantly change all that.

Jenna Streit, advancement director for The Milk Bank, is all too familiar with the misconceptions that many people have about an organization that supplies parents of newborns and infants with human donor milk.

“I was not aware of The Milk Bank until I was delivering my daughter,” she recalled. “I was having an unexpected C-section and a nurse turned to me and said, ‘Do you want her to have donor milk of formula when she goes to the NICU (neonatal intensive care unit)?’”

A series of questions and doubts immediately emerged in Streit’s mind, she said. “I didn’t know what she was talking about, who the donors were, or about the safety of the milk. It was just so unfamiliar to me, but I trusted my care team,” she said.

That typically is the journey taken by many of the people who have become aware of The Milk Bank, Streit said. “We have been trying to get upstream in our conversations and really try to educate folks early in pregnancy that it could be an option for them. We’ve made good traction this year.”

Partnership built on innovation

The Milk Bank attributes increased awareness about the organization to a partnership with Versiti, formerly the Indiana Blood Center. Although the two nonprofit organizations have similar missions in that they focus on the donation of human tissue, a collaboration didn’t come to mind until The Milk Bank faced an increased need for drop-off locations for its donor mothers.

Through research, the nonprofits found that 31 percent of stakeholders for The Milk Bank wanted more drop-off locations, and 15 percent of blood donors had difficulty accomplishing required blood work.

In 2018, the two nonprofits came together to allow donor mothers to drop off milk at depot locations at Versiti in Indiana and at Kentucky Blood Centers. In 2021, the Meridian Foundation awarded the team a $10,000 Aragos Honors grant in honor of the innovative partnership.

Meridian Foundation founder Donna Oklak, who interviewed members of the nonprofits during the grant-making process, was particularly impressed with the partnership led by Dr. Dan Waxman, senior medical director for Versiti, and a member of the The Milk Bank’s medical advisory committee.

“There was amazing teamwork at The Milk Bank to bring this idea to fruition,” Oklak said. “One ‘aha’ moment, that seems simple in hindsight, was the realization that the blood drive concept could be applied to milk donation. The Milk Bank was able to benchmark and operationalize this idea.  This was when it became apparent that the partnership was more than just a convenient co-location, but also a powerful opportunity to benchmark and share successful approaches in tissue banking.”

Through the collaboration, both organizations were able to increase visibility for each other, create more opportunities to reach potential donors, and provide Versiti blood screening for potential blood donors to become approved human milk donors — a necessary step in the human milk donation process.

According to the organizations, the new strategic collaborative plan also accomplished the following goals:

  • Diversified revenue for both organizations
  • Expanded each organization’s lab and processing staff
  • Enhanced equitable access for all mothers by removing geography and finances as barriers and, over time, will help them reach more diverse families.

Enhancing visibility during a crisis

The five-year-old partnership with Versiti also helped prepare The Milk Bank to handle an increased demand for donor milk during the pandemic and the current formula shortage, according to Streit. The organization now has 70 locations where donors can drop off their milk. (Donors also have the option of direct shipping the milk to the organization).

The milk donations must come from women who have been prescreened through blood tests. From there, the milk undergoes a nutritional analysis, pasteurization and then a sterile bottling process. Then it tested for safety as a final step, Streit explained.

In addition to its partnership with Versiti, The Milk Bank has implemented numerous strategies to enhance its visibility, including promoting testimonials for families who have been recipients of donor milk, implementing peer-to-peer fundraising campaign that highlights the stories of recipients and milk donors, and launching a program, with the assistance of Meridian United Methodist Church, that includes educational materials for expectant mothers.

“We have been helping quite a few families during this time who are who are unable to find formula,” Streit said. “The families that are coming to us typically are searching for one of the specialty formulas that they can’t find on shelves. While this is not exclusively the case, they most often have a baby with a medical condition.

“We definitely have been an avenue for supporting babies during the formula shortage. We have seen a significant increase — almost 90% — in the number of outpatients that we’ve served,” Streit added. “Our donors have been incredible and have stepped up. We typically hear from about 200 Interested milk donors every month. Last month, we heard from 491 potential donors who are excited about helping out.”

Advocating for continuing awareness

The Milk Bank envisions a future in which the need for human milk donation is as accepted and understood as blood donations, Streit said.

“We want milk donations to be seen as legitimate and as equal to blood donations. We are a tissue bank at our core,” she said. “I’m sure it was strange for many people when they first heard about blood transfusions; taking blood out of one body and put it in another. That’s what milk donation is.”

The organization also has taken on an advocacy role throughout its history, highlighting the benefits of breast milk. That cause must continue, Streit said.

“As a nation we are faced with a reckoning on how we are supporting families in feeding their infants. If we cannot safely offer formula reliably, then we need to return to the basics,” she said. “That means how do we ensure that families have every support possible to be successful at breastfeeding? I think more women would choose to breastfeed if they had paid leave after giving birth, safe comfortable places to pump at work and high-quality pumps made available to them.

