Impact 100 Greater Indianapolis
Member Newsletter

November 2016
In This Issue
 
Join Our Mailing List
A Message from the President 
 
Dear women of Impact 100 Greater Indianapolis and our loyal supporters,
 
Impact 100 Greater Indianapolis president Beth Thomas
This month's newsletter is packed with information as we approach the end of the year and our December 31st cutoff date for membership donations. If you haven't already joined for 2017, what are you waiting for? Please let us know if you plan to join, even if you won't make your membership contribution before the end of December.

If you have joined, or know that you will be joining, now is also the time to consider getting more involved in Impact 100. An all-volunteer organization like ours needs new ideas at the table to ensure we continue to grow and successfully make an impact on our community.

In addition to the Focus Area Committees who select our grant finalists, we have Membership, Marketing/PR, Grants, Fundraising, Annual Dinner, and Nominating committees. All committees are led by board members, but any member can serve. If you're interested in joining the Impact 100 board of directors, serving on a committee is the best way to see if it would be a good fit for you.

If you'd like to know more about serving on a board committee or on the board, please reach out to me via email. I will be happy to talk to you on the phone or meet for coffee (or a nice adult beverage) and answer any questions you may have.

Thanks for reading, and feel free to send me your thoughts and ideas at impact100indy@gmail.com.
 
Beth Thomas
President
Impact 100 Greater Indianapolis
#GivingTuesday, November 29:  Give the Gift of Scholarship and Your Donation Will be Matched 

Join Impact 100 in the global #GivingTuesday movement on November 29. Founded to inspire people to improve their local communities by giving on the Tuesday after Thanksgiving, w e hope you will help Impact 100 give the gift of a scholarship membership. All donations made to our #GivingTuesday campaign will go to fund the scholarship program for young women.

The Impact 100 Scholarship program invites young philanthropists under the age of 36 to participate as full members in Impact's grant making process. In the past two years, more than 20 young women have served on our five grant committees and brought fresh ideas to the discussions. Read our blog about the Scholarship Program to learn more.

Whether it's $10, $100, or whatever you are comfortable giving, we hope to fund several $1,000 scholarships by the end of the day. AND, we have a $10,000 challenge grant to match your contribution dollar for dollar!

Donations can be made directly through our special #GivingTuesday page.
To follow our #GivingTuesday initiative on social media, go to Twitter or Facebook .

Brew HAHA Tuesday, November 29: Celebrate #GivingTuesday With Us!  
 
Mark your calendars to attend our BrewHAHA at Blind Owl Brewery as part of our Giving Tuesday celebration on November 29. The event is from 4:30-6:30 p.m. at Blind Owl Brewery, 5014 E. 62nd Street (corner of 62nd & Binford).
Your Donation Costs Less Than You Think!  
By:  Nancy Cunning, Certified Financial Planner, Financial Partners Group. Nancy is a member of Impact 100 and a founding member of W3. W3 and Financial Partners Group are the presenting sponsors of our Annual Dinner.

When does a $1,000 donation to a charitable organization cost the donor less than $1,000? A charitable donation of appreciated stock can cost you quite a bit less than the actual face value of the gift.

If you donate $1,000 by writing a check, your gift will cost $1,000 (less the tax savings from making a charitable gift. For instance, if you are in a 35% income tax bracket the gift will cost you $650 after taxes.) But if you donate stock that has risen in value, you may be getting even more bang for your buck!

Here's an example: Let's say you bought some Apple stock five years ago at $50 per share and it's now worth $100 per share. You could give 10 shares of Apple stock to the charitable organization (10 shares x $100 per share = $1, 000 value of gift) while you only paid $500 for the stock to begin with. You not only save the $350 in income taxes for making the charitable deduction, but you also save the 20% capital gains tax on the sale. In this case, you save $75 of capital gains tax (15% assumed capital gains tax rate times the gain of $500 or $75). In short, you don't have to pay any tax on the gain, plus you get to write off the full value of the $1,000 gift. The total income tax savings is $425 ($75 of capital gains tax savings and $350 from the charitable deduction). The after tax cost of making the $1,000 gift of Apple stock is now only $575. The charitable organization can then sell that stock for the current market price ($1,000) and they don't have to pay any tax on the gain either because of their non-profit status. It's a win-win.

