Collections : [IUPUI Philanthropic Studies Archives]

The Boone County Red Cross Scrapbooks contain newspaper clippings, letters, postcards, and photographs related to the work of the Boone County chapter of the Red Cross.

Transcripts for oral history interviews related to philanthropy, which were conducted by the Indiana University Center for Documentary Research and Practice, formerly known as Indiana University Center for the Study of History and Memory, formerly known as the Indiana Oral History Research Center. The American Foundations Oral History Project consists of a series of interviews with prominent American philanthropists, each of whom relates their background, the development of their values, and their philosophies of philanthropy. The purpose and state of American philanthropy, including those family foundations and corporate foundations, form a central topic, as do the recent trend of increasing diversity and opinions on grant evaluation and philanthropic assessment. In addition, many interviewees comment on the role of government in philanthropy and the system of ethics at play in American philanthropy. The Center on Philanthropy Oral History Project traces creation of the Center from its earliest stages and its evolution into a fully operating academic institution dedicated to the study of philanthropy. It includes the negotiations in bringing the Fund Raising School to Indianapolis, Indiana, the grant proposals to the Lilly Endowment, finding the Center's first director, and the creation of its mission statement. This project also contains many different people's views on the study of philanthropy and the importance and success of the Center. The "Philanthropy: a history of fund raising" Project discusses the history of philanthropy and fundraising as a profession. The interviewees, all workers of different generations, discuss the various issues and changes the field of fundraising has faced over the years, with a major focus on fundraising in America. The changing public image of philanthropy, the introduction of women into the field, and the skills and techniques needed within the profession are all discussed in depth throughout the interviews. The major differences between various types of fundraising are also discussed.

This collection contains predominantly publications and reports of the America Reads Challenge program with correspondence, news clippings, posters, and a VHS. The America Reads Challenge, a national movement, was started to promote and ensure children's literacy in 1997 as part of President Clinton's Call to Action for Education. The publications are from the America Reads Challenge office creating teaching materials and guidebooks, and institutions that received grants for the program review by Marsha Adler, who was a director of Higher Education at the America Reads Challenge office.

Anna Margaret Ross Alexander (1913-1995) was an Indianapolis civic leader, and member and president of the Indianapolis Board of School Commissioners from 1966-1970 during the period when desegregation, integration of the teaching staff, and busing was initiated. Mrs. Alexander was an active member in diverse civic organizations, but the records collected mainly reflect her tenure on the School Board.

Vivian B. Allen (VBA) Foundation was created in 1938 in New York State by Vivian Beaumont Allen with the stated purpose, "to promote the well-being of mankind in the United States of America and elsewhere in the world, including as a means to that end research, publication, the establishment and maintenance of charitable, benevolent, religious and educational activities, agencies and institutions already established." Upon Mrs. Allen's death in 1962, VBA Foundation began to liquidate itself and was dissolved in 1971. The records consist of correspondence between VBA Foundation and grant applicants, including notification of awards or rejections, and descriptions of projects under consideration for grants; and administrative records and correspondence of the Board of Directors, including Board meeting agenda and minutes, and Memoranda distributed to the Board Members. The collection contains records dating back to 1946.

The A.L. Mailman Family Foundation was established in 1980 as a private, successor organization to the Mailman Foundation, which was founded by Abraham and Joseph Mailman in 1943. The foundation, named for Abe Mailman and originally chaired by his daughter, Dr. Marilyn Mailman Segal, provides grant funding for projects and programs concerning early childhood education and development. Initially, the Foundation's early grants supported applied research and model programs, but based on feedback and replication issues, the Foundation began to focus on products and practices intended to inform public policy. In 1993, the Directors of the Foundation decided to proactively address larger societal issues, such as racism, violence, and poverty, in addition to their continued support for early childhood education and family care. The Mailman Foundation Records contain board meeting minutes, symposia memorabilia, annual reports and administrative files, grant files and related publications, records of contributions, and correspondence.

