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Aug 24

The Nonprofit Board Chair’s Role in Building Organizational Resiliency

By Sponsor Insight

By Erin Hedges, president and founder, Hedges

As COVID-19 continues to change everything in our world and our communities, nonprofit organizations have stepped up to fill in the gaps and meet the needs of those who have been impacted. During the early stages of the pandemic, many nonprofit organizations were able to secure Paycheck Protection Program (PPP) forgivable loans and receive generous donations from individual donors and philanthropic institutions. These economic boosts enabled nonprofit organizations to increase and expand services to meet the urgent needs in our communities as the pandemic unfolded.

As PPP funding runs out, and donor fatigue settles in, concerns are increasing about the resiliency of nonprofit organizations as they navigate the challenge of fulfilling their missions with such little certainty on the horizon. Strong leadership and strategic thinking at the executive and board levels have never been more important as nonprofits not only strive to sustain through this time, but also build resiliency for the future.

At Hedges, we describe resiliency as an organization’s ability to weather crisis, sharpen focus, adapt to changes in the landscape, and emerge with the capacity to have even greater impact. We believe the responsibility of building resiliency ultimately lies with the board of directors in partnership with executive leadership.

The board chair is central to nonprofit resiliency and has a unique role in leading and influencing others through the COVID-19 crisis. Yet, many are unsure of how and where to focus energies among so many priorities. Here are four areas where board chairs can lead, engage and hold fellow members accountable, and foster organizational resiliency:

  • Evaluate, support, and compensate executive leadership. It is the board chair’s responsibility to ensure the full board is supporting the executive director’s success. At the very least, executive directors are entitled to an annual performance review to gain an understanding of where they are excelling and where they can improve. Too often, this process is lacking, which can leave high-performing executive directors feeling undervalued and low-performing executive directors keeping the organization from reaching its full potential. A strong board chair will lead a formal performance evaluation process, which is the foundation for a collaborative and effective working relationship between the board and executive leadership and ensures the organization has the executive talent needed to thrive. Board chairs seeking resources on this topic can begin here.

    An effective board chair will make it a priority to partner with the executive director. Monthly one-on-one meetings, in which the executive director shares what is going well, where they are feeling challenged, and what support they need, ensures the board chair is in tune with the organization and its leader. If the executive director is not meeting expectations, the board chair has the responsibility to clarify expectations and engage the board in identifying supports and resources that can help the executive director succeed. Professional development opportunities, including coaching, mentoring, and training, are a few examples.

    Additionally, the board should review the executive director’s compensation package to ensure the organization is always able to recruit and retain top talent. The Central Indiana Salary Survey Report, published every two years by Charitable Advisors, is an invaluable resource containing local compensation and benefit data. It can be downloaded here.
  • Be a fundraising champion. The board chair does not need to be a fundraising expert but does need to be a fundraising advocate. A strong board chair educates and influences fellow board members and executive leadership to double down on fundraising efforts now in the interest of the long game. First, the board chair can urge fellow members and the executive director to avoid cutting fundraising expenses as a short-term fix, as it will have long-term consequences. Second, an effective board chair sets the expectation for and executes 100% board giving to the organization. This includes facilitating conversations among board members to determine individual contribution levels or a combined board goal, monitoring board gifts, and making asks of those who have not yet given. Third, the board chair reminds fellow members they are expected to introduce individuals in their networks who may be potential donors. This can be done in a variety of ways and staff can play a facilitating role. Lastly, a strong board chair champions board engagement in stewardship efforts through such activities as donor thank you calls and letters.

    Indianapolis social entrepreneur Jeb Banner, in this article published in the Stanford Social Innovation Review, provides further insight into why every nonprofit board needs fundraising champions.
  • Build operating reserves. The importance of the rainy day fund has become abundantly clear in 2020. According to experts, three months of cash on hand is a bare minimum to safeguard an organization in times of uncertainty. Yet, data shows that 32% of nonprofit organizations have less than three months of operating reserves and 62% have six months or less (2018 State of the Nonprofit Sector Survey, Nonprofit Finance Fund).

    While it can be difficult to secure operating capital above and beyond annual expenses, it is not impossible. A strong board chair will address the need for establishing, restoring, or increasing operating reserves to build short and long-term stability for the organization. Once there is board agreement, a policy should be created and approved to outline appropriate minimum and maximum thresholds, how funds will be invested, and how funds can be used.

    The board chair should encourage the finance and development committees to work in partnership to create a strategy and a timeline to secure unrestricted funds that can be held in reserves, most likely from loyal donors who have demonstrated support to the organization over time. Jill Robisch, vice president and senior business development officer, Nonprofit Services, The National Bank of Indianapolis, encourages nonprofit organizations to hold short-term funds in a liquid fund like a money market account that is governed by a short-term working capital policy.

    Longer-term investments should be guided by the organization’s investment policy statement and held in longer term investments, such as equities and bonds. Robisch said that, over time, organizations should work toward having enough income generated from long-term investments to serve as the organization’s short-term liquid capital. A strong board chair will also hold the organization accountable for staying focused on building the reserve funds in accordance with the policy developed and agreed upon.
  • Make every seat count. As the proverb goes, a chain is only as strong as its weakest link. The same is true for nonprofit boards. Members are recruited with the expectation that they will bring their knowledge, skills, and expertise into the boardroom. And, yet, how many board seats are taken up by individuals who don’t attend meetings or are not meeting board expectations? A strong board chair will make every seat count by enforcing bylaws that call for the removal of members who do not make meeting attendance requirements or are otherwise not fulfilling the expectations of board membership. These conversations should be approached thoughtfully and carefully and provide an opportunity for the member to make a graceful transition from the board, potentially into another volunteer role within the organization with a lesser time commitment. Similar conversations should be had with members as they reach their term limit as determined in the organization’s bylaws.