Electronic transfer is the easiest method of gifting stock if you maintain your holdings in a brokered account. Impact 100 Greater Indianapolis can assist you with this process at any time and we have carefully described the steps to be taken in gifting stock on our website on our Donate Stock page.

If you are considering making a donation of appreciated securities, discuss it with your tax and financial advisors to see which strategy makes the most sense for you.
Impact 100 Global Conference

Karen Holly (immediate past president), Terry Mumford (vice president and membership chair), and Beth Thomas (president) represented Impact 100 Greater Indianapolis at the Impact 100 Global Conference in October. It was invigorating and overwhelming. There are now 31 Impact 100 organizations in the U.S. and six in Australia, with 14 more in development. The growth of Impact 100 over the last 15 years is nothing short of amazing. We are a growing community, connected through giving through the Impact 100 model.
Update from This Year's Winner: The IMPACT Program

We wanted to share an update on 2016's Impact 100 winner, the IMPACT Program to Curb Runaway and Human Trafficking of Young Girls, a collaboration between Ascent 121 and Lutheran Child & Family Services. The IMPACT Program was able to bring on additional counselors as well as renovate housing for the teenagers who had previously been victims of sex trafficking.

 
Sven Schumacher from Lutheran Child & Family Services sent us a note with some information from a counselor after the young ladies had moved into the housing renovated with Impact 100 grant funds:

I walked in yesterday to a mess of cleaning and vacuuming and dusting and decorating. The staff said they've been obsessing about keeping it clean and "in good condition." They've also been excited about how they can "improve" things. They have come up with a way to orient new youth and want to elect "ambassadors." They keep talking to each other about staying positive and showed a lot of insight when they decided they have to quit bombarding new girls with a comparison of their "stories." They have been brainstorming on how they can make a more positive entry for new residents.

A new feature in the dorm is a Survivors Wall. Adult survivors from around the country have written letters of encouragement to the teens. This is a wonderful way for the teens to see for themselves that complete recovery is possible. When girls arrive in our program, many of them say things like "the first time I turned a trick was the last time I thought I could ever do anything else with my life." These adults are living proof that survivors can grow up to be healthy mothers, wives, career professionals and more. It encourages them to dream again. Facilities like ours are unique - there are very few around the country that focus specifically on this population. Adult survivors are thrilled to hear this program is available to the teens of Indiana.
Online Donation Form Now Available

How many times have you asked yourself "Why can't it be easier to make my Impact 100 donation?" Hopefully, our new online donation form helps make things easier. While we will always accept paper membership forms and checks, you can now use our secure online form to make a donation to Impact 100, including your annual membership donation.
Poverty Simulation is a Success!

United Way of Central Indiana led 26 participants through a poverty simulation on November 2nd at Insights Consulting. Women working in pairs received a packet of information on a real family in Indianapolis (names were changed). Each pair worked through three stages of their family's budget cycle, determining how to budget the limited income and costs of living (food, housing, utilities, childcare, health insurance, student loans, etc.). After the simulation, United Way representatives Kaylie Locker and Annie Smith led a debriefing on the issues these families faced.

This powerful simulation gave every woman present a better understanding of the choices those who work within a limited income must make. One of the biggest takeaways was learning about the Connect2Help Line, 211, a free and confidential service that helps people find the resources they need to address nonemergency needs for food, shelter, employment, counseling and more.

After the debriefing, Megan McGuire of Ascent 121 and Alisse Wilburn of Lutheran Child & Family Services spoke about their experiences serving individuals in or near poverty, through their Impact 100-funded project and in their other work.
Back to School Night for Impact 100

More than 40 Impact 100 members and guests visited Herron High School on October 17th to follow the impact of our 2008 grant. That $104,000 grant provided Herron (a public charter school in downtown Indianapolis) with funds to purchase art equipment, portable staging, and sound equipment for students in choir, theatre, orchestra, and art classes. Janet McNeal, Head of Schools, reviewed the growth of Herron High School since our grant and also invited us to learn about their newest facility -- Riverside High School, to be located in the Armory on West 30th Street. Impact 100 members who wish to learn more about Riverside High School and receive a private tour may contact Jason Simons , vice president of development. We want to thank Lizzie Conkle, Impact 100 member, for her work in setting up this event.
Recipient Emails

