World-changing graduates: Philanthropists now and forever

Posted on May 23, 2018 by Abby Rolland

At the Lilly Family School of Philanthropy’s commencement ceremony on May 12, newly-minted bachelor’s degree alumna Emily Jones shared her thoughts with the graduates of the Class of 2018. Jones graduated with high distinction and is currently serving as the fundraising and development intern at the IU Melvin and Bren Simon Cancer Center. She will continue on with the master’s degree program in philanthropic studies in the fall of 2018. A full transcript of her commencement comments is provided below.

“Hello! I cannot believe this day is finally here. For some of us, the journey has been longer than others. Some of us probably started to doubt that this day would ever come. I know I was beginning to get there. But we’re here and we’ve made it. We’ve pursued our passions and now we’re coming out the other side. Well, some of us still have a few more credits to go, but that’s a technicality we won’t get into right now.

“It is far too easy to get caught up in the hustle and bustle of life with our part-time or even full-time jobs, full class loads, family obligations, seemingly endless amounts of readings, papers, reflections, and internship obligations, need I go on. College is demanding, and at some points, we feel we barely have time to sleep or breathe, let alone revel in our victories, large or small.

Emily Jones, B.A. '18 — Emily Jones, B.A. ’18

“So right now, I just want us all to take a second and recognize this incredible accomplishment. Let’s all just take a deep breath in, close our eyes, and live in this moment, recognizing not only our own successes, but also the achievements of our classmates surrounding us today. Let go of the wonderings and worries that accompany unknown futures because right now, in this moment, we are victors. And nothing and no one can take that away from us.

“Nelson Mandela said that education is the most powerful weapon which you can use to change the world. This graduating class, or classes rather, are made of world changers. We entered this program with preconceived passions and an awareness of issues close to our hearts. We came here knowing we had a desire to heal and help a world in need, even if we were unsure how that might manifest.

“Some of us found our answers in social justice advocacy, or working on a development team for a cause we were willing to donate our time, talent, and treasure, and want to encourage others to do the same. Some of us admittedly love animals more than people, and hope to create an equitable world for all earth’s creatures. Some of us are responding to an international calling with the large scope of philanthropy that reaches to distant nations and foreign peoples.

“We are fundraisers and environmentalists, defenders of democracy, youth leaders, activists, protectors of civil rights, social entrepreneurs. We are philanthropists now and forever. No matter where we all end up, whether we are on our way into a graduate degree program, applying to law school, or entering the work force, manning the front desk of a domestic violence shelter, working with boots on the ground in a grassroots organization, or on our way to becoming a major gifts officer.

“I hope that none of us ever lose sight of this school, this city, these faces, and the impact these past years have had on our lives. Now is the time to celebrate, and we will celebrate. But after that, after the confetti has settled and the glasses have been raised in our honor, our mission is to go out and show this world what voluntary action for the public good really looks like. I can think of no group of individuals better suited for the job. Thank you.”

A passion for fundraising and the making of a Y champion

Posted on May 18, 2018 by Abby Rolland

For Lilly Family School of Philanthropy B.A. junior Erica Gould, working at the YMCA is in her blood.

A fifth-generation YMCA employee, Gould has worked at the Y since she was 17 and through hard work and dedication, has advanced to become the assistant site director for the New Britton Elementary before- and after-school program.

Gould has embraced the challenges and rewards of fundraising and has expanded the capacity of her site to fundraise. Since she has given much of her time, talent, and treasure to the Y, she was chosen as a First Quarter Y Champion.

She did not begin with an interest in fundraising, though.

“I work with children. I run math, science, arts and crafts, fitness programs, and things like that,” Gould said. “I began a philanthropy club this year, where I engage them with philanthropy and how they can give back in as many ways as possible.”

As part of that club, Gould has instituted various programs, including recycling cans (“we turn them in for money and then donate that money to the Y”), creating thank you cards for firefighters and police officers (“some of the kids really poured their hearts into these cards”), and a bake sale, which included gluten and dairy-free options (“many had never thought of those dietary restrictions and what they mean before”).

While the children are young (ages 6-10), Gould knows it’s important to teach them about philanthropy early.

“Even though Fishers is typically thought of as a higher-income area, there’s still a need for kindness no matter what part of the city one is in,” she said. “That’s what I want these kids to understand. As soon as they’re able to think, they should be learning about philanthropy and giving back.”

Passion for fundraising

In addition to her programmatic work related to philanthropy, Gould has found a passion for fundraising. Her branch has to raise $150,000 a year, which is split up into different campaigns.