    Addressing board disengagement and term limits will create room for new board members, presenting an opportunity to deepen the organization’s commitment to diversity, inclusion, and equity at the governance level. A strong board chair will task the board with revisiting the ideal board composition for the organization, ensuring that it is diverse and representative of the community, and make needed adjustments to member recruitment strategies. The board chair also should be responsible for creating a boardroom environment that allows all members to have equal voice. Organizations struggling to diversify their boards or provide an equity culture should seek outside sources, beginning with answering these initial questions from BoardSource.

Nonprofit resiliency is not a buzzword; it is hard work. With board chairs focused on best practices in nonprofit governance, including a willingness to support the executive director and lead others toward shared goals, nonprofits will weather this uncertain time ready for greater impact. This is their time to lead.

Erin Hedges founded Hedges in 2002. The Indianapolis consulting firm is focused on increasing nonprofit capacity and impact. Hedges, who is passionate about board leadership, currently serves as Board Chair for Dove House and the Lilly Family School of Philanthropy Alumni Board. She also is a past Chair for Joy’s House.

Jul 13

Lilly Family School alumni share sustaining lessons from the pandemic

By Sponsor Insight

By Abby Rolland, former communications project manager, Lilly Family School of Philanthropy

As states slowly resume operations and the U.S. tries to return to normalcy in the wake of a devastating health and economic crisis, nonprofits continue to serve on the frontlines.

To learn what is happening on the frontlines, Lilly Family School of Philanthropy reached out to alumni working in nine charitable subsectors. Classified by the National Taxonomy of Exempt Entities (NTEE) Code: religion, health, education, human services, public society benefit, international affairs, foundations, animals and the environment, and arts, culture and the humanities, these graduates provided insight about how their organizations responded to COVID-19 and what they are learning.

Insights

In the religion subsector, Winterbourne Harrison-Jones serves as a senior pastor at Witherspoon Presbyterian Church on the city’s westside. He explained that the old models of worship have been challenged, and the church has had to find new ways to connect, show care and form community.

Winterbourne Harrison-Jones

“We’ve had to create virtual spaces for spiritual development and social engagement. The coronavirus has challenged many congregations to think quickly and creatively to stay true to teachings of the church, while also navigating a new environment.”

Harrison-Jones shared videos of services, messages, and music on the church’s Facebook page in order to connect with church attendees.

In the education field, Richard Trollinger works as a senior philanthropy advisor to Centre College in Danville, Ky. In March, the college created a relief fund for students needing immediate assistance during the spring semester. Now, it’s shifting its focus to discuss the ongoing needs for students long-term.

Trollinger also serves as the coordinator of a group of 21 chief development officers at liberal arts colleges in the Southeast.

Richard Trollinger

“We have had Zoom meetings to discuss when and how to reboot our overall fundraising programs, especially major gifts. We want to examine all angles in major gift fundraising and learn from each other before moving forward.”

The subsector public society benefit includes organizations such as United Way. Lisa Busse serves as the engagement senior manager at United Way of Central Indiana (UWCI), which rapidly developed a response to the virus crisis by working with other funders to launch the Central Indiana COVID-19 Community Economic Relief Fund. Busse leads a team that is not only raising funds for the needs in the community during the pandemic, but for UWCI’s regular programming as well.

Lisa Busse

Those fundraisers meet with donors online, openly sharing the challenges of the global pandemic while also illustrating the need for United Way and the impact it has had for over 100 years. Combined with three prior rounds of grants made since March 24, C-CERF has granted $21.5 million to 186 organizations in Central Indiana that serve individuals and families affected directly and indirectly by the COVID-19 pandemic.

Working in human services arena at Gleaners Food Bank, Bethany Watson, director of grants and foundation relations, has seen the number of food-insecure Hoosiers rise dramatically as a result of COVID-19. In April, the nonprofit distributed more than twice the amount of food as it had in April 2019. Gleaners and other nonprofits that are focused on food insecurity have rapidly adapted their services to feed more hungry individuals.

Bethany Watson

Watson said her degree in philanthropic studies has helped her navigate the challenges of a new environment, including writing grants and mananging relationships with funders to help Gleaners make a difference for those facing food insecurity and hunger.

At The Nature Conservancy (TNC), Erin Crowther serves as the donor relations manager. The environment- and animals-focused nonprofit has found new ways to creatively adapt to the new environment and engage with its constituents and the conservation community.

Erin Crowther

“We’ve developed ‘TNC TV’ episodes featuring different aspects of our mission, we held an online board meeting, and we celebrated the 50th Anniversary of Earth Day from all corners of the globe,” Crowther said. “We recognize the comfort our natural world can bring to those who engage with it.”

International affairs organizations based in the U.S. have implemented innovative fundraising campaigns, participated in global giving days, and developed their own emergency responses to COVID-19, according to Lilly Family School of Philanthropy visiting research associate Kinga Horvath, a Fulbright Scholar from Hungary.

“Pooled funds and collaboratives have also become an innovative vehicle to leverage donors’ resources and common interests in order to tackle global societal challenges, locally and globally,” she explained.

