Resources for Nonprofits

At CICF Collaborative, we recognize that legacy and planned gifts are essential for building long-term sustainability and impact for nonprofits. This article offers practical strategies for integrating legacy giving into regular communications, donor conversations, and storytelling, making it a natural option for supporters who want to ensure your organization thrives for generations. Our team is available to help nonprofits strengthen both annual and legacy giving, including guidance on leveraging more complex assets to maximize lasting impact.

We know the fourth quarter is a critical time for year-end giving, especially with new tax laws creating both opportunities and questions for donors. This article offers guidance for nonprofits on encouraging accelerated giving in 2025, highlighting strategies such as gifts of appreciated stock and Qualified Charitable Distributions for donors over 70 ½. Our team is available to support organizations and donors in maximizing the impact and tax efficiency of their charitable contributions.

At CICF Collaborative, we recognize that today’s philanthropic landscape is increasingly “top-heavy,” with fewer households giving but larger gifts from high-net-worth donors. This article offers guidance for nonprofit fundraisers, emphasizing the importance of communicating impact, cultivating relationships with both new and long-term donors, and staying engaged with complex giving opportunities. We partner with organizations and donors to maximize charitable support, including gifts of complex assets, helping sustain meaningful impact across Central Indiana.

We’re proud to help donors create meaningful impact through flexible charitable giving vehicles like donor-advised funds. This article celebrates DAF Day 2025 and highlights the benefits of establishing or transferring a donor-advised fund to CICF, where donors enjoy the same tax advantages as national firms plus the added value of local expertise, personal guidance, and strong community connections. By keeping fees and support local, CICF ensures your charitable dollars make a lasting difference in Central Indiana.

At CICF Collaborative, we encourage donors to review their charitable giving plans before year-end, especially as new tax laws may impact existing strategies. This article outlines six key tips for evaluating your philanthropy, including updates on estate tax exemptions, charitable deduction rules, and smart giving techniques like bunching and Qualified Charitable Distributions. Our team is available to collaborate with you and your advisors to ensure your giving remains tax-efficient, strategic, and aligned with your philanthropic goals.

At CICF Collaborative, we partner with individuals, families, and businesses to turn their charitable goals into meaningful community impact. This article introduces our Values, Interests, Purpose (VIP) exercise, designed to help donors clarify their philanthropic mission, and explores key questions around timing, legacy, and fund structure. Whether you seek immediate impact, a lasting legacy, or a blend of both, CICF offers tailored giving strategies and flexible fund options to help you achieve your vision for change.

We’re hearing from more advisors whose clients are seeking deeper guidance on how to make their charitable giving truly impactful. This article highlights how our team helps structure philanthropy, engage the next generation, and connect clients with meaningful community opportunities. As Central Indiana’s original philanthropy advisors, CICF offers local expertise, trusted nonprofit connections, and flexible giving tools to help clients align their charitable goals with their overall financial and estate plans.

At CICF Collaborative, we know the fourth quarter is a key time for advisors to help clients with year-end charitable planning. In this article, we clear up three common myths about charitable giving under the new OBBBA law—covering Qualified Charitable Distributions, new deduction “floors” and “caps,” and the upcoming “above-the-line” deduction for non-itemizers. We invite advisors to connect with our team for clarity, resources, and support in navigating these evolving charitable giving rules.

At CICF Collaborative, we’re seeing more families experience intergenerational conflict in their philanthropic efforts. This article explores ways advisors can help clients navigate these challenges by documenting family values, engaging younger generations, and formalizing giving structures. We also share how CICF can partner with advisors to create lasting, purpose-driven philanthropy plans that span generations.

It’s certainly no secret that times are tough. Nonprofits in our community are facing mounting pressures as inflation drives up operating costs, pandemic-era relief funds have expired, and demand for services continues to climb. At the CICF Collaborative, we are honored to work with local charities that are powering through the obstacles to engage donors and keep charitable dollars flowing to support important work, all while keeping an eye on long-term prospects for legacy gifts and endowment growth. Here are strategies that are working for many charities: 

Despite–or perhaps in light of–the recent whirlwind of commentary about new federal laws and the implications for the charitable deduction and charitable giving, it is really important keep in mind that for most individuals, the decision to give is driven by deeply personal factors–such as compassion, moral obligation, empathy, or a belief in a cause—rather than financial incentives.  

“Philanthropy” may sound like something reserved for wealthy, “mature” adults, but that’s not at all the case. At the CICF Collaborative we work with individuals of every generation, from young adults to retirees and everyone in between. 

In an economic and legislative environment full of unpredictability, we encourage you to tap the knowledgeable team at the CICF Collaborative (which includes Central Indiana Community Foundation, Hamilton County Community Foundation, IMPACT Central Indiana, the Indianapolis Foundation, and Women’s Fund of Central Indiana). 