“Many Americans have a baby and must go back to work within two to four weeks,” Streit added. “Breastfeeding is not even a reasonable option for them. I’m grateful that we can stand in this gap, but I hope that once we get through the crisis at hand, that we look on all that areas that we need to improve and implement changes to support families better.”

May 31

Dress for Success rapidly adapts to meet changing needs of women in the workforce

By Feature

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

When Dress for Success Indianapolis started serving its first clients in 2000, a polished professional women’s suit became closely tied to the nonprofit’s mission of equipping jobless women for the workforce. It became integral to the brand.

During the past two years, in the wake of the pandemic, Dress for Success is now working to shake up that image and address a mix of challenges that prevent women from finding job satisfaction and pay equity. A recent Facebook post stated, “So, there’s a myth that we only have business suits. That’s FALSE. We do have suits, but we also have scrubs, uniform wear and even jeans …”

Dress for Success quickly realized that it needed to change its focus — particularly after actively listening to the women attending their online programs during periods of pandemic shutdowns and social distancing, said Shayla Pinner, director of marketing and development. 

The organization’s clients were confronted with myriad challenges and opportunities, including navigating childcare while working from home, adapting to flexible and hybrid work schedules, and researching ways to further their careers.

Also, Dress for Success increasingly realized that their typical client was no longer typical.

“We’ve always been the place for women who are looking to either enter or re-enter the workforce,” Pinner said. “But over the last two years, we’ve seen more than 50 percent of the women coming in are actually employed. They already have a job but they’re either looking for a better job or a career job. We are trying to continue to meet the needs of women in that space. And a lot of women are just having a hard time with the obligations of life plus work.”

Pandemic paving the way to more opportunities

Although women were struggling to find work-life balance as a result of school and daycare closures following the pandemic, it also proved to be a catalyst for women to assess what they truly want for their careers, Pinner said.

“The pandemic has changed the workplace. There are a ton of opportunities for growth, especially for women who want to do something different,” she said. “Women are starting to re-evaluate things and asking questions like, ‘What do I want to do?’ ‘Where do I want to be?’ and ‘What are my needs?’ As women, we’re starting to advocate for ourselves more. We’re starting to say, ‘OK, this does not work for me.’”

As the workforce evolves, Dress for Success will continue to find ways to meet the needs of women who continue to face inequities, according to Julie Petr, CEO of the organization.

“We strive to give women the tools that they need to thrive in business and in life,” she said. “In five years, it would be our hope that access to professional opportunities is more equitable for all women and that the gender wage gap is reduced.”

Supporting all women in an evolving workforce

Throughout its history, Dress for Success has evolved to address the complex challenges women face in obtaining gainful employment, including offering programs focused on interviewing skills, identifying their clients’ strengths through a Strengths Finder certification course, career assessments, and goal setting.

Over the years, the approach has become increasingly comprehensive, Pinner said. “We recently hired a success coach who is a licensed social worker to work with women in overcoming barriers to employment, such as transportation, housing, food, stable childcare and other barriers to stable employment. We’ve really evolved in trying to meet women through holistic wrap-around services so that we are the one-stop shop for women who are looking to either enter the workforce or level up in the workforce.”

Dress for Success, which will be celebrating the 20th anniversary of its signature fundraiser, Stepping Out in Style, on Sept. 16 at JW Marriott, also has had to consistently dismantle misconceptions about its mission, according to Pinner. 

With an increasing number of women seeking career advice from the organization, it appears that the team is making inroads with that goal. 

“One of the major misconceptions is that we only serve a particular group of women — low income, disadvantaged or lack of education,” Pinner said. “That’s not true. A lot of our women are high school graduates and college graduates. We also have some with master’s degrees. They want help to succeed and move up in the workplace and they don’t know how to do it.”

Dress for Success also has expanded its programming to include topics that help women negotiate for higher salaries, more PTO, and flexible and hybrid schedules, Pinner said.

“Those are things that we didn’t talk about much before the pandemic but now we’re starting to see an increased need,” she said. “The pandemic has given employees more power and more confidence to ask for what they want in a workplace and from an employee. Women have often accepted things as they are. We don’t typically push or ask for things.”

Envisioning an equitable future for women in the workforce

Dress for Success will continue to explore ways to support women as the job market evolves, Pinner said.

“Over the next five years, I think the workplace is going to change rapidly,” she said. “I would love to see women be paid equally as their counterparts, but also play big. I hope women continue to advocate for themselves, to get to where they want to be, explore all opportunities, and have a network of support as they go after those opportunities.”

May 09

Wheeler Mission CEO Rick Alvis reflects on decades of nonprofit service

By Feature

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

When Rick Alvis took over as CEO of Wheeler Mission in 1990, the challenges of homelessness seemed clear cut.