Kinga Horvath

Horvath and the rest of the Lilly Family School of Philanthropy research team have worked on collecting data about giving and COVID-19 from around the U.S. and the world in order to assess its national and international impact.

Some foundations, such as Ball Brothers Foundation (BBF) in Muncie, have developed a rapid grant program that is designed to pay out small grants quickly, according to BBF president and COO Jud Fisher. The program assists with immediate needs, and allows BBF to respond quickly without changing many of their systems. In addition, Fisher noted that the foundation is also continuing its general grantmaking cycle.

Michelle Turchan of Riley Children’s Foundation urged nonprofits to be nimble and to ask constituents, volunteers, and donors how they are impacted by the crisis and can best be served.

Michelle Turchan

“We’ve developed a relief fund that allows the hospital to serve the specific needs of families impacted by this health crisis,” said Turchan, regional gift officer. “We know that many of our constituents are in a particularly heightened state of stress, and we want to be sure that we are continually able to best serve them.”

Arts, culture, and humanities organizations face a tough road ahead.

“During previous disasters, sharing space and taking solace in the healing power of the arts has allowed us to grieve together and heal together,” explained Tania Castroverde Moskalenko, executive director of the Miami City Ballet.

Tania Castroverde Moskalenko

“The nature of this pandemic hasn’t allowed us to do that. The current situation has forced many of us to pivot to virtual presentations via digital platforms and social media channels,” she said. “Most of us are planning, creating, and producing content in order to stay connected to our audiences. We are determined to continue impacting lives through our work.”

Lessons

What are some of the takeaways that nonprofit practitioners can learn from peers in the philanthropic sector?

  1. Use a virtual learning/community environment to your advantage. Discover new ways to connect with stakeholders and those passionate about your mission. How can you use online platforms to connect in virtual ways that you weren’t able to or hadn’t tried before?
  2. Be creative in communicating and engaging with your donors. Host regular Zoom meetings. Invite donors on tours of your organization, implementing your community’s recommendations for social distancing. Share stories about recipients or beneficiaries of your organization. Find ways to continually engage with your donors.
  3. Identify ways to regularly meet with your board. Although the virus has altered programs and schedules, it’s important to keep in touch with your board to discuss the ever-changing situation. Keep them involved and engaged, and use their expertise and connections to continue to demonstrate your nonprofit’s case and mission.
  4. Collaborate with others. Search for opportunities to collaborate with other nonprofits, and with businesses and government entities. Much can be accomplished if individuals and organizations work together to better serve their communities.
  5. Listen and respond accordingly. If you’re a public charity, listen to your beneficiaries and the community to see where your mission matches need. Be open and nimble to adjusting plans if you find that your constituents need something different from you. If you are part of a foundation, listen to your grantees and find ways to be flexible in order to quickly respond to community needs. In addition, deliver on your previously-made awarded grants in order to help nonprofits as much as possible during this time.

Since June 2020, Abby Rolland has served as a fellow at The Patterson Foundation in Sarasota, Fla. She holds a master’s degree in philanthropic studies from the Indiana University Lilly Family School of Philanthropy and an undergraduate degree from Gettysburg College.

Through a collaboration with the Indiana University Lilly Family School of Philanthropy, The Patterson Foundation created the Fellows Program. Through this effort, the foundation aspires to create a network of future leaders aligned in its innovative approach to philanthropy.

Jul 06

SBA Releases Updates to Clarify PPP Loan Forgiveness

By Sponsor Insight

By John Haggarty, Gail Bradley and Dave Voris

With questions still lingering about the Paycheck Protection Program (PPP) Flexibility Act, the Small Business Administration (SBA) recently released revisions that clarify guidelines for loan forgiveness, payroll requirements, exemptions and other basic aspects of the program. For the record, this is the SBA’s 18th “interim final rules.”

Nonprofit organizations also should be aware that $129 billion of funds still remain available, although the deadline for the program was June 30. Legislators are expected to determine whether to extend the PPP application deadline as part of the Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security (CARES) Act, but some lenders have closed their portals.

The updates for the PPP Flexibility Act include:

Extended period for loan forgiveness: The loan forgiveness covered period — the timeframe for which the borrower needed the PPP loan proceeds as they tried to continue operations, was originally set for eight weeks. However, the SBA has extended the allowable covered period time frame to 24 weeks. In other words, organizations now have the flexibility to use the PPP loan proceeds with a specific 24-week time frame instead of an 8-week time frame.

A more flexible payroll requirement: Under the new guidelines, a minimum of 60 percent of the PPP loan proceeds must be utilized by payroll to be eligible for full forgiveness. The original PPP guidelines required that 75 percent of the PPP loan proceeds must be utilized for payroll expenses. The rest must be spent on rent, utilities, and other business-related expenses.

Safe Harbor provisions for loan forgiveness: The original CARES Act stated that the PPP loan proceeds had to be used to maintain employment and wages at the previous levels. However, the PPP Flexibility Act has added a Safe Harbor provision in case the organization was impacted by state or national restrictions and, as a result, was unable to return to normal economic activity, or was not able to re-hire previously furloughed employees or fill vacant positions despite efforts to do so.

Process for loan forgiveness: The borrower must complete and submit to the lender a form called the Loan Forgiveness Application. Two forms exist: SBA Form 3508 and SBA Form 3508EZ. These must be supported by documentation to substantiate the eligibility and utilization of the loan funds. Within 60 days, the lender must review the Loan Forgiveness Application and make a recommendation to the SBA about forgiveness and the forgiveness amount. Within 90 days, the SBA will provide the forgiveness amount to the lender.

