Ugandan conservationist wins $50K Indianapolis Prize conservationist award
Mwezi “Badru” Mugerwa will receive $50,000 to spend on his work to protect rarely seen African golden cats.
Philanthropy
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Taylor University leans into Christian identity to attract big gifts
Taylor racked up the highest number of individual million-dollar-plus gifts—14—among the 57 donations in IBJ’s 2024 list of largest individual gifts to Indiana organizations.
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IBJ Podcast: Mission of Indy furniture maker ‘is about building other people up’
More than 240 people who have struggled with addiction, homelessness, incarceration and other obstacles have been employed and trained by Purposeful Design. And sales of its high-end furniture cover most of the cost of operation.
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Marian University receives $29M gift for medical school
The donation, the largest individual gift in Marian’s history, came from Julie Wood—on behalf of the Tom & Julie Wood Family Foundation.
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Riley Children’s Foundation lands $8M gift from Lechleiters
The Indianapolis-based foundation, which announced the donation Friday, said the funds would help make mental health and behavioral health services more available to children and adolescents.
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Articles
Lumina Foundation sets new goal for higher education achievement
The new goal is about measuring—and working to increase—the economic value of post-secondary education.
Indianapolis Foundation president steps down after less than 2 years
Lorenzo Esters joined the foundation in 2023 after the departure of longtime leader Brian Payne.
Purdue University launches $4B fundraising campaign
The campaign, publicly announced Monday, is the largest in the school’s history and its third billion-dollar-plus campaign in less than 25 years.
Bill amendment seeks to block charities from operating like true casinos
The amendment begins by renaming popular “casino game nights” to “card, dice and roulette games events.”
Butler grad donating $12M for women’s sports, leadership funds
The donation is the largest gift to Butler University’s athletic department and the largest known estate commitment in the school’s history.
Trump administration’s proposed funding freeze causes uncertainty, delays in central Indiana projects
Although the White House’s planned federal funding freeze was temporarily paused by a judge late Tuesday afternoon and rescinded Wednesday, it’s already delaying some central Indiana-based projects.
Indy refugee organization seeks private donations following federal funding uncertainty
Indianapolis-based Exodus Refugee Immigration Inc. has begun asking for financial support following a flurry of immigration-related changes President Donald Trump made last week through a series of executive orders.
Film to focus on activist and medical debt issue
Richard Propes travels in his wheelchair on an annual annual fundraising trek he calls the Tenderness Tour. In 2024, he traveled 150 miles of Indiana trails, raising more than $100,000 for Massachusetts-based nonprofit Undue Medical Debt.
Scouting fund honoring Jim Morris to help first-time campers
The new fund will pay for half of the cost for a child to attend camp.
Purposeful Design rebuilds lives as participants build furniture
The east-side company is about to finish 2024 with more than $2.7 million in sales—up from $1.35 million four years ago. By 2026, the business expects sales to reach $3 million.
UPDATE: IU lands $138M grant from Lilly Endowment to fund new biosciences accelerator
The gift is the largest grant that Indiana University has ever received in support of research and development. IU President Pamela Whitten said the funding will help “change the very landscape of our capital city and state.”
Nonprofit aims to help seniors, disabled stay at home
Home Repairs for Good serves Marion County homeowners who are at least 62 years old or have a disability and are at or below 150% of the federal poverty line.
GivingTuesday estimates $3.6B was donated this year, an increase from 2023
This year, about 18.5 million people donated to nonprofits and another 9.2 million people volunteered on GivingTuesday, according to the organization’s estimates.
Lilly Endowment CEO gets 2024 Sachem Award
Indianapolis philanthropic leader Clay Robbins is the 19th person to receive the award, meant to honor outstanding community contributions.
Riches and gifts roll on for Lilly Endowment
The Lilly Endowment is writing a flurry of big checks again and recently sold more than $50 million worth of stock in namesake drugmaker Eli Lilly and Co. to fund the gifts, many of them to Indiana organizations.
Volunteers came back to nonprofits in 2023, after pandemic tanked participation
Compared to other adults, people between the ages of 45 and 54 volunteered at the highest rates overall, the survey found, and more women volunteered than men, continuing a long-term trend.
Fair Oaks Farms education arm getting $2.7M to help further its mission
The Lake States Dairy Center—a nonprofit educational affiliate of Fair Oaks Farms—will receive the contribution from seven financial institutions, the organizations announced Tuesday.
Attorney Melissa Proffitt’s enthusiasm, endurance benefit community organizations
Because of her tireless devotion to Indiana’s economic and social betterment, IBJ has named Proffitt the 31st recipient of the Michael A. Carroll Award.
Study shows pandemic’s impact on charitable giving
A new study from the Indiana University Lilly Family School of Philanthropy found fewer givers as the pandemic started, but larger donations.