Alvis, who had previously served as CEO of an Evansville homeless shelter for 10 years, recalled the profile of the typical client at that time. “During the late ’70s and ’80s, a homeless person was really just an alcoholic,” he said. “We weren’t dealing with drugs. We weren’t dealing with mental health issues. If somebody would ask me to describe what a homeless person looks like, I could quickly say it was a white male that had an alcoholic problem and actually had a skill.

“Today, you not only have alcohol challenges, but you also see drug addiction and mental health issues,” said Alvis, who recently announced his retirement from Wheeler Mission. “It has significantly shifted over the past 40 years from being a simple problem to a very complex problem because you must deal with all three of those issues.”

Under Alvis’ leadership during the past 32 years, Wheeler Mission has undergone significant changes, many of them to address the increasingly complex challenges involved in alleviating homelessness. The nonprofit organization, which had 17 employees and a budget of $700,000 in 1990, now has the distinction of being Indiana’s largest nonprofit that serves people challenged with homelessness. Wheeler Mission, which currently has 175 employees and a budget of nearly $16 million, has navigated three mergers, expanded its reach to include women and children, implemented comprehensive programs to address the challenges of drug addiction, and launched a capital fundraising campaign that resulted in the development of the Wheeler Mission’s Center for Women & Children, a state-of-the-art building in Indianapolis that serves up to 367 women and children a day.

Leading through constant change

The ability to adapt to change, as well as proactively pursue change through innovation, has been at the core of Wheeler Mission’s growth, according to Alvis.

“As I look back, it helped me to continually look at our ministry and our programs through new eyes,” Alvis said. “One of my chief program officers always says, ‘Rick’s never satisfied with our programs. Well, that’s true. I’m never satisfied because I want to make sure that our programs are on the cutting edge. Leaders today can get bogged down with protecting the programs they created. I tell our team that it’s open season (on programs) when it comes to strategic planning. Nothing is sacred, even if I created it.”

One of the most challenging tests of that philosophy came when the organization faced a financial crunch in the midst of the Great Recession throughout 2008 and 2009, Alvis recalled. “We had to cut a huge chunk of our budget, which meant we had to cease some programming,” he said.

For an organization that dates back to 1893, determining which programs needed to be canceled was tough, Alvis said. “We had programming here at Wheeler since the Depression years that I decided I needed to go. That probably was among the hardest decisions that we had to make.”

As a leader, making decisions like that, which included cutting a youth outreach program, can also be unpopular, Alvis said.

“One of those programs was what had attracted me to Wheeler 32 years ago,” he said. “For me to let that one go was very hard.”

Throughout his tenure, Alvis said, it was key to make sure that donors’ dollars were being maximized and used appropriately. “We wanted to make sure we are doing the best possible thing that we can with programs. And if there’s something that I created that needs to go, then it must go.”

Expanding support through mergers and new programs

Seeking to meet the needs of people experiencing homelessness also was central to the three mergers Alvis helped to lead during his decades of service to Wheeler Mission. He noted that the first merger with the Care Center in 2000 evolved from a need to better serve women and children. A merger with the Lighthouse Mission followed in 2006, and a 2015 merger with Backstreet Missions in Bloomington helped the organization strengthen services outside of Indianapolis.

“Those three mergers were very significant to Wheeler’s history. We wanted to do a good job of meeting people’s needs, not just men,” he said. “Prior to the merger with the Care Center, Wheeler didn’t have a residential program for women.”

In adapting to the changing needs of people experiencing homelessness, Wheeler Mission also invested in innovative offerings, including an addiction recovery camp on 300 acres. The Hunt Training Center in Bloomington, male participants undergo a six-month comprehensive program in which they cover topics such as anger, worry, biblical communication, relationships and change.

The program, which was launched in 2000, has been effective in helping the participants overcome their addictions, Alvis said. “It’s been great to see men come out of addiction and be productive people again,” he said. 

Although the COVID-19 pandemic limited the team’s ability to expand the program throughout 2020 and 2021, Wheeler is focused on increasing capacity and re-introducing a lodging component that allows family members to visit on weekends. “It allows us to minister to the entire family because the wife and children need just as much help as the man does,” Alvis added. “It helps them recalibrate their marriages and their relationships, which I think is key to the success of our program.”

In addition to providing a focus on addiction recovery at the camp, Wheeler also has made it an integral offering at its Center for Women & Children homeless shelter on East Michigan Street. 

As Wheeler Mission continues to evolve to meet the needs of people facing homelessness, it will always continue to rely on the generosity of its supporters, Alvis stressed.

“Individual donors contribute to 80 percent of our income,” he said. “We always encourage people to give, volunteer and donate food. Others can help by influencing the legislature in some ways to address homelessness throughout the state and in the city. And, of course, people can always pray for us because that’s our No. 1 need. That’s pretty cheap. Prayer doesn’t cost you anything.”