Charitable deductions may increasingly land on the IRS’s radar, especially as the IRS begins to deploy even more AI-powered audit tools and the One Big Beautiful Bill Act (OBBBA)’s 0.5% AGI deduction floor and new charitable deduction caps kick in next year. As an advisor, you’ll likely want to step up your efforts to ensure that clients’ contributions are impeccably documented. 

When it comes to philanthropy, private foundations and donor-advised funds stand at the forefront of popular giving vehicles for donors. In fact, grants from these two giving strategies accounted for $168.88 billion in support to nonprofits in 2023 ($54.77 billion from donor-advised funds and $114.11 billion from private foundations). But with their similarities (and many stark differences), it’s important to know the benefits of each strategy when advising your philanthropic clients.  

At the CICF Collaborative, we’re committed to staying on top of changes in the tax laws that could impact the charitable planning advice you provide to your clients. Our role is to be knowledgeable so that we can point donors in the right direction and let them know when it’s crucial to consult their tax advisors. Our role is also to let you know about key legal developments and other trends related to charitable planning so that you can more easily find the information you need to properly advise your clients. 

The dust is settling on the One Big Beautiful Bill Act (OBBBA), signed into law on July 4, 2025. Charities are beginning to wrap their arms around the new law’s significant shift in the tax treatment of corporate charitable donations.  

Understandably, nonprofits often worry that donor-advised funds may delay or diminish their donors’ contributions. In reality, though, donor-advised funds can be very helpful to boost financial support for your mission. Three fundamental concepts are important to gaining a better understanding of how donor-advised funds work at the CICF Collaborative.

At Old National Bank’s Second Annual Nonprofit Summit, CICF’s Jeff Bennett and Women’s Fund’s Tamara Winfrey-Harris offered practical advice for nonprofits facing funding cuts, rising needs, and leadership burnout. Their guidance emphasized creative funding strategies, stronger collaboration, and building systems that support both efficiency and resilience.

It’s no secret that events can help drive fundraising revenue, build community, and foster engagement among your current donors and potential donors. One study even noted that 81% of U.S. donors attend fundraising events every year. As you plan your next gala or golf tournament, keep in mind the special rules that apply to receiving support from donor-advised funds, including within the CICF Collaborative or elsewhere.  

Recent changes in federal tax law under the One Big Beautiful Bill Act (OBBBA) bring both challenges and opportunities for nonprofit organizations in our community. The entities within the CICF Collaborative are here to help you prepare and consider how to update your strategies as the landscape shifts. We’re sharing answers to three frequently asked questions about how the new laws will impact giving, what you can do about it, and how we can help. 

Many people think of succession planning as something only relevant to businesses or nonprofits. However, it's equally important when considering the legacy you want to leave through philanthropy—including being intentional about what happens to your donor-advised fund after you're gone. The team at the CICF Collaborative can help structure provisions for your donor-advised fund to engage your family, tap the CICF Collaborative’s expertise, or a combination of both so that your donor-advised fund can become a multi-generational legacy that reflects your values. 

After one of the most chaotic fiscal rides in memory, the end-of-year giving season is finally upon the nonprofit sector. What’s more, there are predictions that, if the market holds, donors may look to increase their donations in order to maximize certain tax benefits that will expire January 1st due to the “One Big Beautiful Bill Act”. In short, we could see a season of boosted giving this Q4.

It’s more important than ever to stay informed about how changes in the tax law may affect your charitable giving. The recently-passed One Big Beautiful Bill Act (OBBBA) creates challenges as well as opportunities for structuring your philanthropy. We encourage you to reach out to your attorney, CPA, and financial advisor to evaluate how the changes in the law impact your own situation. 

It’s time for back-to-school planning! If education is on your mind, you’re in good company. Charitable giving to education rose in 2024 to more than $58 billion! If education and related causes are important to you, the team at the CICF Collaborative can help you explore a variety of meaningful ways to make an impact. Here are three ideas to inspire a deeper discussion: 

If you’ve noticed a surprising uptick in recent years among your younger clients investing in artwork, it is not your imagination! A survey of 1,007 U.S. high net worth individuals (each with at least $3 million in investable assets) found that 83% of respondents aged 43 and under said they currently own or would like to own art—compared with only 34% of those older than 43.  

At the CICF Collaborative we’re dedicated to helping your clients achieve their charitable goals. We’re honored to serve as your trusted resource for tax-efficient giving strategies, help your clients maximize their charitable impact, and support your clients as they build lasting philanthropic legacies. As you continue (or begin) conversations about charitable giving with your clients, one important question often arises: How would your clients like their giving to be acknowledged and recognized? 

