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Scammer targets local trust: E-mail scheme seeks data from Pulliam grant recipients

An Internet scammer borrowed the identity of a high-profile local foundation this month, blasting out an error-riddled e-mail message that solicited personal information from former grant recipients. Leaders of the Nina Mason Pulliam Charitable Trust responded by sending its own e-mail to all 2,400 individuals on its electronic contact list, instructing them to disregard the fake missive that promised a $2.5 million grant. Fallout from the so-called phishing attack appears to be minimal so far, trust CEO Harriet M. Ivey…

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Employers promoting fitness: To battle steep insurance costs, businesses help employees get healthier

Wearing a pedometer, Kelly Dircksen treads 2,000 or so steps a day at the office, racking up her highest counts in her treks to the photocopier. Her 2-1/2-mile daily goal entails after-work walks, as well. The 34-year-old quoting specialist said her company pays 50 percent of any fitness-related costs for her and her family, including a Weight Watchers program, running shoes for her kids, and the entry fee for her son’s marathon. “I’m definitely healthier,” said Dircksen, who celebrates incremental…

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State plays wait, see: Indiana likely to follow federal lead regarding oversight of charities

As the national conversation about improving not-for-profit oversight gains volume, Indiana’s top charity watchdog is tuning in-while he considers whether to join the cacophony. Attorney General Steve Carter convened an informal group of advisers to weigh in on the topic last year, ultimately pushing for changes in state law that give him more ways to deal with abuses in the sector. Now he’s content to let federal efforts play out before determining what more can be done to keep the…

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Charitable sector rides on road to recovery: Giving makes big jump for the first time since 2000

Americans gave more money to charity last year than ever before, signaling a return to the pre-9/11 philanthropic heyday. Contributions were up 5 percent, to $248.5 billion-the first significant increase after adjusting for inflation since 2000. “Things have been kind of flat,” said Eugene Tempel, executive director at the Center on Philanthropy at Indiana University. “This … tells us things are getting a little stronger. This is a good sign.” Researchers at the center compile data each year and write…

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TAKING A GAMBLE: Charity poker fund-raisers risk running afoul of the law

When it comes to charity poker in Indiana, players and organizers alike need to know more than when to hold ’em and when to fold ’em. They also need to know whether they’re walking-or running-away from a legal game. Poker’s growing popularity has given rise to a veritable jackpot for aficionados nationwide. In Indiana, where wagering is only allowed at state-sanctioned riverboat casinos, many of those who want more than a home game are finding action at tournaments that benefit…

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Women’s group aims to pool philanthropic resources: High hopes for first year: two $125,000 grants to local charities

They want to make a difference-a significant, six-figure difference in a world where progress often comes $100 at a time. By this time next year, the dozen women at the core of a new philanthropic effort hope to have found 100 or more like-minded individuals willing to open their hearts and their checkbooks to help the central Indiana community. Modeled after similar initiatives in Cincinnati and Pensacola, Fla., the idea behind Impact 100 Greater Indianapolis is simple enough: get 100…

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Not-for-profits affect state’s bottom line: Health organizations account for more than half of state’s not-for-profit workers

From 2000 to 2003, a period during which the state experienced an overall decline in jobs, employment in the notfor-profit sector grew. That finding, among others, is part of a study of not-for-profit employment in the state, and an update of a report issued two years ago, by Indiana University’s Center on Philanthropy, IU’s School of Public and Environmental Affairs, and Johns Hopkins University. The 5-percent increase in not-for-profit employment, compared with a 6-percent decline in the for-profit sector, suggests…

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Not-for-profit looks for way to continue its operations: Broad support must replace CILC’s sole funding source

It was supposed to be short-lived, an agency created solely to help Indiana schools tap emerging videoconferencing technology for distance learning. But a funny thing happened on the way to the virtual field trip. “We found it really wasn’t about the technology. It was about what you do with the technology,” said Ruth Blankenbaker, executive director of the Indianapolis-based Center for Interactive Learning and Collaboration. “If you don’t have a reason to use it, what’s the point?” Teachers had to…

