Tag

volunteers

Oct 05

Volunteers, Employees and Medicaid: What Indiana Nonprofits Need to Know This Fall

By Feature

Including a list of helpful resources for nonprofit leaders

By Morgan Riley, Charitable Advisors

Two developments are putting volunteering on the radar for Indiana nonprofits this fall—but for very different reasons.

The U.S. Department of Labor (DOL) recently issued guidance clarifying when nonprofit employees may also volunteer for their employers. At the same time, Indiana is preparing to implement new Healthy Indiana Plan (HIP) work requirements, which will allow certain Medicaid recipients to count community volunteer hours toward maintaining coverage.

For nonprofits, understanding what qualifies as “volunteering”—and when volunteer hours are appropriate—is more important than ever.

The two issues are separate, but both have crucial practical implications for nonprofit organizations.

  1. Can your employees volunteer for your nonprofit?

On Sept. 7, 2026, the U.S. Department of Labor (DOL) issued Opinion Letter FLSA2026-12 clarifying when FLSA-exempt nonprofit employees may volunteer for their employer outside normal work hours (U.S. Department of Labor, 2026a).

The guidance says employees may volunteer if the service is offered freely, without pressure or coercion, and is neither the same nor similar to the work they are employed to perform. Employees cannot designate regular job duties as “volunteer” hours or waive their FLSA right to compensation by agreeing to perform their regular work as a volunteer (U.S. Department of Labor, 2026a).

The guidance reinforces longstanding DOL policy that paid nonprofit employees generally cannot volunteer to perform the same type of services for which they are employed (U.S. Department of Labor, 2015).

Who should pay attention?

This guidance is particularly relevant to nonprofits that:

  • Employ FLSA-exempt staff who also volunteer with the organization.
  • Encourage or expect employees to volunteer at organizational events.
  • Have employees who participate as volunteers in programs or services.
  • Use volunteer hours to supplement staffing.
  • Have policies or informal practices that blur the line between paid responsibilities and volunteer activities.
  • Have employees who want to volunteer for the organization in a substantially different capacity.

A useful starting point: If an employee is performing the same type of work for the organization that they are employed to perform, the organization should not assume that calling those hours “volunteer” makes them unpaid volunteer time. The DOL emphasizes that volunteering must be freely chosen and that the work must be different from the employee’s regular job duties (U.S. Department of Labor, 2026a).

Resources:

Important: This is federal labor guidance, not legal advice. Organizations with questions about a particular employee/volunteer arrangement should consult an employment attorney.

  1. Indiana Medicaid work requirements: Why nonprofits should be paying attention

A separate issue coming this fall involves people who may volunteer with your organization.

Beginning Jan. 1, 2027, Indiana Medicaid will begin enforcing new work requirements for certain adults enrolled in the Healthy Indiana Plan (HIP). Most HIP members ages 19–64 who are not pregnant and are not enrolled in or eligible for Medicare will need to meet the requirements unless they qualify for an exemption (Indiana Family and Social Services Administration [FSSA], 2026).

The requirement is generally 80 hours per month of qualifying activity. Importantly for nonprofits, qualifying activities include:

  • Employment
  • Community volunteering
  • Education
  • Apprenticeships
  • Job training or qualifying work programs

Individuals can combine qualifying activities to reach the required 80 hours (FSSA, 2026).

Why does Oct. 1 matter?

The Medicaid work requirements do not actually begin Oct. 1.

They begin Jan. 1, 2027.

But Oct. 1 is an important date for people whose HIP applications or redeterminations begin in January. FSSA says January applicants must demonstrate qualifying activity during October, November and December (FSSA, 2026).

That means people who need to meet the requirement may need to begin documenting qualifying hours now.

The Indiana Capital Chronicle reported in August that state officials estimated as many as 300,000 Hoosiers could ultimately be subject to the new requirements, although the number affected will depend on exemptions and other eligibility factors (Smith, 2026).

Who should nonprofits be aware of?

This may be particularly relevant to organizations that:

  • Have regular volunteer programs.
  • Work with people who may be enrolled in HIP.
  • Serve low-income or economically vulnerable Hoosiers.
  • Recruit volunteers for ongoing service opportunities.
  • Provide education, job training or community-service opportunities.
  • Work with people who may be looking for qualifying volunteer hours.

There are numerous exemptions. FSSA lists exemptions and other circumstances involving, among others, certain caregivers, people who are pregnant or recently pregnant, people who are medically frail or have certain serious medical conditions, some former foster youth, veterans with a 100% disability rating, and people participating in certain treatment programs (FSSA, 2026).

