Your Story. Our Community.

As our community faces the looming threat of another major hurricane, many Central Indiana residents have reached out to us asking how they can help. We understand that many are also still deeply concerned about the impact of recent storms and are eager to contribute to relief efforts.

We are here to make it easy for you to support those affected. By donating to the trusted organizations listed below, you can be sure that your contributions will directly aid those in need.

We’ve also communicated with other not-for-profits and community foundations who have activated their own disaster relief funds. By coordinating with these organizations, we’re working to ensure that aid reaches the people and places that need it most.

Recommendations for Disaster Aid and Relief Organizations:

American Red Cross – Hurricane Helene Red Cross Response
Central Carolina Community Foundation – One SC Fund
Collaboratory – SWFL Emergency Relief Fund 
Community Foundation of North Florida – Disaster Relief fund
Community Foundation of Western Carolina
Gulf Coast Community Foundation – Rapid Response Fund
Red Cross of North Carolina – Hurricane Helene Red Cross Response
United Way of North Carolina – UWHelpsNC Helene Recovery Fund
United Way of Greenville  – Community Relief Fund

Those who hold funds within our philanthropic collaborative and have additional questions or would like to make a gift from their DAF are invited to contact their donor engagement officer.

Written by Jennifer Turner, Vice President of Philanthropy, Central Indiana Community Foundation

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.

For our purposes, an endowment is a financial asset invested by a not-for-profit and held like a long-term savings account (but with better investment returns). A percentage of the fund is available for withdrawal each year – usually 4-5%. It is the earnings from the investments that can provide revenue for the organization’s mission. The original (principal) investment remains intact to sustain the organization over the long term.

Let’s say a donor plans to leave your organization $100,000 in their estate plan. First off, congrats! But why might you want to use that gift to start an endowment rather than spend it? In a word: sustainability.

An endowment is a near-guaranteed source of yearly revenue. As long as it exists, you have flexible dollars to help fund your mission. Now, at 5%, that $100,000 is “only” going to yield $5,000 a year. But that amount can be held in reserve to cover unforeseen budget shortfalls; or wages for an intern; or maintenance costs for your aging facility. And that $5,000 will be there every year without any further fundraising. Any additional gifts to that endowment will add to the principal, increasing the 5% annual payout.

Another thing an endowment does for an organization is help cover emergencies. Organizations that had robust endowments came through the pandemic in better financial shape than their peers without endowments. That guaranteed source of income helped organizations better plan when their other revenues and giving became unpredictable.

Also, don’t forget the reasons an endowment might be attractive to your donors; as a regenerating source of income, a donor’s gift creates value in perpetuity. Say your donor makes a $250 gift every year. A single gift of $5,000 to the endowment would renew that gift automatically, its value extending far into the future.

But here’s the best part: as an investment, your endowment’s principal sum will grow and, consequently, produce higher annual payouts at that same 5%.

Let’s go back to the example of our donor’s one-time investment of $100,000. It distributes 5% every year. But over the course of, let’s say, twenty years, the market itself is going to grow in value; on average, it grows about 7% every year. That means that your endowment’s principal value is going to grow an average of 2% every year (7% market increase minus your 5% annual payout).

So after 20 years, your endowment has grown to $140,000 even as you continued receiving 5% annual payouts totaling about $112,000.

If all that gave you an SAT flashback, don’t worry! The basic concept is simple: your endowment’s principal amount grew more than it gave.

We should note that we’re using the example of $100,000 for simplicity’s sake. Endowments can start at lower values. CICF partners with not-for-profits organizations to establish endowments starting at $25,000. Alongside managing the fund, we offer services and support like planned-giving counsel, accepting complex gifts, professional development opportunities, and more.

And at CICF, your endowment – no matter its value – is pooled into a robust investment portfolio valued at $750 million. That allows us (and in turn, your organization) access to more sophisticated financial instruments that offer potentially higher yields and greater flexibility.

We should note that your principal amount isn’t necessarily off limits forever. Alongside permanent endowments, CICF offers board-designated or quasi-endowment funds that permit an organization to withdraw any amount of the principal (including the full amount) for special projects or in times of need.

Hopefully, this explanation was able to make these financial instruments sound more approachable. You don’t have to have a last name like Gates or manage a university in Cambridge to harness the power of the market for your organization and donors.

Plus, when donors and supporters see you utilize this powerful tool, it sends a message that you are planning for long-term sustainability and maximum positive impact for years to come.