Apr 25

Re-imagining an environmental mission with a lens on equity

By Feature

Keep Indianapolis Beautiful outlines a strategic plan focused on vulnerable neighborhoods

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

When developing its current strategic plan, team members of Keep Indianapolis Beautiful, Inc., (KIB) had no intention of overhauling the mission that had served the organization for more than 40 years — making it Indiana’s largest environmental community engagement organization.

Yet, they understood the critical need to advance racial and social equity in the wake of increased awareness about those challenges in recent years, according to KIBI President & CEO Jeremy Kranowitz.

Jeremy Kranowitz, KIB President & CEO

That type of work wasn’t necessarily new to KIB. “We have always looked at parts of the city that needed to improve tree canopy and focused our energy there,” Kranowitz said. “There’s more to do in some parts of the city than in areas like Eagle Creek or Geist.”

After devoting months to shaping its strategic plan, the KIB mapped out a four-page document that clearly outlines a path for further investing in vulnerable neighborhoods. The plan, which includes a commitment to in-depth research and agency-wide awareness about its mission, has given KIB a deeper appreciation for how its environmental mission can positively impact vulnerable neighborhoods in more ways than its founders had originally imagined, according to Kranowitz.

Through new partnerships, research, and projects, KIB is increasingly realizing that the practice of planting trees and creating green spaces has more than aesthetic value, Kranowitz said. These types of environmental projects can enhance well-being and health outcomes as well as contribute to a decrease in criminal activity, he added.

Collaborating on a shared vision

For example, through a partnership with Indiana University-Purdue University Indianapolis (IUPUI), KIB is helping to analyze levels of lead in the soil of underserved communities. As part of the transformation of an abandoned lot into a green space in a Far Eastside neighborhood, KIB and IUPUI will measure the lead content in the soil before and after the development to determine if levels diminished. The project is being funded by a $10,000 grant from CareSource.

“Exposure to environmental contaminants severely impacts brain development of children in many neighborhoods, and this impact is seen disproportionately in lower income communities of color,” said Dr. Gabriel Filippelli, executive director of Indiana University’s Environmental Resilience Institute. “By engaging with community members in the process of collecting and interpreting environmental data, we can help to activate communities for positive change — including supporting the expansion of urban green spaces, which improve community health and counteract negative effects from climate change.”

If the development of the green space results in lead abatement in the previously abandoned lot, the team will identify other sites that meet similar criteria for intervention, Kranowitz said.

The partnership came naturally, Kranowitz recalled. “There’s an interesting overlay between health and environment,” he said. “The project grew out of some conversations about shared concerns. It was interesting to us because we were creating a great space there. We didn’t we didn’t write the strategic planning with the intent of getting the grant.”

The identified neighborhood also was of interest to CareSource because the insurance company has numerous clients who live in the area.

Kranowitz said that KIB will continue to explore how its focus on environmental projects can have positive outcomes beyond those it already has identified. In addition to health benefits, KIB is seeking to better understand the impact of environment projects on levels of crime.

He noted that a team at the University of Michigan, which has been researching various ways to reduce violent crime, found that incidents declined in urban neighborhoods where vacant lots were regularly mowed, compared to vacant lots that remained neglected.

Kranowitz believes that type of research can have a far-reaching impact if further explored. “What if we’re planting pollinator friendly plants and fruit-bearing trees, installing play areas, and creating a space where the community can intentionally engage in a previously abandoned lot? Is that going to create an even bigger drop in violent crime?” Kranowitz asked. “My hypothesis is that it will.”

A user-friendly strategic plan

In developing its strategic plan, KIB also recognized the advantages of keeping it concise and user-friendly, Kranowitz said. The condensed four-page document outlines KIB’s mission and vision as follows:

Mission: KIB’s mission is to engage diverse communities to create vibrant public places, helping people and nature thrive.

Vision: KIB sees a beautiful Indianapolis that is loved, cared for, and ecologically rich. A city defined by strong neighborhoods, inspired places, and a clean, flourishing environment. KIB will engage and empower people to improve environmental equity throughout the city.

One of the key components of KIB’s strategic plan is the Key Neighborhood Identification Tool (KNIT), an approach that ensures impact in vulnerable neighborhoods in intentional, rather than incidental, helping the organization identify neighborhoods throughout Indianapolis where KIB resources can have the greatest positive impact.

As a result of using the tool, KIB was able to identify 10 focus areas “where social vulnerability is highest, tree canopy coverage is lowest, litter is highest, and KIB’s past involvement and use of resources has been lowest.” The strategic plan also emphasizes the importance of building relationships among the residents of each area, ensuring that any projects are collaborative.

Kranowitz said that the concise strategic plan ensures that every employee understands where they fit within the organization.

“There are a few key objectives that we’re trying to reach within each of those goals,” he said. “They are made evident to everyone on staff. An entry-level employee will understand where they fit in, how their job helps us accomplish this objective, which is helping us achieve this overarching goal, which is making a difference in Indianapolis. Everyone understands the role they’re playing and how that helps us achieve and accomplish our mission.”