What does this mean for a nonprofit that has volunteers?

This is where nonprofits may want to think ahead.

Track volunteer hours

If your organization already has a volunteer program, make sure you have a consistent way to record when volunteers serve and how many hours they complete.

Be prepared to document service

FSSA has created a HIP Work Requirements Partner Toolkit with resources for organizations helping communicate about the new requirements. The state also directs members to its Benefits Portal for reporting hours and managing HIP coverage (FSSA, n.d.).

Nonprofits may want to establish a straightforward process for responding when volunteers ask for documentation of their service.

Keep volunteer service genuinely voluntary

The Medicaid rules do not change federal labor law.

Someone volunteering to satisfy a Medicaid requirement does not automatically become an employee. Conversely, an employee cannot simply become an unpaid volunteer for the same work they are paid to perform (U.S. Department of Labor, 2026a).

Train staff who coordinate volunteers

Volunteer coordinators and other front-line staff may be among the first people to hear questions about Medicaid requirements. Make sure they know where to direct people for eligibility questions rather than attempting to interpret the rules themselves.

Avoid promises

A nonprofit can document the volunteer service it provides, but it should not promise that a particular volunteer activity will guarantee someone’s Medicaid eligibility. FSSA makes the eligibility determination.

A quick timeline

Sept 7, 2026:

DOL issues FLSA Opinion Letter 2026-12 regarding FLSA-exempt nonprofit employees volunteering for their employers.

Why it’s important: Review of practices involving employees who also volunteer may be needed.

Oct 1, 2026:

The three-month lookback period begins for people whose HIP requirements begin with a January 2027 application or redetermination.

Why it’s important: Some HIP applicants may begin accumulating qualifying volunteer hours.

Oct- Dec, 2026:

Qualifying activity is tracked for January applicants.

Why it’s important: Organizations with volunteer programs may receive questions about documenting service.

Jan 21, 2027:

Indiana begins enforcing HIP work requirements for new applicants and redeterminations initiated on or after this date.

Why it’s important: Some HIP members will need 80 hours/month of qualifying activity or an applicable exemption.

Ongoing:

HIP members subject to the requirements will need to document qualifying activity according to their applicable reporting and redetermination schedule.

Why it’s important: Volunteer documentation may become an ongoing planning factor for organizations serving affected individuals.

(FSSA, 2026; U.S. Department of Labor, 2026a)

One issue, two very different questions

The DOL question is:
Can our paid employees also volunteer for our organization?

The Medicaid question is:
Can someone who volunteers with our organization count those hours toward Indiana’s HIP requirements?

The answer to the first depends on the employee’s status, whether the volunteer work is genuinely voluntary and whether the work is the same or similar to the work the employee is paid to perform (U.S. Department of Labor, 2026a).

The answer to the second depends on the individual’s Medicaid eligibility and whether the activity meets FSSA’s requirements (FSSA, 2026).

One does not override the other.

Bottom line for nonprofits

If you employ people who also volunteer: Review your practices now and make sure unpaid volunteer activities are genuinely voluntary and meaningfully different from the work employees are paid to perform.

If you operate a volunteer program: Be prepared for some volunteers to ask whether and how their hours can be documented for Medicaid purposes.

If you serve people who may be affected by HIP changes: Familiarize staff with the state’s resources so they can point people to accurate information.

And if your organization is going to document volunteer hours, now is a good time to make sure your system is simple, consistent and easy for volunteers to understand.

This article is intended as a general resource for Indiana nonprofits and is not legal, employment or benefits advice. Because labor law and Medicaid eligibility rules can be fact-specific and may change, organizations should consult the appropriate government agency or qualified professional about individual situations.

