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Oct 17

What’s next?: Perspectives on how local nonprofits are moving forward in 2023

By Feature

Several nonprofit employees share their personal insights a year after NFPN survey

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

How is Central Indiana’s nonprofit industry evolving? What’s next for 2023?

More than a year has passed since Not-for-profit News engaged 500 Central Indiana nonprofit employees as part of a “How Are You Doing?” survey. At that time, we wanted to know how the people who make up Central Indiana’s nonprofit sector were faring during the COVID-19 pandemic crisis, stay-at-home orders, and social and racial justice protests.

In September of 2021, a significant number of survey respondents (54 percent) said they were thinking about leaving their jobs within 12 months. And 72 percent said that their nonprofit’s stance on diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) work impacted them.

Recently, we contacted several survey respondents who were willing to be interviewed about what had transpired since last year.

While the nonprofit employees’ responses varied, it was clear that the unprecedented events in recent years significantly impacted how their organizations will fare throughout 2023 — either positively or negatively. One person decided to leave the nonprofit field as a full-time career, while others decided to stay in environments experiencing high levels of employee turnover. For some, the pandemic strengthened their resolve to elevate their nonprofit missions.

The following includes an overview of their responses.

Nonprofit veteran decided to leave industry

A 25-year nonprofit veteran in Central Indiana, who will remain anonymous, quit her full-time job at a local nonprofit, making her among the approximately 4.5 million Americans who quit their jobs in 2021, a statistic reported by the Bureau of Labor Statistics.

“I’ve always prided myself on working in a nonprofit and making it better than it was when I started,” said the employee, who launched a travel agency and consults for her former employer about 5 to 8 hours a week. “I wasn’t feeling that anymore. I wasn’t feeling like I was having any impact on anything. I wasn’t finding value in working for this particular nonprofit.”

While the pandemic accelerated her decision, she said, the work environment — including a high turnover rate among board members, a lack of inclusivity in decision-making, and a toxic culture — already had put her on a course to seek other opportunities.

She said that she believes the nonprofit lost sight of its mission. “To me, this (travel opportunity) is more impactful than raising money for a scholarship or to keep the lights on. It’s filling my bucket, my sense of purpose,” she said. “I’m encouraging people to travel to places they may not normally go. Writing fundraising copy just wasn’t cutting it anymore.”

In looking forward to 2023 and beyond, the former nonprofit employee said, she would encourage nonprofit teams, starting with the top executives, to re-engage with their mission.

“Somewhere, from the top to the bottom, we’ve lost the whole point,” she said. “Are we filling widgets. Are we raising money? With our most recent fundraising letter, they were focused on the size of the document and the need to fill every panel with a lot of text as opposed to what we really needed for our mission.”

Some nonprofits do make a personal connection with their donors, as evidenced by a local cat shelter that sent her a thank you letter for a donation made on her behalf. Along with a handwritten note with a cat image, the nonprofit sent a newsletter that had been written in Microsoft Word and featured numerous images of cats.

“They told me what they were doing specifically with my money,” she said. “There was nothing fancy. They taped a picture of a cat to the front and wrote something meaningful. I still have it because I think it’s so cute. I read it all the time. They got it right.”

The survey respondent also noted that the Great Resignation included people of all ages and industries, including her husband, who changed corporate jobs to work for a smaller company. She believes management will need to have more meaningful conversations with employees about their mission and their role in it. The message should not be “We need you in the office three days a week” or “Here’s a Starbucks gift card,” she said.

Staying the course amidst a sector in constant change

While the recent upheaval in Central Indiana’s nonprofit has been evident in various areas, Patty Cortellini is among those staying the course as director of agency relations for Second Helpings. “I guess it’s in my blood. I truly believe in the mission of Second Helpings,” said Cortellini, who is preparing to celebrate her 13th anniversary at the nonprofit organization.

“From an organizational standpoint, we have seen a lot of turn over,” she said. “A year ago, our CEO, Jennifer Vigran retired, and several other key individuals have moved on to other positions. Internally, we have seen changes among the ranks. The burnout due to COVID is high.”

Cortellini noted that Vigran was among a series of key local CEOs who announced their resignations, including John Whittaker of Midwest Food Bank and John Elliott of Gleaners.

Innovative approaches that Second Helpings implemented to accommodate COVID-19 stay-at-home orders and increasing food needs will likely continue throughout 2023 and beyond, Cortellini said.

“When COVID hit, we pivoted on a dime and created “to-go” containers for drive-through operations. We also implemented home delivery of meals based on need. At the beginning, the calls were screened by the Indy Hunger Network. Now they are screened by Gleaners,” she said. “To this day, we are still delivering food to home bound individuals/families and still packaging meals into to-go containers. I don’t anticipate those models will ever go away.”

The community also has a continuing need for services, based on requests made to Second Helpings, with the number of meals requested doubling from pre-COVID to today. “We have seen the need for sandwiches explode,” Cortellini said. “Currently, we make around 6,000 sandwiches a week.”