Apr 04

How a local nonprofit is taking a different road to sustainable community development

By Feature

by Shari Finnell, editor/writer

More often than not, when Indianapolis neighborhoods like Riverside, United Northwest and Clifton Place are mentioned, the conversation is likely to veer toward what needs to be fixed. Or what’s wrong with them, according to De’Amon Harges, the co-founder of The Learning Tree, a nonprofit focused on using asset based community development (ABCD) to change that narrative about many low-income neighborhoods.

This approach to sustainable community development avoids a focus on handouts — or outside solutions — for challenges like food insecurity, food deserts, high unemployment, vandalism and crime.  Instead it explores the strengths, skills, resources and experience among the members of the community and finds ways to mobilize them into action to address those challenges. For The Learning Tree team, this work begins with one-on-one conversations with people in the communities they support.

Harges, who also consults with organizations globally about ABCD, offered an example on how it can differ from prevailing approaches used by many well-meaning organizations and government agencies.

When a beautification project was launched to enhance Indianapolis urban communities, including the ones served by The Learning Tree, artists were called upon to apply for a grant for the project. “There was probably $150,000 on the table to pay someone else from outside to do the work,” Harges recalled.

Because of their previous interactions with residents throughout the communities of Riverside, United Northwest and Clifton Place, The Learning Tree team already had identified 45 artists who were capable of producing the artistic pieces.

“We ended up getting that grant, putting that money into the hands of people with talent right here in the neighborhood,” Harges said.

Indianapolis Deputy Mayor Jeff Bennett, who became aware of Harges’ impact in local neighborhoods more than 15 years ago,  said the relationship-driven approach to community building has numerous advantages. “There is more to community development than just dollars in, dollars out,” Bennett said. “As much, if not more, impact can be made at the human level through relationship building. So, often at the government level, we can be so top down. We devise and fund programs that we think communities want or need without listening to what a neighborhood says it could use in order to direct their own future.

“That’s where an organization like the Learning Tree excels so well,” Bennett added. “They can get to the heart of a neighborhood’s concern much more quickly and comprehensively than other organizations that do community development.”

Transforming neighborhoods, one individual at a time

ABCD is not new as a methodology for the sustainable development of communities. During the 1990s, John L. McKnight and John P. Kretzmann of the Institute for Policy Research at Northwestern University, coined the term. They explored the benefits of this approach in the book, Building Communities from the Inside Out: A Path Toward Finding and Mobilizing A Community’s Assets.

Broadway United Methodist Church, located on the city’s Near Northside, followed the guidance of ABCD about 20 years ago when a pastor tapped Harges to become a “roving listener.” In that role, Harges engaged in one-on-one conversations with his neighbors throughout the surrounding urban neighborhood.

Instead of focusing on what was wrong with those neighborhoods, Harges sought out meaningful connections as a way to discover talents and gifts among his neighbors, which in most cases, were previously hidden from view.

He continues those types of conversations in his role at The Learning Tree.

Tysha Ahmad, owner of Mother Love’s Garden, is among the neighbors he connected with while walking through the area. 

Ahmad had already unknowingly put ABCD into practice by teaming up with a group of neighbors to develop a food co-op after Marsh grocery stores in the area simultaneously closed, creating a food desert. Ahmad retired from her work in the insurance industry to become an urban farmer, producing produce to support the co-op. 

“Those who have the means pay more for a bag, which helps cover the costs for those who don’t necessarily have the means, including seniors and those who have SNAP or EBT,” Ahmad explained.

And after that chance encounter with Harges, she now regularly hosts a summer camp to teach youth about growing produce, agricultural careers and the health benefits of fruits and vegetables, a project supported by The Learning Tree. 

Other projects that have developed under The Learning Tree include a bike shop run by local youth as part of a summer program, workshops hosted by entrepreneurs who have been tapped to coach youth in business skills; living documentaries captured by poets, storytellers and photographers; and regular community gatherings catered by neighbors.

“There are people in neighborhoods, especially Black and brown neighborhoods, whose talents are untapped,” Harges said. “We need to find those gifts so they can be utilized in ways that build community, economy and mutual delight.”

Mar 21

Employers must promote a culture of mental health, local experts say

By Feature

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

Whether COVID-19 rates continue to decline or experience periodic surges, the need to proactively implement comprehensive mental health solutions in the workplace will persist in the coming years, according to local mental health experts.

Employers must recognize the importance of addressing mental health among their employees in the wake of job losses, occupational stress caused by long work hours, and illness and death, said Kimble L. Richardson, a licensed mental health counselor and manager of business development for Community Health Network, Behavioral Health.