Resources for nonprofit leaders

Employee/volunteer questions

U.S. Department of Labor. (2026a). FLSA2026-12: Whether FLSA-exempt employees of a nonprofit organization may volunteer outside of their normal work hours for their employing organization.
https://www.dol.gov/sites/dolgov/files/WHD/opinion-letters/FLSA/FLSA2026-12.pdf

U.S. Department of Labor. (2015). Fact sheet #14A: Non-profit organizations and the Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA).
https://www.dol.gov/agencies/whd/fact-sheets/14a-flsa-non-profits

U.S. Department of Labor. (n.d.). Volunteers. FLSA Advisor.
https://webapps.dol.gov/elaws/whd/flsa/scope/ee16.asp

Indiana Medicaid/HIP questions

HIP Work Requirements Partner Toolkit. (n.d.). HIP work requirements partner toolkit.
https://www.in.gov/fssa/hip/hip-work-requirements/hwr-partner-toolkit

Indiana Family and Social Services Administration. (2026). HIP work requirements.
https://www.in.gov/fssa/hip/hip-work-requirements/index

Smith, C. (2026, August 12). Up to 300,000 Hoosiers could face Medicaid work mandate. Indiana Capital Chronicle.
https://indianacapitalchronicle.com/2026/08/12/up-to-300000-hoosiers-could-face-medicaid-work-mandate/

Nov 25

How Nonprofits Transform Indianapolis Communities During the Holidays

By Feature

by Chelsea Ohlemiller, Charitable Advisors

As the holiday season unfolds, Indianapolis nonprofits step up to meet the pressing needs of the community. Thanksgiving, with its traditions of gratitude and giving, highlights the work of organizations like Second Helpings, Gleaners Food Bank, and many others. These nonprofits do more than distribute meals; they foster a sense of connection, hope, and support for vulnerable residents across the city.

Second Helpings: Transforming Lives Through Meals and Training
For Second Helpings, the mission extends far beyond feeding the hungry. This Indianapolis-based nonprofit rescues surplus food from restaurants, retailers, and wholesalers that would otherwise go to waste. That food is then transformed into nutritious meals distributed to community partners, including shelters and after-school programs.

The impact during Thanksgiving is profound. Each year, Second Helpings ensures that thousands of individuals and families receive hot, holiday-themed meals. But the organization’s work doesn’t end there. Its culinary job training program provides unemployed or underemployed adults with the skills needed to pursue careers in food service, breaking cycles of poverty year-round.

Gleaners Food Bank: Fighting Hunger With Innovation
Another powerhouse in the fight against food insecurity, Gleaners Food Bank has been a lifeline for Hoosiers since 1980. As the largest hunger-relief organization in central Indiana, Gleaners distributes millions of pounds of food annually to those in need.

During the holidays, the demand for food assistance surges. Gleaners rises to the challenge by organizing holiday-specific initiatives like meal kits containing traditional Thanksgiving staples: turkeys, stuffing, potatoes, and more. For families unable to gather around a full table, these meal kits restore a sense of dignity and tradition.

Beyond Thanksgiving, Gleaners operates innovative programs, including mobile pantries and Fresh Connect, to reach underserved communities. Their efforts ensure that no matter the season, families have access to fresh, nutritious food.

Building Community Through Giving
Indianapolis nonprofits also shine by engaging the broader community in acts of service. Organizations like Wheeler Mission and Coburn Place invite volunteers to join their efforts, emphasizing the spirit of giving during the holidays.

Wheeler Mission, a cornerstone for those experiencing homelessness, organizes annual Thanksgiving meals and provides warm shelter as temperatures drop. Their “Drumstick Dash,” a 4.3 & 2.6 mile run/walk held on Thanksgiving morning, is a beloved tradition that raises funds to support their programs. It’s a testament to how nonprofits can unite residents through shared purpose and philanthropy.

Similarly, Coburn Place, which supports survivors of domestic violence, brightens the holidays by collecting and distributing gifts through its “Holiday Giving Program.” Families who have endured unimaginable hardships are reminded of their worth and the community’s commitment to their healing journey.

Challenges Remain
Despite their incredible work, nonprofits face significant challenges, especially during the holiday season. Inflation, supply chain disruptions, and rising demand for services have made it increasingly difficult to meet community needs.

Requests for food assistance have surged by 30% compared to last year, highlighting the growing demand that continues to outpace available resources despite the community’s generosity. (Gleaners Food Bank)

Nonprofits rely heavily on donations, grants, and volunteers to sustain their programs. For those looking to make a difference, even small contributions of time or money can have a profound impact.

How You Can Help
The holiday season offers countless ways for Indianapolis residents to support local nonprofits. Volunteering at a food bank, donating warm clothing, or contributing financially are just a few ways to get involved.

Several organizations also welcome creative contributions. For instance, The Julian Center, which supports survivors of domestic violence, encourages donations of self-care items and handwritten notes of encouragement. These gestures may seem small, but they carry immense meaning for those in need.