It’s also important to know that as part of the general loan forgiveness process, the SBA will review the loan for compliance with:

  • the CARES Act
  • SBA rules or guidance applicable at the time of the borrower’s application
  • Terms of the borrower’s PPP loan application; e.g., borrower lacked an adequate basis for the certification made on its application

If the SBA determines that the borrower was ineligible for the PPP Loan, the loan will not be eligible for forgiveness.

The SBA also provides a specific calculation for the loan forgiveness amount, which equals payroll costs (details to be considered) plus non-payroll costs.

  • Details about payroll costs: For the employer, compensation must be paid to employees who principally reside in the United States. Compensation is defined as salary, cash tips, payment for vacation and parental, family, medical or sick leave. It also includes allowance for separation or dismissal payment for retirement benefits and payment of state or local taxes assessed for an employee’s compensation.
  • Non-payroll costs include interest payments, lease payments, and utility payments. The eligible non-payroll costs cannot exceed 40% of the total forgiveness amount.

Notwithstanding the Forgiveness Application, the nonprofit organization must be prepared to provide supporting documentation to the lender outlined as follows:

  • Payroll: Documentation of verifying eligible cash compensation and non-cash benefit payments for the covered or alternative covered period including data such as bank statements or other payroll reports. Such reports must document the amount of cash compensation paid to employees, payment receipts and the average number of FTE employees on payroll employed by borrower on Jan. 1, 2020 and the end of the covered period.
  • Non-payroll: The requirement for supporting documentation includes verifying the existence of the obligations/services prior to Feb. 15, 2020 and eligible payments from the covered period. Eligible non-payroll includes business mortgage interest payments, business rent or lease payments and business utility payments. Applicants may need to provide cancelled checks or online banking activity to prove payments.

Notwithstanding some recent news from the Small Business Administration, you should talk with your relationship bank for details about its specific processes. In addition, the SBA also provides readily accessible materials from the following URL: https://home.treasury.gov/policy-issues/cares/assistance-for-small-businesses

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

Jun 29

Five behaviors to drive your leadership in times of crisis

By Sponsor Insight

By Sara Johnson, director, IU Executive Education, O’Neill School

Unprecedented times. It’s the phrase we keep hearing over and over from leaders around the world to describe the major shifts we’re seeing across all sectors due to the COVID-19 global pandemic.

And in these unprecedented times, we must provide unprecedented leadership.

IU Executive Education at the O’Neill School’s faculty — including Mary Anna Weber, Tom DeCoster and myself — have led teams through crises before. Our experiences can help leaders learn to do the same, starting with five key concepts to form the foundation.

Authenticity

Be authentic. You are going through this crisis just like your team. Be real about how this situation is challenging you, just as you want your employees to share how they are handling things. Don’t vent, though. Save sharing those frustrations for your peers, your family, or someone in a similar role.

Clarity

Be clear about your expectations and your messages. Rich communication channels involve reading body language and being face-to-face with a person. Having face-to-face meetings on Zoom or Skype is better than not seeing someone at all; however, it’s still not the same. People may be distracted physically — working on their sofa and trying to balance a laptop — or emotionally by their current situation. Be sure you clarify your messages at the end of virtual meetings. We know this is an important way to end any meeting, but it’s even more important now.

Empathy

Be empathetic. Lead with grace, focus, and understanding, while being patient and forgiving when everyone is trying to adapt to a “new normal.” Some people have never worked in their home environment before. They may be trying to find ways to work there at the same time their partners are also working from home or while their kids are doing homework. They may also be trying to figure out how technology, like how to log on to the office system remotely. Recognize that all of this can be a challenge.

Expect productivity to dip a bit as people adjust. If you have extremely high standards of performance, you need to relax that a bit or your own frustration will rise. That helps no one at this point. A boss once reminded me, “No one gets up in the morning and decides they are going to go to work and do a really bad job.” If you hired the right people in the first place, their performance will come back. Good people want their leader to succeed, too.

Consistency

Be consistent. Be the person your team knows you to be. Don’t take on behaviors that are inconsistent with who you are. You are a leader and when things are in an upheaval there is a tendency to get into the operations where you can be in greater control. There is no greater time for you to be leading rather than focusing on operations. Keep the sights set ahead and point the way for your team, even if the future is a bit muddied in your own mind. Leaders never have total clarity when leading. Don’t let a little fog stop you from ensuring your team is still moving forward.

Intentionality

Be intentional. Make it a point to communicate regularly and with purpose. There is a balance between inundating people with multiple communications to the point they get overwhelmed and even confused. Know what you specifically want to inform people about, even if it’s simply what you know and don’t know at a given point. People appreciate hearing from you even if it’s just that you don’t have information yet. This builds trust and lets them know you are still there, monitoring developments.

Keep in mind that right now you are helping your team make sense of this new and unpredictable journey. One thing that helps in sensemaking is consistent leadership and being a leader who can be trusted. If you lead with these behaviors, you will ensure your team can trust you to be that same person who looks out for and leads them on the average “day at the office.”

Sara Johnson is clinical assistant professor for the Paul H. O’Neill School of Public and Environmental Affairs and Director of IU Executive Education. Professor Johnson teaches graduate and executive education courses. She is a Fellow of the American College of Healthcare Executives (FACHE) and recently served the College as the Indiana Regent. As Director of Indiana University Executive Education, Professor Johnson leads a team of over 40 faculty and staff who are engaged in providing the highest level of leadership development and strategic organizational consulting.  