“Many people are still a bit traumatized by what happened,” said Richardson, who led emergency response efforts throughout Marion County and surrounding counties as the coordinator of the Resilience and Emotional Support Team (REST). “We initially had to put our emotions on the back burner so that we could just make it through. We need to encourage people to have discussions about mental health being important. It will continue to be important, hopefully ad infinitum, but especially at an intense level for the next several years.”

Jennifer Stansbury Miller, program manager of the Be Well Crisis Helpline, which was launched by Mental Health of America (MHAI) in partnership with the state of Indiana’s Family Social Services and Administration, said that there are no immediate plans to discontinue the helpline, which was implemented in response to the pandemic.

As of March 16, the helpline, which can be accessed by dialing 211, had received 34,561 calls since July of 2020, when it was introduced, and continues to average a significant number of calls daily. During February of 2021, the center received 1,713 calls. In February of 2022, they fielded more than 2,000 calls — an increase of 20.66 percent, Stansbury Miller said.

The spike in numbers can be attributed to numerous reasons, including word-of-mouth about the helpline, increasing awareness or a gap in mental health providers throughout the state, Stansbury Miller said.

“What we have seen overall in the profession is an increase in need for mental health solutions,” Stansbury Miller said. “And when you look at mental health, by definition, it’s emotional and psychological well-being. It’s not necessarily a mental illness. Somebody could just be having a bad day and still need support.”

Similar patterns on mental health have emerged nationally, according to the 2021 Mental Health at Work Report, released by Mind Share Partners in partnership with Qualtrics and ServiceNow. The report, which was a follow up to a report released in 2019, revealed:

  • More employees left their jobs for mental health reasons, including those impacted by workplace factors like being overwhelmed with workload. About 68 percent of Millennials and 81 percent of Gen Zers reported leaving their positions for mental health reasons, up from 50 percent 75 percent respectively in 2019.
  • 91 percent of survey respondents believed that a company’s culture should support mental health, up from 86 percent in 2019.
  • 76 percent of respondents reported at least one symptom of a mental health condition in the past year, up from 59 percent in 2019.
  • C-level and executive-level respondents were more likely to report at least one mental health symptom than other respondents.

Shift in thinking about mental health

While there has been an increasing awareness about the need for mental health solutions, particularly in the wake of the pandemic, significant progress still needs to be made, Stansbury Miller said.

Employers will need to examine their workplace policies as well as increase awareness about the resources that are available, Stansbury Miller said. “In the space of nonprofit employees, public service providers, and companies overall, companies have a role to play in their employees’ resilience and mental health; their well-being overall,” she added.

Richardson said that employers need to shift their thinking about mental health, integrating it as a core part of the organization’s overall health policy.

“The importance of mental health is going to stick around,” he said. “If you don’t pay attention to it, it will show itself to you and it will ask you to pay attention to it — either in losing your staff or having to care for your staff in ways that are expensive. You don’t want your staff to have heart attacks or heart surgery.”

Richardson said employers can take both proactive and reactive approaches to introducing mental health solutions into the workplace, including introducing regular educational sessions on topics like building resilience and other resources tailored to the needs of their employees.

Stansbury Miller also said that employers should examine the workplace culture. “Self-care of the individual at work is everybody’s responsibility,” she said. If emails are going 24/7 after work hours, that is something to look at. It’s important to encourage those at the top to begin a culture of self-care and resilience. For example, make it a policy that there are no emails after a certain time. That’s something small that can make a difference to ensure employees don’t feel tethered to work and can get out and prioritize their mental well-being.”

Stansbury Miller also said that employers can encourage employees to take time off work, engage in self care, and use the benefits offered in the organization’s Employee Assistance Program, which provides confidential mental health services.

In addition to the 24/7 Be Well Crisis Helpline, employers and employees also can explore assessments and resources on mental health, wellness, substance use and recovery at www.bewellindiana.org.

“It’s been hard,” Stansbury Miller said. “As we’re coming off, hopefully, from COVID, we’re going to create these boundaries and fully address the mental health concerns we have seen during the past two years in the state. Folks can focus on improving their emotional well-being, get outside and engage in community, and build the resilience they need.”

Mar 14

Now may be the time to pursue student loan forgiveness, higher education

By Feature

Nonprofit INvestED

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

With tuition averaging $40,000 for private colleges and up to $28,000 at public colleges, the prospect of having student loan debt forgiven under federal government programs can be enticing. And with the pandemic moratorium for repaying federal student loan debt set to expire on May 1, questions on how to get some relief are steadily emerging.

You may be wondering, Am I eligible for student loan forgiveness? Is it worth the trouble of applying if I’ve been turned down before? Should I pursue a degree and work in public service — especially if I have a chance of my loans being canceled in the future?

And for those who are considering a degree at the undergraduate or graduate level, the rising costs of tuition — which is outpacing inflation by 28 percent in some cases, according to the National Center for Education Statistics — may act as a deterrent to starting the college application process.