It’s never been easy to navigate the ever-shifting tax rules to help clients structure their charitable giving, and now it’s even trickier. Major changes under the One Big Beautiful Bill Act (OBBBA), signed into law on July 4, 2025, are creating complexity, opportunity, and, for some, urgency. The OBBBA reshapes both how much a client can deduct for charitable contributions and which clients can benefit from these deductions in the first place.  

In July, Congress passed the mammoth “One Big Beautiful Bill Act.” At a hefty 870 pages, the bill squeaked through the Senate by a vote of 51 to 50, with three Republican Senators joining unanimous opposition from Democrats to force a tiebreaking vote from Vice President J.D. Vance.

...So, if the thought of fundraising is enough to keep you up at night, read on. It’s not nearly as scary as you think, and it’s probably your safest bet when it comes to sustainable funding.

This year, of course, three major challenges have imperiled that landscape: Major cuts to government funding; socio-political pressure around race, immigration and gender; and a volatile market impacting philanthropic giving. Our region’s nonprofits and philanthropic sector are both on high alert...

The webinar addressed the real-life impact of job loss, serious health diagnoses, and reduced insurance benefits—challenges that can strain not only older adults but also their caregivers, service providers, and healthcare systems. The conversation explored how policy decisions at all levels shape the services older adults rely on and highlighted emerging local trends that support healthy aging.

Chances are, if you work at a nonprofit, then you have some awareness of donor-advised funds (DAFs) and how they contribute to philanthropy. If not, here’s a quick overview.

Many times, nonprofits highlight the most heartwarming stories to showcase the passion and generosity that our sector thrives on. While that will always be a crucial story, more of us need to extend the conversation.

From the foundation perspective, CICF is expressing to lawmakers that donors and foundations should be free to give to causes they care about without concerns of reprisal or retaliation. Through this commitment, we remain devoted to a more broadly prosperous Central Indiana. In the meantime, entities who directly serve the most vulnerable in our community need to know how best they can endure an era of uncertainty.

CICF joined community foundation leaders from across the country in Washington, D.C., as part of an advocacy effort led by the Community Foundation Awareness Initiative (CFAI). The goal of this effort was to educate lawmakers about the unique role of community foundations and to advocate for specific policy priorities related to charitable giving and donor-advised funds (DAFs).

Before looking at several tips to stabilize your nonprofit finances, let’s address the obvious. In the wake of the federal grant freeze and subsequent legal back-and-forth, an alarming level of uncertainty has entered the nonprofit sector. The Urban Institute recently created a map quantifying the risk level to nonprofits posed by the freeze. While it provides a critical level of awareness, it’s hardly comforting.

In 2023, the Indy metro area not only led our state in its rate of population growth, it also led regional peer metros like Chicago, Cincinnati, Cleveland, Detroit, and Louisville. That year, we also discovered that the Indy metro area had also outpaced every other Midwest metro in GDP growth from 2019 to 2022—some of the toughest years in our history. That growth promises great benefits for our region, but only insofar as the benefits accrue to every Central Indiana county, town, neighborhood, and doorstep.

New Year’s resolutions are notorious for vanishing before the snow melts. Who can give up caffeine when the sun sets at 5 p.m.? Or spend more time in nature when it’s buried under snow? For your consideration, here are three resolutions that nonprofits can utilize for added sustainability – nearly all of which can all be accomplished indoors over coffee.

To “celebrate” Cybersecurity Month, CICF asked its Senior Director of Information Technology David Donaldson a few questions to help not-for-profits safely navigate the digital space.

For many of us, the word “endowment” can feel intimidating. It conjures up images of billion-dollar family foundations or Ivy League universities, entities that seem to exist in another dimension from our own. In reality, an endowment is far more accessible – and versatile – than many realize.

As a not-for-profit, your strengths are typically in human services, public advocacy, volunteer coordination, and traditional fundraising. Liquidating a rare 1994 Alex Rodriguez rookie card for maximum value (up to $40,000) may not be in your wheelhouse. Welcome to the world of complex asset donation, an increasingly popular and effective form of philanthropy!

As philanthropic advisors in central Indiana, we are experiencing firsthand the results of generational culture shifts. At Central Indiana Community Foundation, we are seeing that as the wealth of Boomers and Gen X philanthropists is shifting to Millennials and Gen Zers, each generation brings their own unique spin to how they approach philanthropic giving. While older generations traditionally have prioritized legacy and public recognition, many emerging donors are more focused on tangible results and measurable impact. By emphasizing transparency, accountability, impact, trust, and collaboration, not-for-profits can build meaningful relationships with the next generation of donors and drive positive change in our central Indiana community.