Jun 15

In today’s environment is strategic planning still valid?

By Sponsor Insight

By Jan Breiner Frazer, managing member, Planningplus, LLC

In this country, we have experienced a number of events during the last two decades that resulted in immediate impact on business and industry, beginning with 9/11, followed by the 2008 recession and the far-reaching Affordable Care Act.

But in those cases, we could somewhat foresee the horizon and plan accordingly – we had end goals in sight. But in this world of the global pandemic with various levels of quarantine, shifting guidelines and re-opening dates, and bombardment of news (often conflicting), we are not sure we can even plan on next month.

While strategic planning is still valid, it is not as we’ve always known it. Planning Plus’ expertise has long been in designing and facilitating strategic planning, generally for three-year periods. However, we are revising our methodology during this extraordinary time to remain flexible and adaptable.

As we enter the post-COVID office environment, we are shifting to assist our clients with 18-month micro-planning cycles accompanied by some of the following critical recommendations:

  1. Break down the mission into priorities. One of the challenges in planning with nonprofit agencies is that, by their very nature, they want to help everyone within their sphere with multiple programs, multiple stakeholders, and the requisite multiple funding streams. We are encouraging our clients to focus on the top three priorities as dictated by their mission statements – and then prioritize those. Get very, very clear on what you do and for whom, with a sharper focus on funding options.
  2. Build accountability checks into the plan. We need to keep as little as possible from slipping through the cracks, and following through on initiatives and meeting time deadlines is more critical than ever, particularly as funding sources are still fluid.
  3. Place more emphasis on searching out alliances and partnerships. After the dust settles, if it ever does, there will most likely be fewer nonprofits standing, and those that survive must work closer together.
  4. Build in scenario planning. While the global pandemic took many of us by surprise, there are possible scenarios we can begin discussing, particularly when facing funding reductions. Think through what could yet change and begin to create responses. For every goal or initiative, create a Plan A, Plan B and then Plan C along the lines of “if/then.”
  5. Establish a cash reserve, even it that would mean scaling back on services and/or programs. It doesn’t help your stakeholders if you can’t weather any future storms and go out of business.
  6. Tighten relationships with your board. This is the time when board members can no longer passively attend board and committee meetings. As staff has been trimmed, identify the skill sets the board can contribute to administrative and operational decision-making to make up for fewer staff members. We are certainly not condoning moving from a governance to a management role but boards need to increase help where they can.
  7. Most importantly, build in and utilize formal channels to ensure consistent communication with internal teams and external stakeholders – particularly donors. While communication may appear to an operational rather than strategic initiative, everyone is trying to make sense of what has happened, how it affected them, and what may come. Staying close to those who make the organization successful is imperative.

If your head is spinning on how to move forward, we can help structure a focused, effective, and realistic plan to continue to move forward in a world of uncertainly and unknowns.

Jan Breiner Frazier, managing member of Planning Plus, has been a consulting professional since 1987. She has designed and facilitated strategic, annual, and operational planning sessions for a multitude of organizations, often bringing together diverse philosophies, opinions, and perspectives to help groups collectively meet stated objectives. Often, her planning projects have resulted in assisting with organizational design and process improvement initiatives. Her work with nonprofit boards and associations has ranged from strategic planning, board development and committee structure to identifying organizational competencies. She can be reached at
jfrazier@planningplusllc.com.

Please contact us to discuss how we can help you.

Jun 08

Where tax-exempt plans are focusing in uncertain times

By Sponsor Insight

By Sandy McCarthy, president of Retirement Services, OneAmerica

In the face of these uncertain times, we’ve seen new-found levels of appreciation and respect for the organizations providing vital assistance to our communities and citizens. As you know, hospitals and healthcare systems, social and community-service organizations, and religious institutions have stepped up to provide care, support and relief to those in need. These tax-exempt organizations are the foundations of our communities and have always been a top focus for OneAmerica®.

Though 2020 – with the SECURE Act, the COVID-19 pandemic and the CARES Act – has presented challenges for all plan sponsors, tax-exempt plans have some unique concerns and considerations.
Here are a few things we’re urging tax-exempt employers to keep top-of-mind as they navigate the current environment.

Responding to the SECURE Act: This landmark legislation provides the most significant changes to the retirement industry in more than a decade and makes investing for retirement more accessible to millions of Americans. Though the most dramatic changes are for 401(k) plans, there are also provisions impacting 403(b) plans and participants. From tax credits to distributions and more, it’s important for your plan to work with a company that understands the ins and outs of this legislation.

Benefiting from the CARES Act: Aimed to provide relief in crisis, the CARES Act has a number of provisions that benefit tax-exempt organizations. Depending on each unique situation, organizations may want to take advantage of specific provisions – loan resources, employee retention credits or deferring employer payroll taxes. It’s beneficial to work with a company that understands your challenges and helps you best utilize available relief.

Providing for participants’ needs: These uncertain times are challenging organizations and individuals alike. Ensuring your employees have the resources they need to understand recent legislation, market volatility and financial wellness in general will help support them to make the decisions that best align with their needs. And, employee education should cover more than just financial wellness. We recently introduced materials to focus on employees’ emotional wellbeing – understanding that the two are deeply connected.

Complying with the 403(b) plan restatement requirement: The Internal Revenue Service (IRS) has extended the 403(b) restatement deadline from March 31 to June 30, 2020. By restating plan documents onto an IRS-approved document, the IRS is essentially putting a seal of approval on the plan – providing it the type of protection that 401(k) plans have had for decades. Restatement or transferring the existing plan provisions also gives plans a chance to fix errors proactively, and may be an optimal time to review the plan itself. You can learn more about plan restatement here.