Other changes implemented by Second Helpings, Cortellini said, include the following:

  • Second Helping’s CEO, Linda Broadfoot, and the board of directors joined the Good Wage Initiative, a group of Marion County employers who are committed to providing full-time employees a wage of at least $18/hour and access to health insurance benefits.
  • Invested in a new prep area to expand the organization’s services.
  • Switched fundraising events to a virtual format.
  • Formed an internal committee to address DEI initiatives with the guidance of a Martin University professional. The nonprofit had planned to close its office to host the first of two staff-wide DEI training sessions.

Overall, Cortellini said, she is learning to relax. “Just last week, I was able to take a full complete week off,” she said. “I am working on placing more boundaries around me. I don’t feel like we are in a crisis mode like before. We have a little more breathing space.”

Implementing new approaches to nonprofit work

Susan Ferguson, chief program officer at accessABILITY, and a 30-year nonprofit veteran, said that she no longer feels the level of stress she did a year ago. “However, I do believe the almost constant state of stress, overwhelm, and burnout is real in the nonprofit sector,” Ferguson added.

Ferguson noted some positive outcomes because of the major shifts that nonprofit organizations experienced in the wake of the outbreak of the global pandemic.

“New developments include a more remote work environment,” Ferguson said. “We are now looking for new models for space, including renting space in a co-working model for the flexibility it offers. We have a need for a home office, but outside of our administrative and leadership staff, our staff are primarily working from home.”

Community Center’s CEO focuses on community, well-being

For Eric Koehler, CEO of JCC Indianapolis, nonprofit organizations must continue to play a significant role in healing rifts that have emerged in communities in recent years. “The pandemic really polarized our community, our state, our country, our world,” he said. “Our roles as nonprofit leaders in the community are more important than they’ve ever been. Our collective nonprofit mission is to help foster healthier, more inclusive communities from lots of different perspectives.”

He described JCC Indianapolis as a town square of sorts for the surrounding community, no matter a person’s background, orientation, or beliefs. “This is a place where everyone can gather around programmatic interest areas,” he said. “All that other stuff can fall away. That’s probably the most important of our mission. We’re not just a fitness center. We’re a conduit — a vehicle for us to create community. It’s a deliberate process. We foster a sense of community.”

Koehler also said that his leadership team has prioritized the well-being of employees in the wake of the pandemic outbreak. The organization shut down for a day in 2021 for a Mental Health Day, which included a retreat. After the gathering, the employees were able to take the rest of the day off.

“While it’s a common practice in the for-profit sector, service industry organizations may find it difficult to close their after-school care, fitness center, and early childhood programs,” he said. “But we felt like if we don’t take care of our people, they can’t take care of our community.”

Through the national JCC Association, the local JCC also implemented a MESH certification program designed to train participants in recognizing the signs of someone in need of mental health support. The organization also distributed free resources to employees to help them understand where they can seek help for additional mental health support.

On a day-to-day basis, leadership also plays a role in regularly recognizing the good work of their employees.

“As CEOs, our job is to be the primary cheerleader for the organization. Leadership, whether it’s the staff or the board or the executive team, must spend as much time as we can calling out good behaviors,” Koehler said. “We need to praise publicly and provide corrective feedback privately and find moments to celebrate. It shouldn’t be a once-a-month routine. Do it as many times per week as you can. Every time, you tell somebody something nice, you’re filling up someone’s bucket. It probably takes about 20 nice comments to make up for one negative comment.”

To keep up with the demands of his role, Koehler said that he stays grounded through prayer, fitness, and reading. Through decades of serving in the nonprofit sector, he said, he also has learned how to prioritize his varying responsibilities.

“I’ve been working in nonprofits for 30 years and there’s definitely times where you feel it. Sometimes we’re going to have to work an incredible number of hours for a special fundraising event or to open up our waterpark for camp,” he said. “But you can’t sustain that on an ongoing basis.”

Using advice he read in Great at Work: How Top Performers Do Less, Work Better, and Achieve More, Koehler periodically assesses his schedule to make sure that he’s prioritizing the areas that will move the JCC Indianapolis’ mission forward.

“Sometimes it’s very rewarding to check off the quick things that actually don’t move you or your organization forward. It can be satisfying to say that it’s off my list,” Koehler said. “But it’s more important to focus on the things that I’m doing to move my organization and myself, professionally, forward.”

Sep 19

3 challenges a strategic planning process can solve amid financial uncertainty

By Sponsor Insight

How nonprofits can position themselves for success as the pandemic subsides

Alexis Kollay D’Ettorre, consultant, Hedges

Is anyone else feeling a bit of déjà vu after hearing ongoing news reports of an impending recession? You too? It feels as though we just finished with a recession … because we did.

The greatest economic downturn since the Great Depression, The Great Recession, took place from 2007 to 2009, and was marked by financial decline worldwide. From a global economic standpoint, identifying causes of The Great Recession can help us avoid similar events … or to recover more quickly if we do. That approach could be especially helpful given that economy experts predict a continued financial slump and possibly another recession.