“My supervisors reached out to me and asked if I’d be willing to run the staff campaign. I accepted, and was in charge of asking all of the staff in my district to donate money,” she said. “It wasn’t easy; people hesitate to donate money out of their hard-earned paychecks. I asked them though to imagine that all they’re doing is donating $1 out of their paychecks. That’s five minutes a week they’re sitting down, helping a child build a puzzle or complete another activity. When you put it into that perspective, it made it easier for them to be a part of it.”

After a successful staff campaign, Gould was asked to be the district campaign manager for the community campaign phase. She was in charge of helping all of the schools come up with their respective fundraising plans and find and make goals. She also gave them ideas and tools to be successful in their campaigns.

“For that campaign, I created a book of 25 fundraising ideas that ranged from easy to medium to hard,” Gould said. “For example, I explained in detail how to participate in dine-to-donate with local restaurants.

“Nobody trains us how to fundraise. People know the YMCA is a great place and does great stuff for kids, but they don’t teach us how to fundraise.”

And that’s where the Lilly Family School of Philanthropy plays a strong part in Gould’s continuing impactful efforts at the Y.

Putting learning into practice

“I’ve been taught at the school how to help people in this manner,” she said. “In addition, with my education from the school, I’ve been able to plan ahead exactly what I need to do to achieve my end goal.

“For example, our biggest fundraiser was this Olympic-themed event. Earlier in the year, I had connected with (director of master’s degree programs) Dr. Kathi Badertscher. She’s very friendly and when we met, I told her about my event. She gave me several ideas on how to structure the event so it would be successful, including giving out small donor appreciation gifts.

“With her advice, we were able to come up with an awesome plan to help prepare all of the sites for the fundraising season. Through her help and with the staff, kids, and community on board, we were able to nearly double the amount we raised at the Olympic event from $830 to $1,600. By working together, we were able to find success.”

As a result of giving her time, talent, and treasure, Gould was named a First Quarter Y Champion. A Y Champion is an award that’s given to one member from each branch who has gone above and beyond the call of duty.

“Erica provides resources and leadership to our entire team of site staff. In addition, she leads the fundraising efforts for her site goal,” said a colleague of Gould’s at the Y. “She met the goal of $1,600 with one event this year, and her site was the first to goal for our entire center!”

Added Dr. Badertscher: “Erica truly cares about her Y kids. She is also a dedicated, hard-working, and thoughtful student, and I can always count on her to ask perceptive questions inside and outside the classroom.”

Making a difference

Gould humbly accepts her Y champion award and the recognition that comes with it.

“I felt really excited when I learned I received the award. I have a lot of help from my team and site, and I try to do as much as I can anonymously,” she said. “However, the award made me realize that what I’m doing has made a difference. People are watching and now I feel even more motivated to keep going.”

As for her future goals, Gould says she would like to be a professional, multilingual fundraiser (she also has a Spanish major and speaks six languages fluently).

“The YMCA is ingrained in me and I’d like to be a professional fundraiser for them, but we’ll see what happens after I graduate. I’m open to other fundraising possibilities as well.”

For now though, she’s focused on her schoolwork and impact at the Y.

“I’ve learned so much information from the Lilly Family School of Philanthropy that I’ve been able to apply firsthand in my job,” she said. “It’s helped me grow and helped me create awareness for myself and others. At the beginning of the school year, my supervisors would point someone in my direction if they needed help with fundraising. Now, they’re saying ‘go to Erica to be the leader of the campaign.’

“That wouldn’t have happened a year ago but now that I have these skills from the school, they’re aware that I’m someone that they can and should rely on to help with these fundraising activities. It’s a really great place for a philanthropy student to have a job.”

Abby Rolland is the blog content coordinator for the Indiana University Lilly Family School of Philanthropy.

Giving part of yourself is the best charity

Posted on May 15, 2018 by Andy Ware

By Dr. William Enright
Originally published in the Indy Star

Why are people of faith among the most generous charitable givers in the world?

Historian James Hudnut-Beumler posed a similar question: Why do religious people pay through the institutions they support to be in relation to God?

To illustrate the joy of charitable giving and how it can spread, let me tell a story.

Kelly was the new pastor in a Lutheran congregation that traditionally held a food and clothing drive each year at Thanksgiving. Kelly’s first assignment was to lead the annual Thanksgiving mission project, as the congregation sleepily raised a hundred or so food and clothing bags for the poor.

But Kelly had a larger vision, which she dynamically shared one Sunday in her sermon. She envisioned the congregation putting their arms around the needy in their neighborhood, thereby witnessing to the reality—as she put it—that Jesus was alive and present in their town. She challenged them to raise not 100 bags of food and clothing, but 500. Her enthusiasm ignited a contagion that captured the imagination and spread like wildfire through the congregation.