Maximizing plan design: Plan design can be vital to achieving desired outcomes, and it’s necessary to keep a constant pulse on whether the plan is operating as intended. COVID-19 has caused many organizations to reassess elements of their plan, like employer contributions, and make difficult decisions on other issues, like temporarily eliminating matching contributions. Your plan’s service provider should be able to work with you to ensure your plan is designed in a way that meets your goals and aligns with your mission.

Ensuring your service is customized: We believe tax-exempt employers do best to work with a company that understands the nonprofit sector and can offer customized solutions that meet each plan’s unique needs. With a 55-plus-year history of serving tax-exempt plans, the companies of OneAmerica have taken a unique approach to offering guidance in the COVID-19 era. Combining industry research with findings from virtual client focus groups, we created materials for our nonprofit and healthcare clients to outline industry issues and hot topics, as well as action items to consider. It’s important to keep in mind that off-the-shelf, cookie cutter solutions aren’t always best-suited for tax-exempt plans, and these employers should ensure they’re getting the customized support that meets their needs.

Connecting with a financial professional: When compared to the for-profit market, many tax-exempt organizations are underserved in this area – with approximately 46% of plans not connected with a financial professional. Now more than ever, these plans may wish to work with a trusted professional who can help them understand and react to changing conditions and legislation.

In these truly unprecedented times, we’re seeing more reliance than ever on the hospitals and nonprofit organizations that exist to care for and support those in need. As the foundation of our communities, tax-exempt organizations continue to be essential. These vital organizations deserve the support and assistance they need to thrive.

As president of Retirement Services, Sandy McCarthy leads the OneAmerica® team offering defined contribution and defined benefits services with a strong focus on customized retirement plans through highly personalized administration and recordkeeping services. She brings more than 30 years of industry experience, including key leadership roles at Mercer, ING (now Voya), and CitiStreet.

Previously she spent seven years in leadership roles as a senior partner at Mercer, where she served as North America Region Benefits Administration Business Leader, following a position as CEO and board member Asia Pacific Outsourcing Business living in Melbourne, Australia.

McCarthy graduated with honors from Tufts University, earning both her undergraduate in sociology/education and Master of Arts degree in education, then completing an MBA from the Fuqua School of Business at Duke University.

She currently serves on the boards of the American Red Cross of Indiana (ARC), Junior Achievement of Central Indiana (JACI), Employee Benefit Research Institute (EBRI) and LIMRA LOMA Secure Retirement Institute (SRI).

OneAmerica is the marketing name for the companies of OneAmerica®. Products issued and underwritten by American United Life Insurance Company® (AUL), a OneAmerica company. Administrative and recordkeeping services provided by McCready and Keene, Inc. or OneAmerica Retirement Services LLC, companies of OneAmerica which are not broker/dealers or investment advisors. Provided content is for overview and informational purposes only and is not intended and should not be relied upon as individualized tax, legal, fiduciary, or investment advice.

May 26

CICF commits to not returning to ‘business as usual’ after COVID-19

By Sponsor Insight

By Brian Payne, president/CEO, and Gregory F. Hahn, chair, Central Indiana Community Foundation

One year ago, you heard us pledge our commitment to this community. Central Indiana Community Foundation, The Indianapolis Foundation, Hamilton County Community Foundation, and Women’s Fund of Central Indiana came together and pledged to mobilize people, ideas and investments to make this a community where all individuals have the equitable opportunity to reach their full potential—no matter place, race or identity. That is our mission. And it has never been more critical than right now.

The uncertainty and vulnerability that has weighed on all of us for weeks have been an everyday reality for many residents, neighborhoods and communities in Central Indiana for generations.
We recognize the uniquely destructive impact that the COVID-19 pandemic is having on residents already made vulnerable by business as usual in an unfair and unjust system. We refuse to return to business as usual after this moment has passed.

As we all work to find a way to navigate this health and economic crisis, we are making another commitment:

  • To every family impacted by the loss of jobs and income, we are with you.
  • To small business owners and gig-workers navigating an uncertain future, we are with you.
  • To artists and performing arts organizations who have canceled exhibits and performances, we are with you.
  • To organizations reinventing themselves to accommodate a new reality, we are with you.
  • To students whose educations have been interrupted and those robbed of the safe haven and meals that school provides, we are with you.
  • To senior citizens and those with disabilities who are now feeling even more isolated, we are with you.
  • To our neighbors living without shelter or struggling to meet their basic needs, we are with you.
  • To the workers on the frontline taking risks to keep us fed, healthy and safe, we are with you.
  • To the immigrants and refugees separated from lifesaving resources by a language barrier or their undocumented status, we are with you.
  • To the Black and brown families devastated by disproportionate access to quality health care and a corresponding increase in illness and death, we are with you.
  • And to everyone grieving, we are with you.

The neighborhoods hit hardest by this pandemic are the very ones where we’ve worked with CICF Community Ambassadors to build meaningful relationships through listening and learning.

We are committed to continuing this work — especially in our communities of color who have been historically ignored. We will continue to invest in their futures because they are our future. We will hold to our mission of equity and continue our work to dismantle systemic racism, remove the barriers separating opportunity from so many of our neighbors, and create our Inclusive City and region. We will give residents the support they say they need. We will continue to fight for you and lead with you. Now and when the COVID-19 headlines have passed.