The good news is that nonprofits can learn from our experiences rebounding from The Great Recession too. Having experienced that financial decline, funders’ responses to crisis, and surviving the worst of the pandemic, how will nonprofits use that knowledge to not just survive but sustain and thrive?

A Nonprofit Quarterly study of nonprofit funding trends following The Great Recession illuminates potential trends as we navigate this economic downturn with no clear end date. While the rate of nonprofit closure was 13.5 percent during the peak of the recession (2008-2010), the rate was only 3.3 percent higher than it was two years prior and only 5.3 percent higher than it was the two years after. And, because new organizations were launched just as often as they were closed, the number of nonprofits remained relatively steady before, during, and after the recession. This study also found that the most stable organizations during The Great Recession were human service organizations. They experienced the lowest rate of closure and the smallest losses overall. Seems promising, right?

But it’s also important to consider that, on average, Great Recession recovery time for nonprofits lasted about five years, from 2010 to 2015. According to nonprofit fundraising software expert Classy, recessions last 15 months on average. In today’s terms, considering 2020 to be the start of the economic downturn, we’re potentially looking at being in recovery mode through 2027. If we want to be part of the 86.5 percent of nonprofits that weather the recession, clear well-thought-out goals, and actions to carry us through to stability are exactly where to start.

Until a decade ago, Hedges primarily provided grants-related services, but as we saw funders begin to show a deepened interest in nonprofits with active strategic plans, we established a service line dedicated to the inclusive, community research-based strategic planning processes that funders and organizations alike were calling for. Today, we’re seeing this need remain as strong as it was then, maybe even stronger. Whether an organization has a strategic plan is still one of funders’ most frequently asked questions.

When inching our way out of the pandemic, a meaningful strategic plan is an extremely effective springboard toward greater strength. On one hand, some nonprofits experienced significant funding gaps during the pandemic that have left them struggling to remain stable. On the other hand, other nonprofits were grateful to receive a healthy number of unexpected gifts as a reaction to the limited finances nonprofits then faced and the higher need for nonprofit services. But, as we begin to leave behind pandemic-bound operations and related funds have gone by the wayside, how will we re-establish financial security in this new climate? Here are three challenges an effective strategic planning process can solve for nonprofits amid the economic uncertainty we’re facing.

Challenge #1: Not being financially prepared

As the time in which many funders granted nonprofits unrestricted pandemic-related funds to address any need ends, it’s still unclear if funders will return to their pre-pandemic gift restrictions, including requiring that nonprofits fully align with their own priorities. But, so far, that seems to be the trend.

Large U.S. foundation funding increased from 2020 to 2021, but COVID-19-specific funding dropped 31 percent between the same fiscal years. Additionally, corporate foundation funding dropped even more drastically, by a rate of 76 percent. While foundations and corporations continue to give, it can be assumed that the unrestricted funding of the most difficult pandemic years will continue to decline.

Understanding what questions funders are asking now is a solid starting point for preparing your organization to manage financial instability. Many of the trending questions we are seeing benefit nonprofits greatly (and, subsequently, the participants who seek their services) include:

  • Describe your efforts to incorporate DEI into your organization’s work as well as your action plan for addressing your DEI limitations. Of course, this concept was coming into focus well before the pandemic, but as the COVID-19 crisis exposed how acutely present disparities in healthcare, education, and opportunities of all kinds are for people of color, funders and organizations alike are no longer able to place this issue on the backburner. Change must happen now.
  • How will your organization sustain this effort after funding has ended? This is a fairly common question, but it’s more important now than ever. This is your chance to feature the ways you were able to weather the pandemic storm and therefore be resilient and better equipped for continued bad financial weather. Strategic plans play a substantial part in an organization’s sustainability. When we set goals and keep our attention focused on them, we don’t stray toward flashy and potentially unbeneficial opportunities. We build strength and consistency leading to long-term sustainability.
  • Tell us how your initiative is innovative. Highlight your efforts to shift practices amid the pandemic to address community needs and then shift back s (i.e., how nimble is your nonprofit, which may predict your continued ability to sustain during the ongoing financial crisis).

As a part of your strategic plan, be sure to address the critical issue of maintaining funder cultivation and stewardship. While this is Fundraising 101 outside of financial insecurity, it’s easy to set aside relationship development when fires are blazing around us. However, nonprofits that don’t maintain communication and relationship with their individual, corporate, and foundation funders in times of challenge will lose their attention to other organizations who prioritize remaining top of mind.

“Trust, security, and stability” are three key factors Classy describes as essential to retaining and engaging donors in a pandemic and post-pandemic environment. Even as individuals reduce their amount of giving to nonprofits, they will still find a way to give to organizations that they trust. In other words, organizations that continually communicate with them, offer secure and streamlined donation methods, and show stability amid the crisis will earn their trust.

A strategic plan not only speaks volumes for your longevity and vision for the future, but it creates a set of instructions for how you’ll obtain and/or maintain stability. We learned earlier that recessions last about 15 months, and recovery time afterward is about 5 years. It would be wise to set financial goals for the coming three to five years which is, coincidentally, the typical timeframe of a strategic plan, and even beyond.

