Resources for Nonprofits

A good board can go a long way in establishing a more effective nonprofit. The right members can expand your reach, inform good decisions, and maintain continuity through leadership transitions. In my work with nonprofits in Central Indiana, I see two primary engines that must be maintained to move nonprofit boards forward: recruitment and retention.

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.

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: 

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. 

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.

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.