September 2012 Board of Visitors Newsletter

To: Board of Visitors
      Executive Committee
      Center Advisory Boards

From: Patrick M. Rooney, Executive Director

Date: September 27, 2012

Subject: Center on Philanthropy Activities

I want to express my sincere appreciation to the Board of Visitors and Center friends for your continued support of the School of Philanthropy. These past few months have gone quickly as the school proposal was on the fast-track in the approval process. It belies all of the hard work and effort that you have provided over the many years that we have been working on becoming a school. We are very excited to begin the work of developing a structure for the School. We will have many reasons to celebrate in November at our 25th Anniversary celebration.

• School Update
• Communications
• The Fund Raising School
• Women’s Philanthropy Institute
• Lake Institute on Faith & Giving
• Research
• Academic Programs

School Update

• As you know, on September 14th the Indiana Commission for Higher Education approved the university’s proposal to create what is believed to be the world’s first school dedicated to the study and teaching of philanthropy. Now we will begin implementation starting with the development of a structure for the school and putting into place what has been one of the Center’s most significant long-term strategic goals.
• Gene Tempel will be returning to the Center to assist this work and we welcome him back. At some point in the future, possibly spring semester 2013, we hope to have all of our documentation prepared, our infrastructure determined and then President McRobbie will make the decision as to the timing for the official opening of the new school.

Communications

• More than 40 media outlets covered our release of Women Give 2012 including USA Today, the Association of Fundraising Professionals Resource Center Blog, Independent Sector and The Chronicle of Philanthropy. Next Avenue, a new PBS website for people age 50+, asked Debra Mesch, Women’s Philanthropy Institute Director and Professor of Public Affairs and Philanthropic Studies, to blog about the study.
• Our news release announcing final approval of the School of Philanthropy generated substantial media coverage in Central Indiana and beyond. In fact, the story was included in the United Kingdom’s Civil Society online publication, a leader of an NGO in Sri Lanka contacted us to express interest in applying to the new school, and the Huffington Post’s headline declared the school “officially legit.” Other media outlets covering the latest school news included GOOD, The Chronicle of Philanthropy, The NonProfit Times, Fundraising Success,Associated Press, The Indianapolis Star, Indianapolis Business Journal , Inside Indiana Business and WIBC News Radio Indianapolis. The Associated Press and The Indianapolis Star stories were picked up by more than a dozen additional outlets.
• Center research, faculty and staff also have been cited or quoted recently by several major news organizations, including The Wall Street Journal, The New York Times, Bloomberg/BusinessWeek, Forbes, U.S. News & World Report, BBC and The Nonprofit Quarterly.

The Fund Raising School (TFRS)

• The Fund Raising School continues to offer courses online. An eight-week online offering of Principles & Techniques started this month. Also, a four-week offering of Developing Major Gifts is being offered for the first time in an online environment.
• In September, TFRS delivered Planned Giving: Getting the Proper Start with the San Diego Foundation. It was the third of four courses being offered by the San Diego Foundation in 2012.
• TFRS also taught Developing Major Gifts with NorthSky Nonprofit Network in Traverse City, MI.

Women’s Philanthropy Institute (WPI)

• The Women’s Philanthropy Institute released Women Give 2012 in August. The study was led by Debra Mesch, WPI Director, in partnership with Una Osili, Director of Research.
• In September, the WPI Council convened in Boston for its annual in-person meeting. Prior to the meeting, Ellen Remmer, WPI Council Chair and Board of Visitors Vice Chair, hosted a gathering at her home for Council members and invited guests. The Council welcomed Maureen Hackett, Board of Visitors Chair, and Elizabeth Gore, Vice President of Global Partnerships for the UN Foundation, as new members of the group. The discussion focused on furthering the vision for WPI, clarifying key messages and targeted products for the served audiences and identifying potential partners for collaborations.

Lake Institute on Faith & Giving

• A two-day seminar was held in Goshen, IN, as part of the two-year contract with Everence and the Mennonite Church. The seminar was taught by Aimée Laramore, Associate Director of the Lake Institute.
• Bill Enright, Lake Institute Director, led a one-day seminar for religious congregations in Wheaton, IL. The seminar was sponsored by the DuPage Community Foundation.
• A two-day seminar was delivered in Hawaii for the California Pacific Foundation. The instruction was provided by Aimée Laramore and Robert Hunter.
• A third one-day seminar was presented in Columbus, OH. The seminar was sponsored by The Methodist Seminary of Ohio.
• The Lake Institute is finalizing an agreement with The Methodist Seminary of Ohio to offer a credit course for their students. Bill Enright will be the instructor.
• As part of a three-year contract with the Presbyterian Church USA, Bill Enright and David Crittenden, taught two one-day seminars in Dallas and Fort Worth, TX.

Research

• On September 17th, Una Osili, Director of the Research Department and Professor of Economics and Philanthropic Studies, gave a presentation on “Myths on Religious
• Giving” at the International Catholic Stewardship Council 2012 Conference in Chicago, IL.

Academic Programs

• The undergraduate program in Philanthropic Studies continues to develop. Currently, there are 44 declared majors in the undergraduate program, up from 22 a year ago. Moreover, there are five undergraduate students minoring in Philanthropic Studies.
• The graduate programs in Philanthropic Studies remain popular. In 2012, the Center admitted nine doctoral students, 27 Master of Arts students and 16 Executive Master of Arts students.
• Our academic programs continue to attract international students. Countries represented in 2012 cohort include China, Israel, Mexico and Turkey.
• The Association for Research on Nonprofits and Voluntary Action (ARNOVA) announced the results of their board election. The board members include Angela Bies, Center Director of International Programs and Associate Professor of Philanthropic Studies, and Chao Guo, Associate Professor of Nonprofit Management at the School of Public and Environmental Affairs and Philanthropic Studies, IU Indianapolis.
• On September 10th, Angela Barron McBride, Distinguished Professor, University Dean Emerita at the School of Nursing and Professor in Philanthropic Studies, received the President’s Medal “for sustained academic excellence.”
• On September 12th, Ruth Hansen, first-year doctoral student in Philanthropic Studies, facilitated an interactive panel discussion on Ethics in Fundraising at the 4th Annual Advancing Philanthropy Conference in Lombard, IL.
• Robert Katz, Professor of Law and Philanthropic Studies, co-authored an article “The Truth About Ben & Jerry's” published in the Stanford Social Innovation Review. View the article.
• Angela Seaworth, doctoral candidate in Philanthropic Studies, published two articles. The first article, “Engineering Your Nonprofit Career,” was published in Advancing Philanthropy, 19(4), pages 50-51. The second article, “Rice University: Building an Academic Center for Nonprofit Education,” was published in Continuing Higher Education Review, 76, pages 75-182.
• Angela Seaworth has also been named to the National Content Advisory Committee for the “Learning to Give” curriculum, through GenerationOn and the Points of Light Foundation.
• Angela Carr Klitzsch, a doctoral student in Philanthropic Studies, was featured on a segment, “One Paycheck Away,” published by the Huffington Post.

I look forward to seeing you in November at the Board meeting, the 25th Anniversary celebration and the Annual Symposium.