Challenge #2: Impulsively returning to pre-pandemic methodology

We’ve heard it said in countless ways: The COVID-19 pandemic brought our world to a screeching halt and then turned it upside down. While we’re grateful to have the worst of the pandemic in the rearview mirror, we’re still managing the after-effects, including a struggling economy. It’s safe to say that we will be for some time. Nonprofits shifted their practices in record time to continue their work in a tremendously challenging time. In many cases, organizations changed their methods of implementing existing programs and, in other cases, many established new programs to meet new needs. Regardless of whether organizations wanted to make those changes or not, we’re now faced with identifying how well those changes served us during the pandemic and now, as we move out of the pandemic.

With little certainty about what turn our economy will take next, it is critical that nonprofits analyze how they provided services before and during the pandemic. That analysis can help them determine how they can most effectively meet participant needs in the future. The sooner this is determined, the sooner organizations can operationalize their methodology and stabilize funding sources to match that need.

Holy Family Shelter is an excellent example of commitment to evaluating their service methods before, during, and while recovering from the pandemic, to identify ideal next steps. A program of Catholic Charities Indianapolis, Holy Family Shelter operates as an emergency shelter specifically for families, regardless of religious affiliation, serving as a safe refuge for those facing homelessness and supporting them as they seek permanent housing and self-sufficiency.

When facing the pandemic, Holy Family Shelter was forced to temporarily limit on-site sheltering for those experiencing homelessness since their facility includes congregated communal eating and bathroom spaces. If Holy Family Shelter were to simply stop serving clients because of their facility limitations, more than 750 individuals could be without housing and a long-term support system to meet their self-sufficiency goals. Rather than simply stop partnering with those seeking their services, Holy Family Shelter leaned into what was once a much smaller-scale transitional housing program and worked with existing landlords to ensure clients could remain in their spaces.

They also diverted them to hotels and other safe, temporary alternative housing when no other options were available. Meeting basic needs and providing intensive case management services and long-term support toward permanent housing and self-sufficiency remained a critical component of Holy Family Shelter’s partnership with clients, even in this non-traditional service model, because much of it could be done virtually.

Even as the pandemic-related restrictions were lifted, Holy Family Shelter staff members analyzed their pre- and mid-pandemic methods and determined that they can serve far more clients by continuing to use their new methods than they could before, while beginning to re-integrate on-site housing as well. As a result, what came to be known as the Sustain, Support, and Divert program became a central approach. While these major changes certainly required a significant operational adjustment, returning to pre-pandemic programming practices would simply diminish the impact they could have.

Holy Family Shelter’s experience is a prime example of why strategic planning is so critical. Rather than continue along the same path we always have, strategic planning processes allow us to ask critical, and sometimes tough, questions about why and how we do what we do as well as set a realistic plan for operationalizing new methods. And, when new operations, methods, and funding are required, a strategic planning process gives us dedicated time to set goals and related actions that will progressively move us toward our end point.

As you embark on a strategic planning process and evaluate former and current programming, you might ask yourself questions like:

  • What has changed for our participants since the pandemic began?
  • What will never return to how it was before the pandemic (for example, increased use of digital methods, increased knowledge of race/ethnicity-based disparities)?
  • Can our pre-pandemic methods still meet participants’ needs in this new climate?
  • What methods did we shift toward amid the pandemic that have worked well for our participants?
  • Are there programs we implemented before the pandemic that are no longer as relevant? Would other methods be better to solve those issues now?

Challenge #3: Operating in a vacuum

One of the most critical elements of a successful strategic plan is that it’s well-informed by a variety of voices and ample data. Through a community research-based strategic planning process, organizations will hear from stakeholders about what they need to change, and funders will be able to view the organization as sustainable beyond the pandemic. This introspection should be inclusive of both internal and external research.

Internal research will involve taking a close look at your strengths, challenges, and opportunities. It also will provide insights about what are you doing well, what hazards may come in your way (such as shifting funder priorities), and what exciting prospects are on the horizon (such as a sector-wide shift toward virtual services seen during the pandemic)? It’s also important to include your own staff and board. After all, these are the internal crew members who see your work, day in and day out. When invited to share anonymous and authentic feedback, we see crews impart their passion for the cause, the brilliant ideas they’ve been waiting to share, and constructive methods for improving overall organizational success.

This is where welcoming in an external entity to lead your strategic planning process is so important. As my colleague Hannah Gooding shared, a third-party facilitator provides “the necessary neutrality to collect real information.” Someone not currently close to your organization can serve as a “buffer,” making it possible to obtain honest feedback and share it in a productive way.

This comes into play just as much for external data collection. We must take time to ask intentional questions and gather information from sources we don’t connect with every day. External data collection may include surveying and speaking with clients, families of clients, volunteers, partner organizations, funders, donors, and more. You might also consider looking into the practices of similar organizations and gathering current data on best practices in your field.