These are the types of questions and situation that recently have been fielded by INvestEd, a nonprofit that helps Indiana residents discover avenues to pay for the expenses of a higher education, especially in the wake of the recent overhaul of the Public Service Loan Forgiveness (PSLF) program which erased an additional $6.2 billion in student loan debt, according to William Wozniak, vice president of marketing for the organization.

Wozniak said now is a good time for Indiana residents to be hopeful about qualifying for student loan forgiveness under the revised PSLF program, as well as the affordability of college — despite statistics that seem to indicate otherwise.

INvestEd, which has been providing students and their families with solutions for a college education for more than 40 years, said that people who may have been turned down for student loan forgiveness under PSLF for various reasons, including missed payments on loans or an employer being determined ineligible, Wozniak said.

Because of previous restrictions, the PSLF, which was introduced in 2007, only a small percentage of students had their loans forgiven, he added. The program was designed to incentivize more students to pursue careers in public service instead of positions in the more lucrative private sector. However, until recently, there hadn’t been any significant dent in the number of students who had loans forgiven under the program.

“Even if you were told you’re not eligible, now is the time to go back,” Wozniak said. “We can’t say in every case, you’re going to be in the clear and everything’s going to be OK but you can get advice on what you can do to still be on track to get your loan forgiven. The answer may have changed even if you were told a year ago that you were ineligible.”

Wozniak also said that many prospective students and their families often mistakenly assume that they don’t qualify for Federal Student Aid (FAFSA) because of their household income. And despite the headlines that point out that college tuition rates are soaring, the overall cost of attending college is declining because of an increase in the amount of grant assistance students can qualify for, he added.

Highlights of the revised PSLF

Under the PSLF, a person may be able to have their federal student loan debt canceled if they:

  • Work full-time for an eligible public service or non-profit employer
  • Enroll in an income-driven repayment plan
  • Make at least 120 monthly student loan payments. Some participants may have had their payments deemed ineligible. If this is the case, they can apply for a limited waiver for student loan forgiveness through the U.S. Department of Education. The deadline to apply for the waiver is Oct. 31. It’s important to submit an Employer Certification to the U.S. Department of Education each year, and with each change of employer.
  • For those who have FFEL, Perkins, or other federal student loans, consolidate your loans into a Direct Consolidation Loan to qualify for PSLF both in general and under the waiver. Before consolidating, confirm if the employer qualifies for the program.
  • Past periods of repayment will now count regardless of whether a person made a payment, made that payment on time, for the full amount due, on a qualifying repayment plan.
  • Periods of deferment or forbearance, and periods of default, continue to not qualify.

For more information about PSLF, go to the federal government site.

You can also contact INvestEd for a free consultation. INvestED consultants also can be reached at (317) 715-9007.

Common challenges facing students, loans and college tuition

In consulting with students and families, INvestED has come across numerous challenges they have faced in handling student loan debt, according to Wozniak. They include:

  • Using private loans with high interest rates. In some cases, families are paying interest rates of 10 percent or more for years, Wozniak pointed out. “There are some people who might have $40,000 or $50,000 debt on the federal side, but they might have as much as that or more in private loans,” he said. “And even if the federal government were to wipe away all the federal loans, if they didn’t do the private loans as well, people are still paying 10, 11 or 12 percent on loans, waiting for federal forgiveness that may or may not come.”
  • Unexpected changes in the PSLF eligibility rules. In some cases, even with adherence to the rules, students have encountered unexpected changes that made them ineligible for federal debt forgiveness.“ For years, we would talk to students and their families about making sure you’re current with your payments, and that your job is acceptable for the program so that you’re in position (for loan forgiveness),” Wozniak said. “Some people may have been working at an employer, and then in the seventh or eighth year of their employment, the employer was then deemed not acceptable. It wasn’t their fault. For whatever reason the department made that ruling.” If this has happened to you in the past, Wozniak said, recent revisions to PSLF could make you eligible for the program once again.
  • Missed loan payments. Under PSLF restrictions, students were considered ineligible for the program if they missed loan payments. Those rules have been relaxed, according to Wozniak. “When we get to the pandemic, there was a realization that almost nobody was getting anything forgiven,” he said. “At that point, adjustments started to be made to the program.” Wozniak said they have advised students to return to the program even if they had been told they were not eligible because of missed loan payments.

Overall cost of attending college 

INvestED also has a mission to educate students and their families about the overall cost of attending college and the grant assistance that may be available to them, according to Wozniak.

He said it’s important to distinguish between the sticker price and the net cost. Media outlets often will highlight the cost of attending college but will less likely feature articles about the net cost of attending college — after grant funds have been applied.

INvestED counselors advise students to apply to different colleges to determine that net cost. In some cases, the institution with the highest tuition may actually have the lowest overall cost after grant dollars have been added into the equation, he said.