Altrusa International, Inc. is an international service organization for professional and executive business women with membership on a limited classification basis. The National Association of Altrusa Clubs, founded in 1917 as Altrusa Institute, was the first national organization of business and professional women. In 1935 Altrusa became international and the name was changed to International Association of Altrusa Clubs, Inc. The organization's name was changed again in June 1947, to Altrusa International, Inc. The Indianapolis Altrusa Club was formed in April 1917. Its programs and activities have included vocational education and guidance, senior citizens programs, civic service and community service projects, financial assistance for graduate women from other countries and literacy related programs. The organization's objectives are to cultivate friendly relationships and solidarity among business and professional women to encourage mutual helpfulness; to provide vocational information and service to women of all ages; to encourage members to actively participate in community, national and international affairs, and to promote educational and cultural training. The records consist of legal documents, board and committee records, meeting files, financial records, correspondence, publications, special event materials, scrapbooks, news clippings and photographs.

American City Bureau, a fundraising consulting firm, works with not for profit organizations to design and run fund raising campaigns. Established in 1913 by Edgar and Harold Buttenheim, the company merged with Beaver and Associates in 1963. The firm has worked on capital campaigns on the national and local level. American City Bureau has been instrumental in developing campaigns for organizations such as the Young Men's Christian Association,(YMCA), the Young Women's Christian Association, (YWCA), United Fund, and the Salvation Army. The records detail the fund raising efforts and campaigns of the American City Bureau and its predecessor origins. It consists of 4 page reports of campaigns from Howard T. Beaver Associates, (later Beaver and Associates) from 1936-1963, campaign information from American City Bureau from 1944 -1995, conference addresses and programs, from 1938-1978, promotional materials and publications from 1919- 1973, and their newsletter, Bureau News from 1920-1976.

America's Promise - The Alliance for Youth was founded at the Presidents' Summit for America's Future in 1997. The Five Promises to children are at the core of America's Promise and are as follows: Caring Adults; Safe Places; a Healthy Start; Marketable Skills; and Opportunities to Serve.

The Association for Research on Nonprofit Organizations and Voluntary Action (ARNOVA) was founded in 1971 by David Horton Smith and Bill Ready as the Association for Voluntary Action Scholars (AVAS). Their vision was to create an independent and impartial forum for researchers in the fledgling field of voluntary action and citizen participation. Major activities have included an annual conference and the publication of Nonprofit and Voluntary Sector Quarterly (NVSQ), formerly the Journal of Voluntary Action Research (JVAR); Citizen Participation and Voluntary Action Abstracts (CPVAA); and a newsletter. The organization's name change in 1991 signified diversification of the original mission, which now includes expanded outreach to researchers on nonprofit organizations and from previously neglected academic disciplines. The records consist of board and committee materials, correspondence, financial and administrative records, journals and newsletters, journal manuscript submissions, conference programs and proceedings, and grant proposals.

The National Society of Fund Raisers was organized in New York City in 1960 to serve as the professional association for fund raisers in America. The organization changed its name to the National Society of Fund Raising Executives (NSFRE) in the mid-1970s, and at about the same time hired its first executive director. In 1993 NSFRE had 15,903 individual members in 131 chapters, and maintained a national office in Alexandria, Virginia. Its name was again changed January 1, 2001, to the Association of Fundraising Professionals. Since its beginnings, the NSFRE has worked to promote professional and ethical standards through annual conferences, seminars, and publications. In the late 1970s, it instituted a program of certification for fund raising executives, and it has been active in supporting research and publicity on the role of philanthropy in American life.

The Beldon Fund was created in 1978 by environmental philanthropist John R. Hunting as a national foundation focused on advocating for environmental policy. From 1982 to 1998, the Beldon Fund provided grants to organizations like American Environment Inc., the Clean Water Fund, the Ohio Environmental Council, and the Idaho Conservation League. In 1998, John Hunting sold his stock in Steelcase Inc. and endowed Beldon with $100 million, prompting him to rethink the direction of the foundation. Hunting believed that increasing global warming and environmental destruction required immediate attention, and so he planned a ten-year spend-out of the Beldon Fund. Initially, Beldon made grants in five program areas, but in 2001, feedback indicated their scope was too broad for their spend-out timeframe. Beldon refocused into two program areas—the Key States program and the Human Health and the Environment program. The Beldon Fund made its last grants in June 2008 and closed its doors in 2009, after the completion of the spend-out. Over the last ten years of the fund, Beldon spent $120 million in grants and projects. The Beldon Fund Records consist of grant proposals, grant reports, notification of grants, board minutes, executive director records, financial and administrative records, and correspondence.