Summing it up

If we were to magically jump ahead five years and you had made no changes to your nonprofit’s current operations, what would your reflections be? Would your existing finances and fundraising efforts have sustained you? Would your programs remain relevant if you made no changes to their implementation? Would you have all the information needed to address the true needs in our community?

Of course, as we’ve learned through a global pandemic and looming recession, we can’t possibly predict all conditions that would help answer these questions. But gathering data, making predictions, and implementing a plan that prepares our organizations for greater security, sustainability, and impact for years to come will leave us in an incredibly powerful position despite economic turbulence.

Alexis Kollay D’Ettorre has more than 15 years of experience serving dozens of nonprofits. Her passion for people contributes to strong partnerships with organizations across Central Indiana and beyond as they grow their capacity.

Jul 25

Part 2: Is it time to take a break?

By Feature

Lilly Endowment’s nonprofit renewal program highlights benefits of rest

(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 second part of a two-part series. Read Part 1)

[Headline] Part 2: Is it time to take a break?

[Subhead} Lilly Endowment’s nonprofit renewal program highlights benefits of rest

[Byline] 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 second part of a two-part series. Read Part 1 https://charitableadvisors.com/is-it-time-to-take-a-break/)

What would you do with $10,000? How would you rekindle your passion?

Those are the types of questions posed by the Indy Arts Council to applicants of its Creative Renewal Arts Fellowship Program, an initiative funded by Lilly Endowment, Inc., to ensure that artists and art administrators have an opportunity to replenish and reignite their creativity.

For one applicant, the answer to that question resulted in her traveling to Nigeria, recalled Nikki Kirk, director of community investment for the Indy Arts Council.

“As a dance teacher, she had been teaching various African dances but had never been to Africa,” said Kirk, who oversees the arts fellowship program. “While in Africa, she took three classes a day, learning from the folks who are from the region where it started. It re-energized her teaching by allowing her to really get to the heart of what the dance form is all about.”

Jean Luc Howell, director of historic preservation at Newfields, used part of his renewal grant funds to travel with his girlfriend during an extended road trip. Along the way, they visited historic destinations, including the Biltmore Estate in Asheville, N.C., the Winterthur Museum in Winterthur, Del., and Stan Hywet Hall and Gardens in Akron, Ohio. In addition to exploring the historical sites, Howell made wax rubbings of historical manhole covers he came across.

The award came at a time when nonprofit organizations are under intense pressure to come up with new ways to attract visitors, Howell said.

“Having a break was phenomenal, especially now,” said Howell, noting that many organizations operate on a year-round schedule to remain competitive. “We don’t have quiet times like we may have had in previous years, where you can take a breath, clean your office and catch up on other things.”

“With our current seasonal programming, the schedule can feel unrelenting. You must put something out that’s the best or the newest to get people’s attention,” he said.  “You’re competing against people going to the movies or even staying home to stream movies. And there’s pressure to raise money as a nonprofit through income-generating programs. You can lose the passion for why you wanted to work in a museum or a nonprofit in the first place.”

Giving nonprofit employees an opportunity to step back, whether through the renewal grant programs, paid time off or other benefits, has become increasingly important in today’s climate, Howell added.

“There’s so much more pressure,” he said. “Things like this are going to be more important as we move through issues of DEI and other heavy things we’re dealing with at work. You need an extra break from trying to navigate all of that as well.”

Exploring goals through the process

With up to 200 applicants vying for 40 grants through the renewal program, only a fraction of them will be able to take advantage of a renewal, Kirk pointed out. However, she said, the grant application process itself can be therapeutic.

“Some of the individuals that I’ve spoken to have said that even writing the grant application has been renewing for them because it’s about answering questions like, ‘What do you want to do?’ ‘Why do you want to do it?’ ‘How is this going to impact you?’ ‘What’s inspiring to you?’,” Kirk said.

“For the folks who do receive the grant, it’s really impactful and powerful, eEpecially during these times of COVID and excessive burnout,” Kirk added. “But beyond that, for the folks who aren’t selected in this round they get some form of renewal by writing down what they want to do. That type of creative writing style has an impact.”

Lilly Endowment has numerous renewal programs that are designed to help rejuvenate professionals in various sectors, including teachers, pastors, youth workers and human service workers. The program for artists and art administrators was implemented in the late 1990s.

“People experiencing burnout don’t necessarily turn out the most creative work because their minds are in so many different places,” Kirk said. “Being able to take that time for yourself helps you invest further and more heavily in the work as you come back into the space.”

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.”

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 07

Nonprofit expo returns in person to connect organizations with students

By Sponsor Insight

by Leslie Wells, assistant director of communications, Paul H. O’Neill School of Public and Environmental Affairs at IUPUI

Nonprofits across the nation are rebuilding, working to recover from the job losses that swept through the sector during the COVID-19 pandemic. Dozens of them are now preparing to connect with college students at the 2022 IUPUI Nonprofit Expo in hopes of recruiting new talent for their organizations.