“When we work with families, they’re pleasantly surprised when they find out that Mary or Johnny can go to school for $15,000 net. We look at the actual net cost for that student,” Wozniak added. “With the proper advanced research, students can save a lot of money, which often means a lot less in student loans.”

Feb 21

Strategic planning enabled food bank to readily expand operations during pandemic

By Feature

Retiring Gleaners Food Bank of Indiana CEO John Elliott reflects on his tenure

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

Note: Listen to the full interview with Gleaners’ John Elliott, who talks about strategic planning and provides advice for other nonprofits as they plan for upcoming years.

By any definition, Gleaners Food Bank of Indiana faced a nightmarish situation during the early months of the pandemic in 2020. While demand for food surged to unprecedented numbers, the organization’s typical sources of donations — particularly those from grocery stores — plunged to zero, recalled President and CEO John Elliott, who recently announced his retirement. At the same time, the food bank’s volunteer force dwindled in the face of lockdown orders and the uncertainty around the deadly disease.

Faced with similar daunting circumstances, many food banks temporarily or permanently closed their doors. In New York City, for instance, 39 percent of food banks were closed during the height of the pandemic.

An ambitious strategic plan that had been developed years prior to the pandemic allowed Gleaners to not only keep its doors open but serve 103 million nutritious meals in 2020 — up from 20 million in 2016, said Elliott, who plans to hand over the leadership reins to his successor in September.

“Strategy is absolutely our roadmap,” Elliott said. “We started our strategic plan in February 2019. At that time, we began a lot of change and growth planning, and set a goal of closing the meal gap and keeping it closed. That meant, after 2019, we would need to do 2 ½ that year’s food distribution, sustain it and do it in the right way.”
Along the way, the team also focused on significantly increasing efficiency.

“We did not expect to get 2 ½ times the donations that people have historically given us so we did dozens of things to improve our efficiency,” Elliott said. “We went from 41 cents a meal when I got here to 12 cents a meal last year. There wasn’t one magic thing that led to that, but dozens of dozens of things across the entire organization.

“After about nine months of the pandemic, we didn’t update that strategic plan,” he added. We found ourselves, in a sort of an intriguing way, checking off 2023 strategic plan goals early.”

With the implementation and acceleration of the strategic plan, Elliott said the food bank has undergone a permanent transformation.

“You cannot quintuple your distribution, while simultaneously have dramatically improved the nutritional quality and unprecedented variety of foods,” he said. “We have absolutely left behind the old food banking model of passively waiting to see what loose cans and boxes people choose to donate and then that’s what we distribute. We’ve proactively even maybe aggressively gone after financial resources to shop for food at the lowest cost and at the best nutritional variety we can try to create for the families we’re privileged to serve.”

A renewed focus on employees

Human resources was another key focus of Gleaner’s strategic plan — which also significantly paid off when faced with the challenges of the past two years, Elliott noted.

“We invested in our people,” he said. “We redefined every job, every role in the organization and some of the more impactful ones when the pandemic came along.”

As part of that plan, program staff members served as local service managers of assigned geographies, Elliott said.

“They were out in the field, interacting and working with our partners, understanding the neighborhoods, understanding the counties, and knowing exactly what they needed from us to succeed — not confined by historically what we had done for them or with them. But what did they actually need to do their part of closing the meal gap in their area, providing wraparound interconnected solutions.”

Since that work started in 2019, the team was better prepared to meet the needs of the community. “By the time the pandemic hit in early 2020, we already were equipped with that information. Also, if we had not moved to this current location with this facility in 2010, we absolutely could not have handled the pandemic response. We might very well have done what happened at some food banks and many food pantries around the country, which was temporary shutdowns, limiting our response, and running out of food distributions. But that didn’t happen. We were able to handle it because we were already on a growth and change trajectory.”

As part of the strategic plan, employees were evaluated to ensure they were in the right positions. The organization also hired new employees who would be equipped to handle demands well into the future — not simply fulfill the duties of the previous employees, Elliott said.

“In many ways, we started from an organization that was financially at risk in 2016 to one that is very stable and solid now. It was a financial journey. That financial journey began with my doubling the fundraising team when I got here and, much like corporations will use a dramatic increase in sales to turn the company around, we used a dramatic increase in fundraising to give us the resources to do all of the other things.”

Lilly Endowment, Inc., and other organizations provided the funds needed to expand its team, Elliott noted. “But, from there, we had to earn our own way.”

Looking to the future

Elliott noted that some nonprofits could be shortchanging themselves by focusing on challenges instead of future-setting goals.

“If you have a mindset as a nonprofit that, ‘Well, we’re short-staffed,’ or ‘We don’t have enough funding,’ you can diminish what you get versus if you’re more optimistic and project a vision your stakeholders see, hear and respond to.”

By establishing a vision that Gleaners needed to run at 2 ½ to 3 times the distribution it had in 2019, the food bank was equipped to handle even more under pressure, he said. “Now, we know we can do it in normal times.”