The Near Eastside Multi-Service Center (NEMSC) was founded in 1971 as a nonprofit, community-based agency designed to coordinate and provide social services and programs for the diverse population of the near eastside of Indianapolis. In 1994, NEMSC officially changed its name to the John H. Boner Community Center (JHBCC) in order to honor John H. Boner, a long-time active member and director of the organization. Historically, the JHBCC's services have shifted based on funding and community needs, but they largely focus on cooperating with other neighborhood and Indianapolis organizations to provide social services, housing, and community programming to inhabitants of the near eastside community.

The Boys and Girls Clubs of Indianapolis is a social service organization focusing on youth in Indianapolis. The organization started in 1893 as the Newsboy's Home. Founders of the home were Thomas C. Day; Caleb S. Denny, three term mayor of Indianapolis; Carrie Lowe Denny, his wife; and M.V. McGilliard, a local philanthropist. Today the Boys and Girls Clubs of Indianapolis operate ten clubs: five in clubhouse facilities and five clubs based at Indianapolis Public Schools. These clubs are strategically located in the city to serve the most at-risk youth. Programs offered by the organization's professional staff and volunteers include counseling, career development, cultural enrichment, social recreation, citizenship and leadership development, and individual and team sports. The records consist of association and individual club materials and include board of director's minutes, events and activities, fundraising and publicity, annual reports, individual club files, record books, photographs, and videos.

George A. Brakeley, Jr., has been involved in the business of providing counsel to fund raising entities since 1934. In that year, he joined the firm for which his father was Senior Vice-President, the John Price Jones Company, Inc. (JPJ). Brakeley and JPJ developed "Survey, Analysis and Plan" reports for groups seeking to begin a fund raising campaign. In the 1940's, Brakeley began developing a campaign for a Canadian client, McGill University, which led to the creation of John Price Jones Company (Canada), Ltd., headed by Brakeley. A few years later, in the mid-1950's, he started a firm, G. A. Brakeley Company (GABCO). This company was extremely successful, and by the late 1960's had offices on both U.S. coasts and in Canada. Brakeley continued his association with JPJ during this period, however, as well as developing smaller ventures such as Brakeley and Roberts Ltd. (a public relations firm in Canada), and the Robert Johnston Company (headed by an associate of Brakeley). In 1972, GABCO and JPJ officially merged to become Brakeley, John Price Jones, Inc. (BJPJ), with Brakeley as Chairman of the Board. In 1983, George A. Brakeley III and other senior officers of BJPJ bought the controlling interest of the company, although Brakeley Jr. stayed on as Chairman until 1986. A year later he was named Senior Consultant, a title he still holds. The Brakeley papers consist of client files of seven companies associated with Brakeley, staff training materials, publications and marketing materials, manuscripts, study reports, magazine and journal articles, speech transcriptions, and staff memoranda.

Hugh N. Brown is a freelance fund-raising consultant and retired high school teacher. He spent the majority of his life teaching during the school year and consulting during summer vacation. His consulting work focused in the fields of education, religion, and health. The collection consists of personal and work papers, 1940-1991, documenting a 50-year career as a consultant in the fundraising profession. Included are the fundraising campaign files outlining the development of a program.

The Bruner Foundation was founded in 1963 using funds donated by Rudy and Martha Bruner. The foundation began with the purpose of aiding programs in health care and preventive medicine, and programs focused on Jewish concerns. Since the 1980s, the Bruner Foundation has broadened its purpose to include educational programs, evaluation of grant programs, and urban renovation. Today, the main activity of the foundation is the Rudy Bruner Award for Excellence in the Urban Environment, given every two years. The records consist mainly of the Bruner Foundation's activities since 1965. These documents include board minutes, grant records, educational programs, correspondence, conference proceedings, and the records of the Rudy Bruner Award for Excellence in the Urban Environment.