Updated reports released earlier this year found that — as of the end of 2021 — nearly 72 percent of the estimated 1.64 million nonprofit jobs lost during the pandemic had been recovered. But that still leaves hundreds of thousands of positions unfilled across the country.

IUPUI’s Nonprofit Expo will help organizations fill some of those vacancies by serving as a bridge between nonprofit, government, and community organizations and local college students.

“This isn’t a standard career fair,” explains Kerry Lay, a career advisor with the O’Neill School at IUPUI. “It allows nonprofits to connect with large numbers of students in one place and specifically targets those who are interested in working in the nonprofit sector.”

The pandemic canceled the 2020 Expo and forced the 2021 event to be virtual. But students and organizations will meet again in person on March 23 from 1- 4 p.m. in the IUPUI Campus Center. Employers can register for the event until March 21.

The Jewish Community Center is returning to the Nonprofit Expo this year. The JCC provides inclusive experiences that aim to help people grow and build communities through preschool, after-school, fitness, and arts programming.

“The Expo is specific to nonprofit employers and attracts students who want to do meaningful, mission-based work,” says JCC Director of Human Resources Nancy Riddle-Mills. “These are qualities we look for in all our employees, whether they’re full-time, part-time, or seasonal staff.”

The Expo allows organizations to see what’s coming down the talent pipeline and gives smaller nonprofits the chance to build name recognition and recruit new volunteers, interns, and employees. The trade-off for students is invaluable hands-on experience for those who want to work in the nonprofit sector.

Quinlin Malloy, a Sustainable Management and Policy major at O’Neill, attended the 2021 virtual Nonprofit Expo. She met with three organizations and was offered an internship at Camptown, an Indianapolis-based nonprofit focused on connecting kids with nature through educational learning experiences.

“Going to these types of fairs allows you to actually talk with a potential employer in a field you’re interested in before agreeing to an internship or a job,” Malloy says. “That’s a much better approach than trying to search around and hopefully find someone.”

Prior to the Expo, Malloy had never heard of Camptown. But after meeting with the organization, she was selected for an internship in late spring of 2021. And she’s been there ever since. In January, they offered her the opportunity to join their team as a full-fledged staff member.

“Without the Nonprofit Expo, I probably would have ended up in an internship that wasn’t nearly as interesting as what I was doing and it may not have turned into a job,” she says.

Thanks to the Expo, Malloy has a guaranteed job when she graduates in the fall, and Camptown has filled a position that will help them advance their organization’s mission and help education and empower more young people around Indianapolis.

The Nonprofit Expo is a collaboration between the O’Neill School, the IU School of Liberal Arts at IUPUI, IU School of Social Work, the Lilly Family School of Philanthropy, the School of Health and Human Services, the Center for Transfer and Adult Students, IUPUI’s Center for Service and Learning, and the IUPUI Office of Student Employment. Employers can register for the event until March 21.

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.”

Feb 21

Employee retention tax credit: Refund potential for organizations big and small

By Sponsor Insight

by Ryan Lauer, author, Barnes Dennig

Passed as part of the CARES Act at the onset of COVID-19 in the spring of 2020, the Employee Retention Tax Credit (ERTC) Program, in very simple terms, is a credit for continuing to pay employees during the pandemic if certain tests are met.

While the name suggests it’s related to tax, it’s an actual cash refund if you qualify. The credit is driven off of headcount and can add up to a significant sum depending on your total headcount and payroll. It can add up quickly, even for small organizations, as the credit could be up to $5,000 per employee in calendar year 2020 and up to $21,000 per employee in calendar year 2021. If your organization experienced either a gross receipts decline or more than a nominal portion of your business was suspended in 2020 or 2021 because of a government order, you may qualify.

The ERTC did not garner the media attention the Payroll Protection Program (PPP) did when the CARES Act first went into effect because, at that time, businesses and organizations were only allowed to pursue one program – and the vast majority chose the PPP route. However, the Consolidated Appropriations Act (CAA) passed in late 2020 reversed course and allowed taxpayers to pursue ERTC even if they took a PPP loan. Overnight, the number of organizations that could qualify exploded and has resulted in significant cash refunds for thousands of organizations.

The ERTC program is in place for wages paid between March 13, 2020, and Sept. 30, 2021. President Biden signed the Infrastructure Innovation and Jobs Act back in November 2021, sunsetting the Employee Retention Tax Credit (ERTC) program one quarter early (with some exceptions for recovery startups). This early “cut-off” eliminated the 4th quarter of 2021 as a qualifying quarter for the credit – but it doesn’t preclude taxpayers from still claiming the credit for prior eligible quarters.

Qualification: Gross receipts method

To qualify under the gross receipts method, your organization must have experienced a 50% decline in gross receipts during a calendar quarter in 2020 as compared to the same calendar quarter in 2019. To quality in 2021, the threshold is lowered to only a 20% decline in gross receipts as compared to the same calendar quarter in 2019. PPP loan proceeds (when received or when forgiven) are not included as a gross receipt for purposes of this test. While the 50% decline to qualify in 2020 is a steep mark to hit, the reduction to 20% in 2021 results in many more organizations qualifying for the credit. Having said that, the gross receipts method is not the only way to qualify for the credit.

