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DOING GOOD: LINDSAY CORNELIUS: MBA student emerging as philanthropic leader

DOING GOOD LINDSAY CORNELIUS MBA student emerging as philanthropic leader To hear Lindsay Cornelius tell it, Indianapolis is the best place to live: It’s a growing city, with terrific new restaurants, fabulous art galleries, great parks, excellent museums, hip clubs and a booming downtown. But like any major metropoli tan area, it has its problems. And that has Cornelius, 26, determined to be among the legions of young men and women who care deeply about things like quality schools and…

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Please pass the popcorn – and the cash: Not-for-profits hope film encourages more donations

But can a movie to be released March 9, “The Ultimate Gift,” inspire the masses to give money to charitable groups? Not-for-profits hope so, although the idea that an emotion-driven Hollywood film can translate into a thoughtful and deliberate giving plan remains to be seen. “Donor education is a very difficult thing to get done. This may be a good start,” said Gene Tempel, executive director of the IU Center on Philanthropy. The movie is based on the book of…

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Charities struggle to cultivate donors

Attracting people under 40 with money to give is one of the latest challenges faced by not-for-profit organizations. As fund-raisers
look toward cultivating the next generation of supporters, they see a younger generation that appears less inclined to do
so.

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Program to offer cyber help for charities: IUPUI initiative creates database of consultants

The IUPUI Solution Center soon will expand into cyberspace, launching a free Web site not-for-profits can use to network and find consultants. Its new Nonprofit Solutions Initiative will run the site and provide a database of consultants grouped by 25 areas of expertise. The site also will offer advice on how to work with them. The Solution Center, launched in 2003 with the help of a Lilly Endowment Inc. grant, helps bolster small businesses and not-for-profits. The new initiative, which…

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From blankets to burials, trustee work never ends:

You can turn to a township trustee for help if a fire leaves you homeless or a hospital stay leaves you penniless. You also look to the office if a dog devours your livestock or you need a fence dispute resolved. Indiana’s 1,008 trustees make up the state’s largest single group of elected officials, and their lengthy list of duties ranges from the conventional to the odd. Some are charged with destroying “noxious weeds” and “rank vegetation,” according to the…

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Obstacles couldn’t stop community-minded Shaheen

Yvonne Shaheen, retired CEO of Long Electric Co., is the winner of the 2006 Michael A. Carroll award, given annually in memory of the former deputy mayor to a person who embodies determination, devotion, humility and community.

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Some say Wheeler Mission hurts neighborhood’s potential

A fall merger of two Indianapolis homeless shelters set off a new round of speculation about whether Wheeler Mission Ministries Inc. will continue to operate out of its 245 N. Delaware St. location–a stone’s throw from multimillion-dollar redevelopment under way on Massachusetts Avenue.

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Riverview, Irsay take separate paths to exotic getaways: Nancy’s Retreat organizers start dueling events

One retreat tempts central Indiana women to “capture their dreams”-and grab a makeover while they’re at it-during a long weekend in Puerto Vallarta, Mexico. The other promises “a trip of a lifetime” in nearby Nuevo Vallarta. Last year, a hurricane swept away plans for the second annual Nancy’s Retreat getaway, which was created by Nancy Irsay and the Riverview Memorial Foundation. This year, different visions split the retreat in two and created competing trips that benefit separate charities. Neither side…

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NOTIONS: Dear philanthropist: Make me a daydream believer

Last month, I picked up my boys in Fort Wayne, drove north on Interstate 69, hooked a left at Interstate 94, and got off at the Portage, Mich., exit. There, we whiled away the weekend at a family reunion. The grownups ate too much, caught up on gossip and puttered around the lake in the speedboat. The teenagers, whom we rarely saw, did X-Box battle in the basement. On Sunday, after the kids had surfaced for lunch and the grandparents…

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Charities reap aid, confusion from new federal law: Pension Protection Act opens new avenues for giving

A new law signed last month by President Bush should open the valves to a fresh stream of charitable giving by allowing people to make tax-free donations from their IRAs for the first time. But philanthropy insiders say that, while the law gave, it also hath taken away. The Pension Protection Act encourages contributions from individual retirement accounts, but it crimps the use of popular donor-advised funds, which allow donors to maintain some control over how their contributions are spent….