There are ways that every one of us can help our neighbors during this difficult time. Check on your neighbors — especially if they are seniors. Leave a note in the mailbox with a way to reach you. Before you take a trip to the grocery store or pharmacy, ask if your neighbor needs anything. Check the credibility of information and resources before sharing. (CICF is curating a list of resources available on our website at cicf.org) Our community’s not-for-profits need support now more than ever. Give to them if you can. Find ways to stay connected with loved ones.

Take care of yourself. Be safe. Be kind.

And remember that we are community. We are in this together. And we are with you.

May 04

Where have ergonomics gone?

By Sponsor Insight

By Cody Lents, change manager, Covi

The past few weeks have sent us disruption after disruption and change after change. Most of us have experienced a massive shift in incoming business, a migration of our workforces from the office to work from home, and an influx of administrative tasks and emails. Not only has the work force made a shift, so have students and teachers and now home is the classroom with e-learning.

As we continue work and classes in home spaces, it may be beneficial to remember the ergonomics and body posture in the office and classroom don’t always translate to the home work spaces.

To avoid discomfort in the upper and lower back and a pain in the neck adults and children alike should think about the following tips:

  • Eyes straight: If working from a laptop, elevate the device so that the screen allows your eyes to stay level (as opposed to looking downward…at your lap area). Keep shoulders back and down and top of the head towards the ceiling. This will avoid tension on the upper back (shoulder blade area) and the neck. You don’t have to purchase a fancy monitor or docking station to accomplish this. Be creative with a large, leather-bound book or riser from Amazon.
  • Elbows at 90-degrees: Try to keep your laptop or keyboard/mouse at a level where your arms can stay near a 90-degree angle to avoid tension in the shoulders and progress towards wrist pain. This also helps to keep your head level. If a laptop causes problems here, an external mouse and keyboard will go a long way to repositioning your hands, arms and shoulders. There are both wired and wireless options with plug-and-play simplicity that are inexpensive.
  • Feet on the floor: Keep your feet on the floor and leg space clear. This will help alleviate tension from the lower back.
  • Lumbar support: If you feel excess tension on your lower back, a lumbar support cushion or wearable strap will go a long way to relaxing the joints, muscles and disks that are hard at work supporting your new work-at-home habits.

A combination of these tips will help everyone stay focused, productive, and avoiding the chiropractor when the world swings back to normal.

Stay happy and healthy! We’re all in this together…

Here’s an additional resource: Ergonomics Recommendations for Remote Work
https://www.ehstoday.com/health/article/21127667/ergonomics-recommendations-for-remote-work

For nearly seven years, Cody Lents has been a changemaker at Covi. His pursuit of variety is relentless. From music to tech to business to his personal running routes, he’s comfortable with change. He seeks out growing companies and nonprofits because they evolve quickly, and they appreciate his adaptability. Cody works alongside visionary leaders, anticipating their needs and supporting their success. He’s a tireless advocate for his clients.

Apr 20

Help your team care for themselves and they will care for others

By Sponsor Insight

By Jodi Snell, vice president, Hedges

We work with some of Indy’s best at Hedges. Hard to believe, it has been five weeks since we all started working from home. While working remotely is not a completely new concept to our Hedges team, working from home 100% of the time while being surrounded by our loved ones is new to us.

Last week, we took the time to send out some extra communication via email to let Hedges employees know how much we value them. It was something we called Monday morning motivation. The response from our team told us that we were right on the money. They needed to be reminded that it’s okay to care for themselves during this time. As a result of this intentional communication, we received positive feedback from team members and learned that people felt relief, support, and gratitude for such open communication during this time.

We were inspired by how much this message meant to our team and during this time when collaboration and community mean so much, we wanted to give others permission to “borrow” our idea and hope that it can be a resource for those nonprofit leaders looking to communicate the value of self-care to their teams amidst COVID-19.

Here’s what we sent to Hedges employees

We have made it 4 weeks!! Thank you all for taking such good care of our clients. Each of you have gone above and beyond in so many ways. You have reflected the Hedges values repeatedly during this time and we appreciate you so much!

With that said, we wanted to touch base and make sure that you are caring for yourself as much as you are caring for our clients. Below are a few things that we want to reiterate and put out into the universe for each of you to read:

Let go of any guilt: We are so thankful to have a team of high achievers. That is what makes this transition to the full team working remote so easy for us. We know that you will take care of our clients and go above and beyond for them.

So…let go of the guilt about not being your most productive self right now or not getting in eight hours a day. We know you will take care of your clients and all client work will be completed. We aren’t counting hours and you shouldn’t either. Put that guilt on a boat and send it down the river!

Loved ones included: Dog barking? Cat walking across your keyboard? Kiddos popping in on a meeting? Partner walking in during a meeting? We are all in the same boat – all of us at Hedges and everyone else in the community. Try to remember those little windows into us as humans are okay – find the joy in those moments rather than worrying about them!

Give yourself a break: Hitting a wall? Can’t seem to finish that deliverable? Kiddos asking you to play? Want to have lunch with your loved ones? Feeling down? Need a nap? Have a desire to help and volunteer right now?

Give yourself permission to take a break. If you need to take part of a day away to just recharge during this time, please do so and don’t use your PTO. Consider it self-care and do it! You will be way more productive if you take a break and come back to your work. Please, please, please take the breaks you need to care for yourself right now.

You do you: Depending on your workload and the type of work you are trying to knock out you might need less or more face-to-face time with others. Please determine what you need each week and plan accordingly.

