by Kevin Alerding, Ice Miller, CICFs Cornerstone Council member

CATEGORY: Professional Advisors

Kevin Alerding, Ice Miller, CICF's Cornerstone Council member

Bob and Helen Haddad established Haddad Foundation in 2002 to enable their family to work together in their charitable giving. The Foundation's purposes were described in the broadest possible terms, so that Bob and Helen's children could explore and experiment before setting the focus. The family members' interests were divergent and developing a common philanthropic mission was a challenge. At one point an advisor suggested that the Haddads consider dissolving the Foundation and contributing the assets to five separate funds at the Central Indiana Community Foundation: one for each of Bob and Helen's four children and one for the family as a whole. They did not dissolve the Foundation, and within a short time they discovered shared passions in Education and Medical Advancement and Humanities, with a particular fondness for organizations that exhibited independence, entrepreneurship, and a "can do" spirit. The Foundation's gifts came to focus on those areas, and the family began to make a real impact in the communities that the Foundation serves.

After a couple of years, the family began to investigate opportunities for granting scholarships through the Foundation. All of the family members were excited about the idea and also frustrated by the costs and work associated with administering a scholarship program. So they turned to the Central Indiana Community Foundation once again. The professionals at CICF described several different ways that they could work in conjunction with Haddad Foundation to establish and administer a scholarship program on the Foundation's behalf.

Though the family had found several areas of common interest, the children still wished to pursue their individual philanthropic interests. Over the years, each of them brought worthy projects to the attention of the Foundation Board only to find that other family members did not share the same passion or did not place the same priority on the projects presented. So the Haddad Foundation turned to CICF, this time to establish small separate funds for each of the four children through which each could pursue his or her own philanthropic mission. As a result of the relationship established with CICF, the siblings have been able to support the passions they share as defined by the Haddad Foundation mission, while giving individually to their own interests through their separate CICF funds; a win-win situation for all involved. The Haddad Foundation’s mission continues to evolve and now more than ever reflects the personalities and interests of the four children and fulfills the objectives established by Bob and Helen.

Most recently, the Haddad Family has requested assistance from the professionals at CICF to assist them in better defining the family foundation's mission and to help the family deploy Foundation resources in a way that will have the greatest impact on the community. It is clear that the partnership between Haddad Foundation and CICF is here for the long run.