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Giving lifted by disasters: Donors generous to victims of catastrophies but didn’t forget usual causes, IU study finds

All told, individuals, corporations and foundations gave $260.3 billion to charity in 2005, 2.7 percent more than the year before even after adjusting for inflation, according to data compiled by researchers at Indiana University’s Center on Philanthropy for the annual “Giving USA” report. The report, set to be released June 19 by the Illinois-based Giving USA Foundation, answers a question that has been lingering for more than a year: Would the nation’s outpouring of support for victims of an Asian…

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Site gets people involved: Institute uses Web to link volunteers with opportunities

When Roger Williams began approaching local not-for-profits early this year about his idea to post their volunteer opportunities for teen-agers on his Web site, many were skeptical. “What’s this guy trying to sell me?” they wondered. But six months after launching www.helpindyonline.com, part of his larger Emergent Leadership Institute, Williams has more than 80 charities promoting nearly 300 positions on his site for high school and college students interested in volunteering. The 36-year-old Carmel native and former youth pastor founded…

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Gladish strengthening his ties to Indianapolis: Ex-YMCA president joins IU’s Center on Philanthropy

Kenneth Gladish first laced up his sneakers as a YMCA kid in Northbrook, Ill. Decades later, he tightened his tie as president of the national organization. In between, Gladish was a central figure in the Indianapolis charitable sector. Now his time at the YMCA of the USA has come to an end, and Gladish’s next step is up in the air. But one thing’s for sure-he’ll be maintaining his ties to Indianapolis. Gladish, 53, has accepted a three-year appointment as…

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In midst of sale, Marsh rolling out new slogan: Grocer says it’s the place to ‘Treat your family well’

Executives at Fishers-based Marsh Supermarkets Inc. aren’t sitting on their hands, despite signing an offer a little more than a month ago to sell the grocery chain to a private equity group in Florida. For the past two years, they’ve been scratching away on flip charts coming up with a new brand. And they figure they might as well put it to use. They launched the new identity last month with the help of Dallas-based Ivie & Associates Inc., an…

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Banks enroll to help educators: As Indiana falls behind, financial literacy programs blossom

Their answer: a need. As in, one cannot exist without food, shelter and a $175 pair of sneakers. While the marketing folks at Nike would smile at the association, it makes personal finance experts like Avery cringe. They say it’s another example of an alarming level of financial ignorance that has allowed nationwide consumer debt to zoom past $2 trillion. And the pain is especially acute in Indiana. “You don’t have to look far beyond the bankruptcy and foreclosure statistics…

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Paid boards spur not-for-profit debate: Critics: If directors won’t give time, who will?

Indianapolis-based USA Funds is a large, complex organization, and members of its governing board are busy people. Same goes for the NCAA, another local not-for-profit with a national reach, a nine-figure budget and directors who are anything but professional volunteers. The two organizations have one key difference, though: USA Funds pays its board members. The NCAA does not. “It’s simply the nature of the world,” said Norm Lefstein, an Indiana University law professor who chairs the compensation committee at student-loan…

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Tax forms not dependable as only source of NFP data:

Not-for-profit organizations’ tax filings can provide a wealth of information, from big-picture data like annual revenue and expenses to nitty-gritty details, including the CEO’s salary. But drawing conclusions-or trying to compare organizations-based only on the IRS Form 990 is difficult at best. First off, not all tax-exempt organizations are required to file tax returns. Groups with less than $25,000 in annual revenue are exempt from filing, as are all churches and many other religious institutions. And among those that do…

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