Ask GIFT

IPA's GIFT team responds to hundreds of questions from Indiana community foundations throughout the year, ranging in scope and issue area.

To access these services, contact Technical Assistance Advisor Alisa Winters at askalisa@inphilanthropy.org.

Individual Assistance & General Questions

GIFT Technical Assistance Advisor Alisa Winters is available for individual assistance as needed. Contact her for any request. We maintain an extensive resource library and pursue education and professional development to serve the field. If the question requires a higher level of expertise, we will connect you with one of the Experts in Residence listed below.

Types of Requests

Succession Planning

Community foundations may benefit from working with this expert when planning for an upcoming leadership transition or in the midst of an unexpected vacancy. Typical requests include information on current trends in salary and benefits expectations, best practices to plan for upcoming transitions, an executive search strategy, or establishing a process to move forward during an unexpected vacancy.

OUR EXPERT IN RESIDENCE | Bryan Orander

Legal & Planned Giving

Laws that govern community foundations are complex and each scenario is unique. We can advise your foundation on approaching complex planned gifts, changes to funds, or updating old funds to bring them into compliance, among other things.

OUR EXPERT IN RESIDENCE | Phil Purcell

Finance & Accounting

Our experts deliver experience and knowledge in nonprofit accounting standards and widely used community foundation software platforms. Typical requests might include a consultation on best practices when preparing for a software conversion or a specific question about fund accounting.

OUR EXPERT IN RESIDENCE | FiscAlign

HR and Personnel

Community foundations are all employers and must comply with labor laws. Never is the phrase “an ounce of prevention worth a pound of cure” more true! We can provide guidance on the correct classification of employee types, benefits, unemployment, and disability claims or offer insight on unusual employee requests.

OUR EXPERT IN RESIDENCE | Jeremy York

Executive Coaching

Community foundation leaders are fortunate to work alongside people passionate about serving their communities: donors, nonprofits, board members, other community leaders, and other staff. As such, they are often faced with complex, competing priorities. Our executive coach can serve as an experienced, trusted thought partner to help you navigate difficult decisions and communicate from a position of strength.

OUR EXPERT IN RESIDENCE | Cheryl Taylor

Experts in Residence

Each organization has access to one hour of consultation per year, per expert. Contact us to access these experts.

Bryan Orander

Charitable Advisors

President

Bryan is founder and president of Charitable Advisors. In addition to creating and publishing the Not-for-profit News, an e-newsletter for 14,000 subscribers in Central Indiana, Bryan co-founded the “Get on Board,” an annual board member recruiting event hosted by Leadership Indianapolis. He started Charitable Advisors in 2000 after more than 20 years of experience in leadership, management and consulting. In 2010, Charitable Advisors published the first Central Indiana Nonprofit Salary Survey.

Phil Purcell, J.D.

Foundation Legal Help Desk

Counsel, Foundation Legal Help Desk

Phil Purcell currently serves as Territory Director of Planned Giving for the Central Territory of The Salvation Army. In this role, he is the directional leader of thirty planned giving staff who close $80 million in planned gifts annually. Phil is counsel for the national Foundation Legal Help Desk, Indiana Philanthropy Alliance, Philanthropy Southeast, and Philanthropy Ohio. He has served as independent counsel for over one hundred community foundations throughout the U.S. He served as Director of Gift Planning for the Central Indiana Community Foundation, consultant for Kansas Association of Community Foundations, consultant for the Florida Philanthropic Network, and a legal and peer reviewer for the Community Foundations National Standards Board, Council of Foundations. Phil teaches courses on law and philanthropy, nonprofit organization law and planned giving as adjunct faculty for the Indiana University Maurer School of Law (Bloomington, IN) and Indiana University Lilly Family School of Philanthropy and Fundraising School (Indianapolis, IN). He is a senior consultant for the Heaton Smith Group, a national legacy planning consulting firm. Phil serves as editor for Planned Giving Today, a national monthly publication, as well as a content editor for Giving USA. Phil is an attorney and member of the Indiana and American Bar Association. He serves as Vice Chair of the Charitable Giving and Organizations Committee of the Real Property, Trust, and Estate section of the American Bar Association. He is president of the American Council on Gift Annuities board of directors, and formerly served on the boards of the National Association of Charitable Gift Planners (secretary), Indiana Charitable Gift Planners (president), AFP – Indiana (president), and was AFP-Indiana Fundraiser of the Year. Phil received his B.A. degree from Wabash College (magna cum laude) and his J.D. and M.P.A. degrees (with honors) from Indiana University. He is a member of Phi Beta Kappa and Pi Alpha Alpha as well as a Truman Scholar.