The IndyFringe Prism Project is presenting a free concert on Sunday, November 20, at 1:30 p.m. The Prism Project is a performing arts curriculum promoting both inclusion and access to the arts for young people with special needs, and is a collaboration between IndyFringe and Ball State University. The Prism Project won a 2016 residual grant of $18,333. You can see the official invitation on our website at http://www.impact100indy.org/prismconcert. To learn more about the Prism Project go to http://www.indyfringe.org/prism.
  Members In The News
  • Congratulations to Impact 100 member and Indianapolis Red Cross Tiffany Circle champion fundraiser Ginger Merkel on her recognition as a 2016 Indianapolis Business Journal Women of Influence. We are very proud of you!
  • Impact 100 co-founder Donna Oklak participated in Purdue's Krannert School of Management Executive Forum on Friday, November 4 for juniors and seniors at the school. She shared inspirational messages about women's giving and lessons learned from collecti ve l y granting $1.75 million in Indianapolis since Impact began in 2006.
Remembering Yvonne Perkins

It is with great sadness that we note the passing of Impact 100 member Yvonne Perkins. Yvonne joined Impact 100 in 2008 and had been a member ever since. She volunteered for many organizations, including Girl Scouts and Coalition of 100 Black Women. Yvonne was Vice President, Corporate Communications and Chief Diversity Officer at Citizen's Energy Group.

Impact 100 co-founder Donna Oklak shares a story of an interaction she had with Yvonne:

Back in the spring of 2015 I made an effort to go personally thank Yvonne for her commitment to Impact 100 over the years. She was charming as always, but one thought that she shared with me really stuck. She said that in her work at Citizens' she had seen numerous instances where men with capacity had not hesitated to support the many fine philanthropic causes in our city. However, the spouses of many of these men did not have the same boldness in their giving. She believed in Impact here in our city because we were working to encourage women to be impactful philanthropists.

She will be greatly missed by everyone at Impact 100 and by the entire Indianapolis community.
Upcoming Impact 100 Events
  • Tuesday, November 29: Giving Tuesday BrewHAHA at Blind Owl Brewery
    Giving Tuesday is the first Tuesday after Thanksgiving, and it's a great time to celebrate those who give. Come to learn more about Impact 100 or to meet up with old and new friends from4:30-6:30 p.m. Our last BrewHAHA was an exciting event with tornadoes raging, keeping many people away. There should be no excuse this time!
  • Wednesday, December 7: Impact 100 "DIY" Holiday Party
    This year's party is more than just a gathering-we'll have board member Andi Cohen of Eat Your Heart Out Catering demonstrating how to create appetizers for your holiday party and board member Cathy Simmons of CS Accoutrements showing how to make a holiday centerpiece. New members should try to arrive at 5:30 p.m. to participate in a short orientation and take the opportunity to ask questions and meet other new members. This promises to be a great party, so don't be late for this one: 5:30-7:30 p.m., Outside the Box, 3940 E 56th St.
  • Thursday, December 8: Nonprofit Information Meeting at Glendale Library  Nonprofits in Central Indiana (Marion County and the surrounding counties) are invited to attend an informational meeting to learn more about our process, focus areas, nonprofit eligibility requirements, and our grant calendar. The meeting will take at the Glendale Library, 2:30-4:30 p.m. To be added to the invitation list please click on our Interested Nonprofit Form.
  • January 2017 (date and place tbd): Shared Member Meet-Up:
    The women who share memberships in Impact 100 are a very important part of our organization. In mid-January, we will have a special reception for them to discuss their roles and how they can make the most of their participation in the grants process. While the focus is on shared members, all members of Impact 100 are invited to attend and share conversation, wine, and snacks. 
Watch this calendar for more information on these upcoming events (dates to be announced). For more information on any of these events, please contact Membership Chair Terry Mumford at impact100indy@gmail.com .