Qualification: Government suspension of operations/partial suspension

Didn’t meet the gross receipts decline test or have a full business shutdown as a result of a government order? There’s still a chance organizations that operated as essential businesses could qualify for the Employee Retention Tax Credit. To qualify under a partial government shutdown, a business unit or program that comprised at least 10% of the gross receipts in the same quarter in 2019 and was suspended from operations (as a result of a COVID-19 government shutdown order), would qualify the entire organization.

For example, if Business Unit A (or Program A) was shut down for a period of time at the onset of COVID-19, and the unit generated 15% of 2nd Quarter revenue in 2019, that could potentially qualify the overall business for the ERTC during the 2020 shutdown period.

Furthermore, in this example, it’s not only Business Unit A that has qualifying wages for the credit: all wages of all business units of the company would qualify during this period of time. Thus, as long as a nominal portion (10%) of the business was suspended, it could be enough to qualify the whole business for the credit.

Eligible wages

Wages that are eligible to be utilized for the credit include W-2 gross wages, pre-tax employee paid health insurance premiums and employer-side paid health insurance premiums. One caveat to keep in mind – wages utilized for PPP forgiveness, or any other credit, cannot also be utilized as qualifying wages for the Employee Retention Tax Credit. Having said that, organizations that received PPP proceeds are still seeing sizeable refunds on the ERTC side, so taking a PPP loan isn’t a reason to not consider the ERTC.

Other considerations

The Employee Retention Tax Credit is a taxable credit. The funding is taxable in the year the wages were paid and could require an amended tax return for taxable legal entities. However, non-profits will not have tax burden related to the credit and may not need to amend their 990s for this.

The ERTC is claimed on an amended quarterly payroll tax return (Form 941X). Once the IRS processes Form 941X, a check is issued to the taxpayer for the credit amount, plus interest. The statute of limitations for filing amended payroll tax returns is three years from the due date of the return, meaning to apply for the Employee Retention Tax Credit for the 2nd quarter of 2020, the amended return needs to be submitted by July 2023. Therefore, there’s still time to apply for the credit.

Find out if you qualify

The Employee Retention Tax Credit can be a massive opportunity if your organization qualifies. With the potential credit up to $5,000 per employee in calendar year 2020 and up to $21,000 per employee in calendar year 2021, organizations both big and small could greatly benefit from applying for the credit.

If you have questions about the qualification process, or want to know if your organization can benefit from the Employee Retention Tax Credit, talk to a member of the Barnes Dennig non-profit team today.

Jan 24

Looking back to move forward in 2022

By Feature

With an unprecedented demand for services, the Urban League and Coburn Place outline plans to support critical community needs, employees and partnerships

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

“Unprecedented.” That’s the word that immediately comes to mind for many Central Indiana nonprofit leaders in addressing the new challenges in carrying out their mission in the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic.

And many of those experiences are now critical in shaping how nonprofits are shaping plans to operate in 2022, including new ways to approach donors, addressing employee burnout and collaborating with other nonprofits, according to two local nonprofit CEOs.

The Urban League of Indianapolis, which promotes economic empowerment among underserved communities through education, job training and workforce development, unexpectedly entered into new terrain during the pandemic, according to Tony Mason, CEO and president. 

“At the onset of the pandemic, we started receiving calls from the senior living communities who were concerned about how their residents were going to get food,” Mason recalled.

After connecting some of the senior living communities to Gleaners, Second Helpings and other food banks, Mason assumed that request had been fulfilled. The team continued to focus on how to shift its operations to a virtual format. 

“But the calls kept coming in,” Mason said. “And they were coming from citizens. We had to do something.”

As a result, the Mason conferred with the rest of the Urban League team about launching a plan to operate as a drive-through food and resource distribution center. Assuming that the drive-through operations would only last a couple of months, the team decided it would serve as a good opportunity to engage and connect with the community while meeting an urgent need, Mason recalled. 

However, by the end of 2021, the Urban League  had continued to provide the service for more than 80 consecutive weeks, at times distributing food to up to 900 households each week, Mason said.

For Rachel Scott, president and CEO of Coburn Place, those challenges included serving an increasing number of victims of domestic violence, a trend that was reflected nationally and globally in response to lockdowns.

“We were inundated with new clients due to an unprecedented increase in domestic violence,” Scott said. “This meant not only hiring and training new staff, but redefining how we serve survivors. We were already set up for mobile advocacy, but suddenly that was all we had. Our staff had to be creative. They did intakes by phone with abusers in the next room because meeting at a coffee shop wasn’t an option.”

Adjusting to growing domestic violence needs

At the same time, Coburn’s development team was forced to turn away donations.

“For the development team, the in-kind donations we rely on to furnish safe homes for families disappeared because we could no longer have people dropping off items in our building, and of course, we couldn’t accommodate our regular volunteers,” Scott said. 

