A commission that has drawn $12.5 million in grants and public money to promote Indianapolis’ artistic side is awaiting word
on its future.
Ingersoll-Rand donated $35,000 worth of materials, $15,000 for engineering and labor, and future support to IPS 94.
In 2008, a Hoosier economist suggests consumers first pay off their debts, then invest in a liberal education and other causes
that enrich lives.
Giving Sum, an agency run by volunteers, holds monthly philanthropy leader lunches, and annually distributes $50,000, volunteer
time and advocacy to promote social reform ideas.
Area not-for-profits are beginning to feel the sting of the year-old credit crunch, which has escalated into a full-blown
financial crisis that’s battered investors and likely pushed the nation into recession.
Nearly half the money Indiana foundations gave away in 2005 went to educational organizations-more than twice the rate of such giving nationally, according to a new study from Indiana University’s Center on Philanthropy. All told, the state’s independent, corporate and community foundations awarded $450 million in grants to support education, 47 percent of the $965 million total. Nationally, about 23 percent of foundation giving goes to education. “My intuition tells me … foundations are making education a priority as the…
Columbus philanthropist J. Irwin Miller’s family is poised to donate his majestic home to the Indianapolis Museum of Art,
provided it can raise millions of dollars to maintain the sprawling Bartholomew County property. IMA board members have given
CEO Maxwell Anderson the go-ahead to seek funding for an endowment to care for the home.
Stock markets are falling, jobs are disappearing, and the outlook for the economy seems grim. Banks, real estate developers,
retailers and manufacturers are taking the worst hits, but all types of businesses in central Indiana are hurting. From health
care to technology, education to philanthropy, every industry is trying to take the setbacks in stride.
These days, many Indianapolis arts organizations barely know where their next dollar will come from. But an innovative
fund-raising model that’s found success in other cities might provide that sorely needed cash. In Cincinnati,
a venerable not-for-profit called the United Arts Fund, founded in 1927, stages an annual workplace campaign,
then doles out the bountiful proceeds to local arts organizations.
Since its origins as the Widows and Orphans Asylum in 1851, the Children’s Bureau has been working to
fix broken families in Indianapolis. Now the local not-for-profit has expanded its reach into 37 Indiana
counties–growing its budget 22 percent in the process. But the agency remains focused on Marion County, where it’s building
a $9.2 million service center at 16th and Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. streets.
Some heavy hitters in the local not-forprofit consulting world have formed Achieve LLC, a company that will use the Internet to make high-end advice available to small and midsize charities. Its goal is to give organizations experiencing growing pains access to expert advice they usually can’t afford. “The question was, how do you fill that void for smaller not-for-profits?” said coowner and Vice President Dave Sternberg, former associate director of the Fundraising School at Indiana University’s Center on Philanthropy and…
Some heavy hitters in the local not-forprofit consulting world have formed Achieve LLC, a company that will use the Internet to make high-end advice available to small and midsize charities. Its goal is to give organizations experiencing growing pains access to expert advice they usually can’t afford. “The question was, how do you fill that void for smaller not-for-profits?” said coowner and Vice President Dave Sternberg, former associate director of the Fundraising School at Indiana University’s Center on Philanthropy and…
A few months ago, after considerable cajoling, my friend Erik convinced me to join yet another online social network. This one’s called Smaller Indiana. It bills itself as “making people and ideas findable.” So now, in addition to being “LinkedIn” with a few hundred of my friends and colleagues past and present, and in addition to being what BusinessWeek calls a “fogey on Facebook,” I’m also a Smoosier-the moniker for Smaller Indiana members. No sooner had I become a Smoosier…
Nathan’s Battle Foundation, led by Phil Milto–who has two sons afflicted with the disease–has evolved over 10 years into
what Milto calls a not-for-profit biotech company that has raised money and guided research that resulted in a promising treatment
for Batten disease. Now, some of the gene therapy techniques researchers developed are being applied to other disorders.
Kathryn Morgan and Richard Cimera met at a dog park in Greenwood, where Cimera’s basset hound won over Morgan’s shy Labrador
and boxer mix. And the owners soon followed suit, dating and then marrying on June 13. When the Greenwood couple planned their
wedding, they wanted a way to share a bit of their happiness. So, in lieu of party favors, they made a donation to an animal-welfare
organization.
For the first time in decades, the Internal Revenue Service is making a major revision to the way not-for-profits disclose information about their finances, governance and operations. Coming in the wake of scrutiny from federal lawmakers and regulators alike, the changes to IRS Form 990 that take effect next year require not-for-profit leaders to provide more information on executive compensation and potential conflicts of interest, for example. And for the first time ever, most organizations will be required to file…
In February, Indianapolis’ Wheeler Mission Ministries cut non-residential programming to stave off a budget shortfall as donations flat-lined and more homeless people came through its doors. Now the mission is facing more tough times, projecting as much as a $500,000 shortfall for the fiscal year that begins June 1. To help close the gap, supporters are kicking off Operation Restoration, a fund drive they hope will raise $11 million to help the mission expand, pay building debts, and build a…
Far from the typical rubber-chicken fund-raiser attended mostly by board members and their friends–Zoobilation, the 22-year-old,
annual black-tie fund-raiser for the Indianapolis Zoo–attracts 4,300 ticket holders eager to spend an evening wining and
dining at the zoo.
Sales of specialty license plates benefiting colleges, not-for-profits and other Indiana organizations fell by nearly a third
last year after the state unveiled “In God We Trust” tags as a free alternative to the lime-green pastoral fields plates reviled
by many motorists.
In recent months, our governor and mayors across the state proudly have announced business developments and out-of-state companies’ plans to expand or relocate in Indiana. They’ve worked overtime to earn these economic boosts, and they’re to be congrat ulated for helping bolster the state and local economy. But we’re ignoring a simple strategy that could yield many more high-paying jobs: Buy local. Here’s the irony: Pursuing this strategy doesn’t have to cost a dime. No recruiting trips to China, no…