After church that Sunday a 6-year-old boy sitting at the kitchen table with his parents asked what he could do. The family decided to create Kids Kits that would include toothpaste, toothbrushes, soap, shampoo, and lotion for the church’s related food pantry. Their dentist heard of the project and donated four cases of supplies.

The day following the sermon, a woman came to Kelly’s office and gave her an envelope she had been saving for such a moment containing $1,000 in small bills with the charge to “fan the fire.” A week or so later, the high school youth group, feeling neglected, decided they would try to raise the 500 bags themselves. The final tally: 870 bags of food and clothing, 97 Kids Kits and the donation from the dentist. Why was Kelly’s project so successful? She knew building a giving culture begins where a need exists that everyone can buy into and claim as their own.

First, Kelly was authentic and passionate; she cared about the project and saw fundraising to be a part of ministry. Second, she intuitively grasped the limitations of the old, hierarchical “I’ll-tell-you-what-to-do” approach to religious fundraising.

Givers want to be a part of and have a voice in what is happening. When people give generously, they are giving away part of themselves.

Most importantly, Kelly answered the unasked question: How do I give money to God? She talked about giving as a practice of faith.

My Jewish friends use the Yiddish phrase tikkun olam—acts of kindness meant to mend or repair the world—to capture the mystery of religious giving. As a rabbi explained to me: “In our giving, we partner with God in the healing of a frayed and fractured world.”

Jesus’ familiar parable of the sheep and the goats (Matthew 24) shaped the early Christians’ understanding of charitable giving. It is in our giving and caring for the hungry, homeless, and hurting that God shows up and we meet Christ. In giving, we participate in God’s love for the world and become the face of Christ to our neighbors.

When faith informs our giving, the giving table is transformed into a table of lavish grace, hearty abundance, and contagious joy. We become part of God’s redemptive presence in the neighborhoods and communities in which we live. In a word, we become part of something bigger than ourselves!

William Enright is a senior pastor emeritus, Second Presbyterian Church, and director emeritus of Lake Institute on Faith & Giving at the Indiana University Lilly Family School of Philanthropy.

The art and science of fundraising: What does research tell us about our donor marketplace?

Posted on May 11, 2018 by Abby Rolland

By Angela E. White, CFRE
Senior Consultant and CEO, Johnson, Grossnickle and Associates

At Johnson, Grossnickle and Associates (JGA), understanding both the art and science of fundraising has been an important part of our practice since the beginning of the firm in 1994. On the art side, we focus on building strong donor relationships and engaging board members and other key volunteers in philanthropy.

Regarding the science of fundraising, we believe in understanding the current research to inform our work with donor markets, campaign trends, and the changing face of philanthropy. In addition to availing ourselves of existing research, we have commissioned new research to inform the field of philanthropy.

In 2014, we partnered with the Indiana University Lilly Family School of Philanthropy to study the characteristics of higher education institutions that receive multiple gifts of a million dollars or more. This research showed us that the tenure of the president/CEO and the ability of her/him in articulating institutional vision were key elements to securing transformational gifts. We have used this research to work with our clients in shaping donor interaction that can lead to transformational gifts.

Just this year, a new piece of research was recently released in a partnership between JGA, the Lilly Family School of Philanthropy, and BoardSource. This research, entitled The Impact of Diversity: Understanding How Nonprofit Board Diversity Affects Philanthropy, Leadership, and Board Engagement, examines the ways in which board diversity is associated with board members’ engagement with the board.

It also explores the relationship between a nonprofit’s characteristics—such as the age of the organization, level of revenue, and focus area (nonprofit subsector)—and the diversity of its board members, including their race, ethnicity, age, and gender. The report finds that both organizational characteristics and the diversity of the board affect levels of board engagement.

Among the important findings in this study include the fact that nonprofit boards that include a higher percentage of women tend to have board members who participate more in fundraising and advocacy. Members of these boards also tend to be more involved in the board’s work through their engagement.

This finding connects with the work being done by the Women’s Philanthropy Institute (WPI) at the Lilly Family School of Philanthropy by helping us understand how, when, and why gender matters in philanthropy and volunteering. Among their vast research studies, WPI provides us with the data that shows women give more and are more likely to give than their male counterparts. It also gives us the data to make informed decisions about how to engage women more deeply in charitable giving and volunteering.

I am privileged to teach the course Women as Donors for The Fund Raising School at the Lilly Family School of Philanthropy, which delves into all of the research and best practices that exist around the topic of gender differences in philanthropy.

This course focuses on the role of women as philanthropists and how development professionals can engage women more deeply in your organizations. This course is a living example of the role of research and how to blend the art and science of fundraising.