The Commission on Foundations and Private Philanthropy was formed by John D. Rockefeller, III, in 1969, and chaired by Peter Peterson, to objectively investigate foundations and their role in society. The Peterson Commission, as it was known, was designed to be influenced by neither the government nor the foundations they investigated. An objective appraisal of foundation activities was necessary to give the Commission the credibility it needed to influence Congress' decisions on foundation activities. By researching the roles of foundations in society, the members hoped to construct policy recommendations that made foundations more accountable while allowing them to maintain their independence from outside interference. This collection contains meeting minutes, correspondence, reports, speeches, the House of Representatives and Senate Hearings on the Tax Reform Law, and the foundation research collected by the commission that includes annual reports, surveys, articles, and correspondence.

The Commission on Private Philanthropy and Public Needs was founded in November 1973 through the efforts of John D. Rockefeller, III, House Ways and Means Chairman Wilbur D. Mills, Secretary of the Treasury George P. Shultz, and Under Secretary William E. Simon. The Commission was formed to study the role of philanthropic giving in the United States and to make recommendations regarding ways to strengthen and increase the effectiveness of the voluntary sector. Composed of religious and labor leaders, former cabinet members, executives of foundations and corporations, federal judges, and representatives of several minority groups, the Commission sought to reach its goal through research and debate. The findings and recommendations of the Commission were published in a final report entitled, Giving in America: Toward a Stronger Voluntary Sector. This collection contains board and advisory records including meeting minutes and correspondence, committee recommendations, and research materials that include surveys, conferences, reports, foundation annual reports, and Senate Finance Hearings.

The Council for Advancement and Support of Education (CASE) is an organization formed by the 1975 merger of the American Alumni Council (AAC) and the American College Public Relations Association (ACPRA). Constituents of both groups believed their goal of increasing the professional competence of those individuals involved in all phases of alumni work including, alumni administration, educational fund raising, public relations and publications in order to promote the cause of education could be better achieved as a single entity. The collection contains the records of CASE and its predecessor institutions covering the development of the early organizations and their merger to form the Council for Advancement and Support of Education.

Working in higher education and philanthropy, Merrimon Cuninggim gained national recognition in both fields. His early career was as a professor at various colleges and in 1951 he became Dean of the Perkins School of Theology at Southern Methodist University in Dallas, Texas. He remained there until 1960 when he accepted the position of Executive Director/President of the Danforth Foundation in St. Louis, Missouri, where he remained until 1972. From 1973 to 1975 he worked as an advisor/consultant to the Ford Foundation and from 1976 to 1979 served as President of Salem Academy and College in Winston-Salem, North Carolina. From 1979 until his death in 1995 Cuninggim served as a special consultant to both colleges and foundations on management problems. In 1981 he was one of the 16 founders of the Center for Effective Philanthropy which was formed to advise foundations and other charitable institutions on effective management. The papers consist of correspondence, reports, meeting minutes, and notes from Cuninggim's professional life.

The DJB Foundation, a progressive social change philanthropy, was founded in 1948 by Daniel J. Bernstein to hold the portion of his inheritance intended for donation to charities. With his death in 1970 almost five-million dollars came to the foundation. Its most active period began in 1971 when the Board of Directors decided that all assets would be given away within ten years. The grants concentrated on groups and programs generally ignored by conventional foundations because they were "controversial" -- the poor, GIs, deserters and draft resisters, ethnic groups, convicts and ex-convicts. The DJB Foundation exhausted its funds by the end of 1974. The DJB Foundation Records consist of financial summaries and grant files containing correspondence, proposals, and information about the recipient organization.

Carol Bernstein Ferry and the late W. H. (Ping) Ferry were social change philanthropists who gave away a substantial part of their personal wealth to progressive social change groups, activities, and activists concentrating generally in the areas of war, racism, poverty, and injustice. The Ferrys were also board members of the DJB Foundation, established by Carol's first husband, Daniel J. Bernstein, which focused its giving in similar areas. The papers, 1971-1996, document the individuals, organizations, and activities the Ferrys supported with their donations.