A Season of Hope
As Thanksgiving ushers in the holiday season, Indianapolis nonprofits remind us that giving is the heart of the holidays. Their tireless efforts to feed, shelter, and uplift others embody the true spirit of the season.

For residents across the city, supporting these organizations isn’t just an act of charity—it’s an investment in a stronger, more compassionate community. Whether through a meal, a donation, or a kind word, every contribution helps light the way for a brighter future.

To learn more or get involved, contact a local nonprofit to see how you can help. Together, we can ensure that the season of giving leaves no one behind.

Feb 28

Going All IN: United Way event connects hundreds for day of community service

By Sponsor Insight

United Way of Central Indiana will host its second Go All IN Day June 24 across the region

By Margaret Matray, communications manager, United Way of Central Indiana

In the September sun, volunteers armed with flyers and trash grabbers fanned out across the 900 block of North Delaware Street in Indianapolis.

They passed out snacks to neighbors and told them about the services offered at Recovery Café Indy. They spread the word about the cafe’s upcoming anniversary barbecue. And they plucked garbage from bushes, curbs and fences.

Recovery Café Indy was one of several dozen organizations that participated last year in United Way of Central Indiana’s first Go All IN Day, an organized day of volunteering and community service across the region. More than 500 volunteers tackled over 70 projects, including assembling care kits for seniors, mulching playgrounds, planting community gardens and stocking food pantries.

As a result of the event, Recovery Café recruited a handful of new long-term volunteers, and nearly 80 people attend its anniversary celebration, said Aubre Jean, the cafe’s program manager. Go All IN Day also helped the cafe’s members connect with new people and feel supported, she said.

“It felt like we were coming together as a community to do something important, to help maintain the neighborhood and to share the word,” Jean said. “It was awesome because it was not just our organization doing this – the whole entire Indianapolis community was doing something to give back.”

United Way will host this year’s Go All IN Day on June 24 and hopes to grow the event in its second year – with more volunteers and more projects across Boone, Hamilton, Hancock, Hendricks, Marion, Morgan and Putnam counties. The nonprofit is currently recruiting interested volunteers, nonprofits, community groups and grassroots organizations at uwci.org/go-all-in-day.

In the coming months, organizations with an annual operating budget of $1 million or less will be able to apply for small grants to fund their projects. And United Way will help connect volunteers to projects leading up to the event.

For last year project, Recovery Café received a $500 micro-grant that went toward supplies for the neighborhood clean-up and refreshments for volunteers to enjoy while networking after.

Jean saw Go All IN Day as a way to bring together different organizations that share a common goal of helping others. The event also built on the cafe’s efforts to get members walking outside and keep the block clean, as Recovery Café had “adopted” its street through Keep Indianapolis Beautiful.

Recovery Café operates under the nonprofit We Bloom and is part of a network of cafes across the country. It launched out of a space at Horizon House several years ago and is now located inside the Unity of Indianapolis building.

The cafe serves people in recovery – not solely from substance use but also from domestic violence, trauma, mental health struggles, homelessness and other challenges. It offers programs, connects people to services and hosts recovery circles facilitated by trained peer recovery coaches.

Jean said the cafe provides a loving environment. Many members attend daily because it’s their community — a place to belong. There, they can share a cup of coffee or a meal from the nonprofit Second Helpings.

For Go All IN Day, Jean set a goal of recruiting 25 volunteers but exceeded that with nearly 40. Top leaders from United Way and volunteers from Keep Indianapolis Beautiful and First Financial Bank, which helps fund the cafe, all participated – along with cafe members and staff.

Peter Hanscom, United Way’s vice president of marketing and digital engagement, had often driven by the cafe but didn’t know what it did. Hanscom and his family have places where they normally volunteer and give back, but Go All IN Day gave him an opportunity to get out of that comfortable pattern and meet new people and organizations.

After handing out flyers about the cafe that day, Hanscom and the other volunteers toured the facility, learned about its mission and talked with members about their recovery stories.

“The sacrifice of just one day gave me an appetite to stay involved outside of the ways I normally would have,” Hanscom said.

Jean said Recovery Café is still working on its plans for this year’s Go All IN Day. But she’s already reserved a spot online.

The event gives organizations a chance to connect, be creative and recruit more volunteers than they normally would to finish a project.

“It felt amazing to have people from these organizations come and support,” Jean said. “And what it showed is that we are supported and we are seen for the work that we do.

“For any organization who wants to feel connected to that bigger picture and give back in any way – it’s an opportunity to do so.”
To learn more about Recovery Café Indy, go to www.recoverycafeindy.org.