“We produced volunteer opportunities people could do virtually and found other ways to make up for the loss of in-kind donations. We found that many of the things we did because we had to are things we will continue — creative advocacy, engaging volunteers remotely, virtual support groups and new partnerships.”

The team also relied on innovation to meet needs.

One of the answers to meeting the needs of domestic violence survivors was to develop individualized housing safety plans during the lockdown, Scott said. “We worked with other organizations to create solutions for survivors, like hotel stays so they could get to safety immediately,” she recalled. “Our support groups went to a virtual format.”

While delivering programming is critical, it also is important to focus on internal needs, Scott said.

“Nearly every nonprofit organization that provides direct services to the community was pushed to the brink of its capacity in the last two years. We need to prioritize the well-being of nonprofit staff so we can continue to give our best to the people we serve,” Scott said. “That likely means addressing the mission creep many of us have experienced during this time. We all need to step back and make sure we are the best option for clients and, if they would be better served elsewhere, work with other organizations to make sure their needs are met.”

From the perspective of the Urban League, one of the most critical developments from the pandemic has been the formation of collaborative partnerships, Mason said.

“We established partnerships with some of our neighborhood-based, grassroots organizations, such as CircleUp, MD, Before You Fall, Purpose of Life, and Ministries of the Street,” he said. “We had about 10 to 12 organizations which would, from week to week, would come and would also pick up resources and take them back to their congregations or to people in the neighborhoods. We recognized that everyone can’t come down here.

“In some ways, it became an important part of what we’re doing because it positioned us to where we were collaborating more and with emerging and existing grassroots neighborhood-based organizations that would have probably in the past not considered being connected to us.”

Mason said those relationships will continue to be instrumental in meeting the needs of the community in 2022 and beyond.

“It allowed me and my team to better understand who else is out there on the ground doing this work, people who are committed to it,” he said. “People need help 24/7. It doesn’t change. We have pockets of poverty all over the city. Poverty is everywhere. So it’s important to have  this level of connectivity and be in relationships with groups that are doing this work all over the city.”

Scott also said it is important to be transparent when talking to donors. “See and speak the truth about where you are as an organization — not just what seems impressive,” she said. “What a donor wants is tangible ways to help and partner, not just have their own egos inflated. Be candid with your closest donors and supporters. Let them partner more deeply by letting them in on the areas where you need help.”

Dec 13

How we adapt to change can lead to positive transformation

By Sponsor Insight

by Allie Petty-Stone, HR and firm administrator, Alerding CPA Group

We could all agree that during the many seasons of this pandemic, the only thing that seemed consistent was change. Many organizations were facing dilemmas on business continuity and workforce retention while many of us were dealing with our own personal anxiety and uncertainty. We stood in a state of “standby” as we awaited each federal, state and/or municipal update, considering how each announcement could alter the terms of how we engaged business and how it may impact the livelihoods of our people.

The crisis demanded continual high-level interaction and engagement with our leadership and how we proceeded was crucial. It was during this period that communication was critical in keeping our staff informed, however, it felt every update became obsolete as a new media blast would often change the basis of our plan.

Through this dilemma, we quickly realized that good business and best laid plans can be suddenly upended by the happenings within our world. Our team had to be adaptive and malleable with onlooking colleagues and stakeholders counting on us; we had to be ready to respond.

First, let me say I’m a believer in finding the silver linings. Self-actualization can be surmised up by perceiving life’s challenges and difficult situations as a gift. It is within these parameters that we find out more about ourselves. Do you welcome the possibilities that can be evoked through change?

Challenges once perceived as an adversary can ultimately turn into an unintended friend. Yes, these disruptors are inconvenient to our way of life and have the poorest of timing. However, if you look on the flip side, these are tests of our readiness and our willingness to ponder solutions. Whether it be people related or situational, we have an instance to grow, learn and build our skills.

Use change as an opportunity

Change is the opportunity to upend the mundane and breathe new life in our own rationale. Engaging with colleagues, advisors and even a team of strong-minded friends is essential to draw on solutions, hone creativity and offer diverse opinions. These have been some difficult months and the struggle continues for many. Change also serves as a reminder to routinely evaluate our business model and to never get too comfortable with the status quo.

A crisis necessitates change and, as a result, we witnessed many businesses modify how they delivered services for business continuity. Many restaurants moved to a pick-up service during lockdown. Some businesses implemented work-from-home scenarios and implemented more technology to create better connections and a secure environment. Nonprofits held fundraisers through online events and auctions. This creative thinking led to alternate opportunities. These opportunities kept connection to their people and communities. Therefore, the pandemic offered an occasion to look through a new lens and create transformation.

Change also can be cruel, so I do not mean to oversimplify or diminish any pain. However, how you overcome your circumstances is what can make or break you. Accepting that there are times that things happen FOR us rather than TO us is a part of discernment.

Your perspective and next steps determine your resilience and agility through these experiences. With each hurdle, you will become more adept and learn to embrace change rather than just simply “getting through it.” I wish you a positively transformative 2022 and beyond.