Need some heads down time or a break from Zoom? Let the team know, turn off Microsoft Team chat, and move unessential meetings to emails. Need a space to process and talk through a project with someone? Tap into someone on the team who has the space to do that with you! We all have different capacity levels each week, so let’s lean into that as a team.

It is our hope that these reminders will remove any stressors that you might be feeling related to work. In a time like this, we will each have good days and bad days. If you are feeling a certain way, someone else is probably feeling that way too. Check in on each other – take care of each other.

There are some videos about mental health related to identifying stress, your workspace, and practicing gratitude in First Person’s resource hub that might be helpful during this time. And, if you need additional supports or resources, please let us know.

With gratitude for all you do.

Focused on equity, justice, and serving others, Jodi Snell is leading the way to make Central Indiana a vibrant place to live and to strengthen the nonprofit sector. Jodi has worked and volunteered with an array of nonprofit organizations for more than 12 years providing leadership and strategy, serving on the front line of direct service, and leading fundraising efforts. Since 2014, Jodi has shared her valuable leadership skills as an essential thought partner and problem solver at Hedges. She leads the Hedges team and clients in a manner that transforms visions into impactful and measurable change.

Apr 20

O’Neill grad students put classroom lessons to work for communities

By Sponsor Insight, Uncategorized

By Leslie Wells, assistant director of communications, O’Neill School at IUPUI

As two teenage girls stood before the Batesville, Indiana, City Council, they waited to make their case for funding. The Batesville Mayor’s Youth Council had received $5,000 through the Indiana Housing and Community Development Authority’s (ICHDA) My Community, My Vision grant program (MCMV). If they couldn’t come up with another $7,000, they’d have to take their public art project back to the drawing board.

In the crowd at the council meeting was Stacy Robinson, a public affairs graduate student from the O’Neill School at IUPUI. She had been working with the Mayor’s Youth Council for months through her My Community, My Vision Fellowship at the O’Neill School. Her assignment: to help the teens develop a proposal that would bring national artist Kelsey Montague to Batesville to paint two interactive murals.

“The meeting actually was a little tense,” Robinson recalls. “Some of the city councilors didn’t like their idea.”

Former Indiana Lieutenant Governor Sue Ellspermann started MCMV in 2014 to bring development to Indiana communities and engage young people. Every year, youth-led organizations from across the state apply to the program. Each group selected receives a $5,000 grant toward a community development project. They are also paired with an O’Neill IUPUI graduate student who guides them through the process. As part of the fellowship, each grad student receives $10,000 over the course of two semesters.

“Community engagement is the lesson plan at O’Neill,” says Marshawn Wolley, O’Neill’s director of community engagement and strategic initiatives. “This is a great example of the innovative partnerships we try to develop in order to advance student learning and impact communities at the same time.”

Wolley and O’Neill Associate Professor Adam Eckerd helped create the partnership with ICHDA and bring the MCMV grant program fellowship to the school.

“Students come into an MPA program eager to foster policy change and make communities better, but they don’t often get the opportunity to see that change actually happen,” says Eckerd. “The My Community, My Vision program allows our grad students to get hands-on experience using what they’re learning to lead real positive change in Indiana communities, while also having an influence on high school students who will be future public leaders.”

That combination is why Robinson applied for the fellowship. She came to the O’Neill School because of its reputation in the nonprofit world. Yet experiences like this one help her learn how to apply her education to any sector.

“I liked the idea of learning more about how local government works while working with youth,” said Robinson. “They’re at an interesting time in their lives when they care so much about what’s happening around them, but they often aren’t given opportunities to make change happen.”

Once she was paired with the Mayor’s Youth Council, Robinson sat down with the teens to get a better understanding of what they wanted to do and why.

“They already had community surveys that told them there wasn’t a lot for young people to do,” she says. “They wanted to make Batesville feel like a more vibrant place that young people would want to come back to after graduation.”

Robinson taught the enthusiastic teens to think critically about how to turn their artistic dreams into reality. She worked with them on how to evaluate the project and get more feedback from their neighbors. That community buy-in, Robinson told them, was critical.

“If the community doesn’t like an idea selected by a small group of people, that’s not a good public art project,” she said. “You need to make sure the community is on board with it.”

Not only did the community support the project, but so did the city council. At the meeting, they agreed to cover the remaining costs and move the Youth Council’s plan from paper to paint. Since last summer, two murals now enhance downtown. The first is a tree swing painted on Miss Shannon’s Music Studio in the Batesville Shopping Village. The second, a butterfly mural, is on Hillrom’s Training Center on Walnut Street.

Kim Linkel, an advisor for the Youth Council, says Robinson’s guidance not only made the project better but also helped the teens develop leadership skills.

“Stacy always allowed them to drive the project,” Linkel says. “They’ve realized that they’re not just some club that doesn’t make an impact. They see that, even though they’re young, they can drive change in their community.”

Their newfound confidence came through in the City Council meeting. The teens presented a strong case and convinced councilors to provide additional funding to cover the remaining cost for the murals.

The My Community, My Vision partnership paid off for Batesville, its Mayor’s Youth Council members, and for Robinson.

“It was a really positive experience,” she says. “It was great to actually be able to put things into action that we learned in the classroom and I enjoyed working with the youth. They made me feel excited and hopeful about the future.”

To read the teens’ proposal, click here.

Leslie Wells joined the O’Neill School at IUPUI as its assistant director of communications in 2018. She previously spent more than a decade in broadcast news and three years as media relations manager at the Indiana Youth Institute.