Volunteers and organizations interested in participating in this year’s Go All IN Day can learn more and sign up at uwci.org/go-all-in-day.

Feb 08

Roadmap to unity: How Indiana State Museum and Historic Site’s board prevailed in achieving compliance among its Friends groups

By Feature

Board members and volunteers at 11 historic sites navigate a year-long journey to reach a model of collaboration

by Shari Finnell, editor, Not for Profit News

(Para leer en español, haga clic aquí) Translated by LUNA Language Services

When volunteers are providing an invaluable service to a nonprofit, it can be challenging to tell them that they have it all wrong in some critical areas — especially when they’ve been operating in that mode for years or, in some cases, decades.

That was the dilemma facing the Indiana State Museum and Historic Sites’ board of directors following a March 6, 2019, meeting in which its past board president, Greg Pemberton, an attorney, outlined the need to update a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) Plan for the Friends groups connected to its network of 11 historic sites across the state of Indiana.

“Many of these groups have kept the state at arm’s length for several years, and some are untrusting when both the Friends groups and the Indiana State Museum and Historic Sites (ISMHS) organization both have the same goal,” Pemberton said during the 2019 meeting, before leading a board discussion on numerous areas of concern:

  • Friends groups cannot operate independently of the overall museum system. However, many had been acting independently for decades, developing their own branding for their websites and marketing collateral; operating board-related activities for their respective sites; and, in some cases, identifying themselves as separate 501(c)3 organizations.
  • Some of the groups had been inconsistently reporting tax information to the state, which is required under law.
  • Each group had been operating under outdated MOUs, which were drafted before the museum system became a quasi-state agency in 2011. All of these MOUs would need to be updated to align with legal requirements outlined by the attorney general’s office. The new guidelines would dictate that all funding and donations from the 12-network system, including the Indiana State Museum in Indianapolis, must come from one unified fund.
Cathy Ferree, ISM President and CEO

The board members seemed optimistic that many of these issues could be quickly addressed with new Community Partner Guidelines, and a series of discussions with its five Friends groups. By the end of the board meeting, Cathy Ferree, ISMHS president and CEO, and Kate Brownlee, then ISM chief development officer, had agreed to meet with ISMHS regional directors and friends’ board of directors over a two-month period. The ultimate goal was to have the Friends groups operating under the new guidelines by July 1, 2019.

Encountering resistance along the way

As it turns out, shifting to the new agreement wasn’t a straightforward proposition.

Overwhelmingly, the Friends groups’ response to operating under the new guidelines was, “Why do we want to change things?,” recalled Andrew Briggs, who has been an ISM board member for about 1o years.

“A lot of these groups had been set up years ago,” said Briggs, a banker from Geneva., Ind., who also serves as the chairman of the Indiana Bankers Association. “They didn’t have a structure that was conducive to a quasi-government entity. They sort of did things their own way — ‘under our umbrella and tax ID number.’”

According to P. Garrett Adams, President/Board Chair for the T.C. Steele State Historic Site Friends group, the site in Nashville, Ind., had been operating independently for nearly 30 years. The members of the volunteer organization had developed close ties with the site staff and community, actively recruiting volunteers, raising funds for capital improvements and seeking grants to support enhancements, including a recreation of Steele’s studio wagon, and the purchase of AV equipment and golf carts for visitors.

When that model of operations was threatened to be disrupted, members of the Friends group feared that their long-term relationship with the site and its staff also would be impacted, said Adams, who is a pharmaceutical project manager for Eli Lilly & Co. “We were not as concerned about losing autonomy,” he recalled. “We needed a better understanding of the impact on members and membership benefits. The larger focus was on seeking to understand what it meant for our relationship to the site.”

Because of those types of concerns, at least one Friends group appealed to its local legislators to block the implementation of the new MOU among the historic sites, Ferree recalled. “It was complicated,” she said. “Change is difficult for people. Many of them were confused; they didn’t understand why the rules had suddenly changed.”

Many of the complexities had preceded this particular governance issue. Nearly nine years prior, the Indiana State Museum and Historic Sites undertook the steps to become a quasi-state organization, operating as a state agency and a nonprofit organization. In the face of declining financial support in state dollars, the new structure gave them the ability to apply for grants and invest in fundraising initiatives.

However, it was all new territory. “We needed to raise our own dollars in a way we had not done before. Currently, 75 percent of the organization is funded by the state and 25 percent we raise ourselves,” Ferree said.