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HIGHER (cost of) EDUCATION: Students’ college burden continues to rise in Indiana

With state funding flat and operating expenses rising, Indiana’s public universities are turning to a familiar source to make up the difference-students. Tuition and mandatory fees at state institutions are set to climb an average of 5 percent next school year and higher in 2006-2007, if proposed rates stand. That’s a far cry from the double-digit increases most universities imposed just a few years ago, but observers say it’s worrisome nonetheless. “Tuition has been rising at twice the rate of…

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Mission to Mexico to promote business: City officials, corporate leaders to take part in trip

Most Hoosiers visiting Mexico spend their time on the beaches of Cancun, Cabo San Lucas or Puerto Vallarta. But this fall, an excursion of a different kind will take local business and civic leaders south of the border to explore new opportunities for commerce and trade with Mexico. The week-long mission, scheduled for early September, is the brainchild of Sergio Aguilera, Mexico’s consul general for Indianapolis. He hopes that exposing Hoosiers to all facets of Mexican life-from government and the…

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Sweet Spot: Local philanthropists plan $15M chocolate facility on Indianapolis’ north side

Local philanthropists plan $15M chocolate facility on Indianapolis’ north side Two local philanthropists have bought 51 percent of Endangered Species Chocolate Co., based in Talent, Ore., and plan to move production of the company’s gour met dark chocolate to Indianapolis. Randy Deer and Wayne Zink, founders of the Back Home Again Foundation, paid $3 million in January for majority control of Endangered Species and plan to invest another $15 million in a manufacturing facility and new marketing strategy. “We wanted a…

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‘Placemaking’ finds champion: CICF to invest millions into quality-of-life enhancement

Central Indiana Community Foundation is making a multiyear, multimillion-dollar commitment to help find ways to make Hoosiers’ habitat a home. The Inspiring Places initiative, which is to be unveiled to foundation stakeholders March 22-23, aims to improve the region’s quality of life by rallying around the idea that vibrant public spaces create vibrant communities. But more than warm feelings are at stake, said CICF President and CEO Brian Payne. “More and more, a city’s economic development success revolves around its…

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GERALD BEPKO Commentary: Chicago World’s Fair is model for Indiana

Cities seem to progress in stages with moments of decline, growth, exceptional energy, and, at times, a sense of destiny. For many years, Indianapolis has been a city on the move, a little like Chicago in 1893 when it hosted a World’s Fair. Chicago sought to shed its frontiertown image and establish itself as a city of global consequence. It beat out New York, St. Louis and Washington, D.C., for the right to host the fair. In hosting it, Chicago…

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Training agency slashes government reliance: Not-for-profit turns to private donations for funding

Talk about a turnaround. An Indianapolis not-for-profit that once relied on government money to pay for most of its programs has found a way to do what many others wish they could-diversify its revenue stream as public funding dries up. In less than five years, work-force development agency Training Inc. has ended a decades-long dependence on government grants and contracts. “We had to reinvent ourselves in order to survive,” said former Director Joyce Duvall, who left this month after more…

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SUSAN WILLIAMS Commentary: Don’t overlook Benjamin Harrison Home

SUSAN WILLIAMS Commentary Don’t overlook Benjamin Harrison Home Here’s a thought: Celebrate President’s Day (Feb. 21) at the President Benjamin Harrison Home. Let re-enactors take you back to the era of the only president elected from Indiana. Benjamin Harrison built his three-story Italianate Victorian home at 1230 N. Delaware St. in 1875 and lived there until his death in 1901, with a four-year interruption when he moved to Washington, D.C., to serve as the 23rd president of the United States….

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Tsunami relief could hurt fund raising at home: Local agencies hope charitable response doesn’t come at their expense

Philanthropic response to last month’s tsunami has mounted along with the death toll, as citizens worldwide open their hearts and their checkbooks to help southeast Asia recover. In the United States alone, international relief organizations have raised more than $400 million, observers estimate, and pledges are still flowing in. But the impressive charitable effort-perhaps second only to the outpouring of support that followed the 9/11 terrorist attacks-has some fund-raisers worried that causes closer to home will suffer. “Sept. 11 taught…

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