Wes Terry

FiscAlign

President

Wes is the President of Budd, Terry & Associates Certified Public Accountants providing responsive and reliable expertise to businesses, nonprofit organizations and individuals. Wes is exceptionally skilled at working with manufacturing, nonprofit and government entities. Mr. Terry brings expertise as a former government and nonprofit auditor and nonprofit tax specialist. He brings unique expertise in understanding nonprofit organizations and their challenges, whether they be small grassroots organizations or large international nonprofits. Mr. Terry is an active volunteer in his community serving as a board member and providing financial expertise to local charitable organizations. He is a member of the Indiana CPA Society, AICPA, Perry County Chamber of Commerce, and Dubois County Chamber of Commerce. Most importantly he is a loving husband and father.

Tanner Egbert

FiscAlign

Consultant

Prior to joining FiscAlign as a Consultant, Tanner’s background consists of 3 years of experience in financial management and fund accounting in the community foundation sector. Tanner has experience with month end processing, software conversions (Community Suite & Pearl), payroll, creating new work processes, financial reports, audits, budget creation, organizational financial assessments, and donor analysis projects. Tanner completed his bachelor's degree in Public Financial Management at Indiana University in 2021 and completed his Masters of Public Affairs (MPA) at Indiana University in 2023. Tanner was an undergrad teaching assistant (UTA) at Indiana University.

Jeremy York

Invigorate HR

Lead Consultant and President

Jeremy York, SHRM-SCP, SPHR is the Lead Consultant and President of InvigorateHR and coauthor of the “JoyPowered Organization.” He has over 20 years' experience in human resource strategy and business operations where he has worked with and advised all levels of management on critical business and people-related issues. Jeremy's expertise in defining and understanding the "big picture" enables him to translate business needs into tangible solutions. With his guidance, organizations have improved employee relations, increased performance, and developed cultures based on mutual trust and respect. Jeremy holds a master’s degree in management from Indiana Wesleyan University and a bachelor’s degree in organizational leadership from Purdue University. He has served as an adjunct faculty member for Purdue University Indianapolis for over 15 years teaching various leadership and human resources curriculums. Jeremy is a national speaker and currently serves as an advisor on the Society for Human Resource Management’s Diversity Taskforce.

Cheryl Taylor

Taylor Leadership Consulting

Consultant

For the last two decades, Taylor was President of Foellinger Foundation, a private, charitable foundation in Fort Wayne, IN, with assets of $200M. Before she was named President, Cheryl served ten years as Program Manager at the Foundation.

In August 2020, she was awarded the Sagamore of the Wabash, one of Indiana’s highest honors.

At Foellinger Foundation, Cheryl spearheaded the Helene Foellinger Leadership Development Initiative, which includes the rigorous 12-month Leadership Lab program. She also guided the Initiative’s Barbara Burt Innovative Leader Fund to provide leadership development to nonprofit board members.

Prior to these roles, Cheryl worked for public and private organizations in roles including public information officer, marketing and communications, PR and disaster relief services.

Cheryl is on the board of directors of Fort Wayne Quest Club, Indiana Humanities and Indiana Philanthropy Alliance.

Cheryl has a Master’s Degree in Humanities from Indiana University, credentials in Professional Executive Coaching and Advanced Executive Coaching from Huntington University, and is certified in Conversational Intelligence™ and ECHO Listening Intelligence®.

GIFT Technical Assistance