Also, before that time, Friends groups had operated as independent 501c3 organizations, Ferree pointed out. Since the statute governing quasi-governmental entities dictated a change in the way they operated, it demanded a shift in the museum’s long-term relationships with its Friends organizations.

Another layer of complexity dated back to 2009, when then Indiana Gov. Mitch Daniels announced a plan to merge the Indiana State Museum and 11 historic sites under one new agency. Many of the Friends group members had been actively involved in their respective sites long before any of these decisions came to fruition.

“We needed to recalibrate our relationships,” Ferree said. “The collaboration had been there, but they had been able to operate more independently. It’s not bad or good. We just needed to be sure we were on the same page; there were things we still needed to do to become a full quasi-governmental organization.

“It was a difficult process,” Ferree added. “It really took a lot of conversation and listening and understanding for us to make this shift. And it’s an even more complex proposition when you’re working with different groups that each have their own culture and needs.”

Board members invest in an intensive endeavor to reach resolution

Although there was strong resistance to the new agreement, the board and staff knew they couldn’t back down, Briggs said. “We wanted to make sure everything was right, and it was time to bring everything in line to match up with IRS codes,” he said. “We had all these different groups doing their own thing. We didn’t want to take the risk of not reporting something correctly. That would put all of us at risk.”

With Ferree and Brownlee encountering significant pushback as employees of the Indiana State Museum and Historic Sites, several board members, including Briggs, embraced the challenge of reaching out to the Friends groups in what would turn out to be a series of meetings and conversations throughout 2020.

Board member Nancy Jordan said it was imperative that the board stepped in to resolve the conflict. “The board has ultimate responsibility to ensure this quasi-government agency is delivering on our mission and meeting the duties of care,” said Jordan, who is a senior vice president at Lincoln Financial Group. “We also wanted to hear first-hand the needs, thoughts and concerns of all these supporting groups. Their voice is critical to our collective success.”

William A. Browne, Jr., ISMHS board president, said it was especially important to recognize the value of the Friends group while, at the same time, being direct about the need for change.

“The Friends groups have had the good goal of taking care of these historic sites but they were not all operating under the same rules,” explained Browne, who also is principal/president of Ratio Architects, LLC. “We have to report every single dollar the sites and museum generates so we can file taxes appropriately. That became an issue over the years because each of the Friends group was operating in a free-form manner, if you will. It’s not the kind of structure that needed to be put in place for a quasi government.”

As board members started meeting with various Friends groups, they understood that the original timeline wouldn’t suffice to achieve true collaboration.

“We started to wade into this, and realized that people were very emotionally attached and we were stirring things up because we were asking them to operate differently,” Browne said. “Some people took exception with that. We had to figure out a strategy because, in the end, we knew it would be nothing but a positive thing for us.”

A focus on listening and collaboration

According to Ferree, the board’s commitment to drawing Friends group members, community leaders, and local legislators into difficult conversations was key to achieving true collaboration.

“The board members went above and beyond, traveling throughout the state, spending a lot of time talking to people and sorting things through,” she said. “They took extended time to move the institution forward in a complicated situation. They brought very different skills to the table, rallying around each other’s strengths.”

As a result of the meetings, the teams established the community partner guidelines, and set up quarterly meetings — to begin in mid-March — and attended by Ferree, board members, and other ISMHS staff. The agenda is set by site staff and the meetings will be run by site managers and regional directors. The meetings are open to anyone in the community, and will provide increased transparency at all levels, Ferree said.

“We realized that we needed to formalize the communications in a way that held us accountable to the Friends’ groups,” she said. “If we were going to ask them to help us do things systemwide, we need to be transparent.”

Jordan said the resulting collaborative approach resulted in a win-win outcome. “A great intangible benefit has been the opportunity to bring the Friends/supporting groups together to learn from each other,” she said.

Browne said the key to any successful partnership lies in the ability to communicate and connect. “With the right framework for that communication to be able to occur, you can bridge a lot of gaps and issues,” he said. “Just setting up a communications strategy is really critical to having a successful relationship and dialogue across distance.”

As a result of that collaborative approach spearheaded by the ISMHS board, the Friends groups are overall pleased with the outcome, Adams said. “We were able to get to a very good place,” he said. “The board did very well in bringing everyone together, talking through ideas, concerns and questions. It worked out very well. We are all now looking through a common lens, and we’re excited about things moving forward and the future of our collaboration.”