I hope you will join me on July 9 and 10, 2018 in Indianapolis for this course!

Making a mark in Israeli philanthropy

Posted on May 9, 2018 by Abby Rolland

Master’s students who converge at the Lilly Family School of Philanthropy come from across the world, bringing diverse perspectives and experiences. They graduate, some in two years as full-time students, and others from an executive master’s program where individuals who work full-time can take classes part-time and still graduate in 3-4 years. One such alumna of the executive program is Ronit Segelman.

Segelman is Israeli and had been working in Israeli philanthropy for many years. She entered the school as an executive student while continuing her role in Israel as vice president of partnerships for the Rashi Foundation. The foundation focuses on building capital projects and establishing programs in Israel’s periphery. In that role, she identified and developed relationships with other funders around the world.

“We created joint investments with other funders, where we put together ideas and questions about philanthropy and nonprofits. At one point, the foundation had more than 90 philanthropic partners from around the world,” Segelman said.

However, she knew she wanted to further her education and professional development.

“I hungered to add a theoretical and academic side to my field experience. I started researching and asking questions,” Segelman said. “People pointed me to the Lilly Family School of Philanthropy and IUPUI. I originally asked about a summer program, but then I found out about the executive master’s (option). I knew that was the right program for me.”

The Rashi Foundation recognized the importance of bringing back a philanthropic education to Israel.

“They assisted in paying for my tuition, gave me time off, and sponsored my residency periods,” Segelman explained. (The executive master’s option consists of taking online classes during the school year, with weeklong residency courses offered during the summer.)

But what brought her to a United States program to complete her education?

“There were no opportunities for programs like this in Israel,” Segelman said. “In Israel, there is no culture of philanthropy. Judaism places the emphasis on individual giving, not cultural or societal giving. We pay high taxes to fund a welfare government, which uses those payments to fulfill its obligation by providing services to citizens.

“People believe that when you conduct strategic philanthropy, you release government from its responsibility to its citizens and that’s not a good thing.”

She also pointed out two other ideas about Israel and philanthropy. One is a suspicion of rich people and how they made their money.

“It’s not OK to show wealth,” Segelman said. “There’s also a growth in the number of wealthy people and a growth in disparity between the ‘haves’ and ‘have-nots.’ ”

In addition, the state of Israel was born on an ethos that rejected charity.

“Before the state of Israel was established, the settlements in the area needed support to survive,” she said. “After the establishment of the state, people rejected the idea of being dependent on charity and stressed living according to your means.”

All of these perceptions influence Israeli philanthropy, and they are some of the reasons that drove Segelman to study philanthropy in the U.S. at the first school of philanthropy. Over a period of three years, with three summers on campus, she learned about a wide variety of topics and ideas related to philanthropy.

“I studied social entrepreneurship, venture philanthropy, grantmaking from the economic and cost benefit side, the donor intent side of things, how to work with philanthropic advisors, relationships between grantors and grantees, and ethics, among other topics,” she said.

“I was in a cohort of 15 students who had practical experience and came from all over the world. Together, we talked about and collaborated on issues related to philanthropy. For me, I learned to understand the U.S. and its deep history with philanthropy. That knowledge brings a depth to my conversations about Israeli philanthropy and what it can become.”

After graduating from the master’s degree program, Segelman began working as the director of philanthropy at Sheatufim, a nonprofit focused on developing Israeli philanthropy by educating Israeli nonprofits and working with the government to help it better understand philanthropy.

“There’s a hunger to know more about philanthropy by Israeli nonprofits,” she said. “In addition, we’ve started conversations with prominent Israeli philanthropists to show them productive ways to talk about their philanthropy.”

In addition, Segelman has worked with Dr. Leslie Lenkowsky and Dr. Jamie Levine Daniel on the creation of the Israeli Philanthropy Initiative, a program that brings together senior managers from the government, corporate, and nonprofit sectors.

“The sectors collaborate in shared learning experiences while discussing the status of global philanthropy and how we can increase philanthropy in Israel,” she said.

For Segelman herself, her goals include finding platforms such as seminars, education sessions, and workshops to talk about philanthropy: “When I talked about my experiences studying and working with philanthropy, the interest level was high. I know people want to learn more.”

In the future, she hopes to work in international philanthropy and create cross-sector partnerships that work to move the needle on social issues.

“I wish that others from around the globe would have the opportunity to do what I did,” Segelman said. “The school has played and should continue to play a terrific role in making the world a better place by educating international students from around the world in the topic of philanthropy.”

Abby Rolland is the blog content coordinator for the Indiana University Lilly Family School of Philanthropy.