FEEL FREE TO REACH OUT TO ME TO CONTINUE THIS CONVERSATION:

Jennifer Turner
Vice President of Philanthropy
Central Indiana Community Foundation
jennifert@cicf.org
317.634.2423 x513

For Riverside residents De’Amon Harges and Wildstyle Paschall, it started back in 2017 with a question as simple as it was unlikely: “What if we bought a city block?”

Increasingly, their historic near-westside neighborhood, Riverside, was in danger of losing itself to gentrification. A century after prejudicial housing practices like redlining had set off an era of disinvestment and declining values, Riverside was suddenly experiencing new investment with the planning and eventual construction of the 16 Tech Innovation District as well as massive upgrades at Riverside Regional Park.

From 2010 to 2020, Riverside’s homeownership decreased by a third while its property taxes climbed faster than any other Indianapolis neighborhood. Longtime residents watched as houses went straight from uninhabitable to unaffordable.

De’Amon and Wildstyle brought their community together to see how this familiar pattern could be disrupted.

The two are well known to residents of Riverside. De’Amon is founder and executive director of area non-profit, Roots International, known for asset-based community development. Wildstyle is an artist, educator and cultural ambassador, as familiar to local hip hop artists as he is to city officials.

In 2018, the two joined Central Indiana Community Foundation and Indianapolis Foundation’s Community Ambassadors program, with Wildstyle representing Riverside and De’Amon serving as the program’s overall advisor. Community Ambassadors are trusted neighbors who help connect a community’s biggest dreams with the Collaborative’s biggest resources.

One of those resources is IMPACT Central Indiana, a multi-member LLC created by Central Indiana Community Foundation, The Indianapolis Foundation, and Hamilton County Community Foundation. It provides low-interest loans to community-serving organizations.

In this case, the Indianapolis Foundation and other Collaborative funders utilized IMPACT Central Indiana as a vehicle to secure $325,000 for Roots International to purchase several parcels of land and two historic buildings at the intersection of Harding and Roche streets in Riverside.

In short: De’Amon and Wildstyle had bought their city block.

Along with several empty lots ready for infill, the purchase included reclamation of both the Ritz Lounge and the Hartmann building.

Years ago, the Ritz was one of Indiana Avenue’s notorious small jazz rooms—Black-owned venues that gave audiences a chance to share intimate space with some of the greatest musicians of the day. Though since closed, the Ritz was one of only a few clubs from the Avenue’s golden age to operate well into the 21^st century.

The current plan would restore the use of that building as a bar and lounge with future plans to purchase two added properties directly to the south.

Meanwhile, across Roche Street to the north, the Hartmann building still holds traces of its former occupants, including handwritten customer phone numbers and a painted sign on the walls of the French Connection convenience store. Current plans would restore not only a grocery store space but also a credit union, a multi-use arts space, and a new residential addition with 39 units of affordable housing.

“The ultimate idea is to reimagine Black Wall Street in Indianapolis,” De’Amon says. “All along Indiana Avenue, including up Harding Street, you had Black-owned businesses of every kind. We want to recreate that economic landscape in a way that honors and preserves Riverside’s history.”

IMPACT Central Indiana extends large financial tools to communities that are often denied them. It allows for loan repayments at 1% interest over extended time horizons while also combining the financial, social and civic expertise of the Collaborative to get complicated deals done.

“This is a better method of community development that gets around the typical ‘gentrify and displace,’” said Wildstyle. “The Ritz goes back about 80 years as a venue and community gathering place. It’s a legacy.”

Thanks to resources like IMPACT Central Indiana and the Community Ambassadors program, Riverside will be keeping more of its legacy.

Philanthropy is not about the people doing the work but is always about the people we serve and the difference we can make together.
—Brittany, director of development at Hamilton County Community Foundation

The trail is available 24 hours a day, 365 days a year, no matter the weather. We clear it of snow and ice, we keep it well lit, we keep it protected, and we keep it safe and accessible. It’s been really fun to see this organization grow and to be a part of transforming it from just one person to the great team that we’ve put together.
—Kären, executive director at Indianapolis Cultural Trail: a Legacy of Gene & Marilyn Glick

I have a best friend that I don’t get to see anymore because I moved schools. So I look forward to coming to camp here because I get to spend time with her here in the summers. And I also meet new friends. Without camp at Edna Martin, I’d be doing nothing all summer. When I go home, I see other kids around that don’t go to camp, and they’ve just been messing around on their phones all day.
—Lauren, camper and student at Edna Martin Christian Center