Mary Fink was an active volunteer and leader in the Jewish community. An active member of the National Council of Jewish Women, she served as the organization's president from 1962-1964. As a volunteer in the Indianapolis community, she worked on a variety of governing boards and committees aimed at community betterment. This collection contains information about her and her activities in the Indianapolis community.

Flanner House, a social service center for the Indianapolis, Indiana African-American community, promotes the social, moral, and physical welfare of African-Americans, particularly youth. It was established in 1898 by Frank Flanner, a local mortician, under the name of Flanner Guild and was the first settlement house for African-Americans in the city. Programs and activities have included a day nursery, training for men and women, self-help projects such as housing construction, and public health programs including preventive medicine. Its current mission offers area residents a variety of direct and decentralized social services, child care, youth and senior citizen programs, and cultural and recreational activities. The records consist of board and committee records, correspondence, financial records, various programs and project records including reports and project descriptions offered by Flanner House, publications, photographs, slides and audio programs.

Kenneth L. Gladish, born in 1952, was an executive director of Indiana Humanities Council from 1984 to 1991 and the president of the Central Indiana Community Foundation (including the Indianapolis Foundation) from 1993 to 2000. He contributed to several Indiana-based foundations and organizations such as Hanover College, the Rotary Foundation and IUPUI Board of Advisors and the Indiana Jewish Community Relations Council. This collection includes records of his work until he became a chief executive officer of the YMCA of the USA in 2000.

Barbara Gomez's Learn and Serve America Collection contains publications about the Learn and Serve America and service learning from various institutions.

John Gomperts is the current President and CEO of America's Promise Alliance. This collection primarily focuses on his time working with the Corporation for National and Community Service, first as Chief of Staff and later as the Director of AmeriCorps.

Maurice Gilbert Gurin (1911-1990), was nearly 50 years old in 1959 when he made the career change from public relations to fund raising. Gurin incorporated new and innovative fund raising methods with more traditional techniques and in only 12 years rose from free-lancer fund raising to president of a fund raising firm with offices in New York, Philadelphia, and Los Angeles. He continued over the next 30 years to seek creative new answers to old questions, using imaginative new approaches to fund raising focused on individual client needs and making the fund raising plan fit the client rather than the client fit the fund raising plan. The papers consist of correspondence, speeches, published materials, client feasibility studies, and client files.

Peter Dobkin Hall was a historian of American philanthropy, who held appointments at Wesleyan (1974-1982), Yale (1973-1999), and Harvard (2000 until death), and was Scholar in Residence at the Rockefeller Archive Center in 1989. He was extensively published in philanthropy but it probably best known for his book "'Inventing the Nonprofit Sector' and Other Essays on Philanthropy, Voluntarism, and Nonprofit Organizations."

The Health Foundation of Greater Indianapolis, Inc. is committed to improving the health of community through funding qualified agencies and organizations that provide health related services primarily to low-income population of Indianapolis. Its mission is to improve the social, physical and mental health of the community. It was originally founded in July 1968 as the Metropolitan Health Council of Indianapolis, Inc., an Indiana non-profit corporation, intended to aid uninsured Indianapolis poor who could not get medical and nursing care, an innovative and radical concept at that time. At the beginning the Council coordinated activities, raised funds and evaluated the neighborhood health centers located in the inner city. From 1974-1984, the Council developed and operated its own HMO, the MetroHealth Plan. In 1985 the Council sold the MetroHealth Plan, changed its name to the Health Foundation of Greater Indianapolis, Inc., and became a funding organization. The records consist of legal and corporate records, board and committee records, meeting files, administrative and financial records, records of associated organizations, correspondence, publications, awarded grants, rejected grant proposals and photographs.

The Bill Heim Company provides management and fundraising advice to the leaders of American not-for-profit organizations. The company counsels staff and volunteers at schools, colleges, and universities; historical societies; cultural arts, youth, business, professional, and sports organizations; and foundations. The company's services are used for designing and directing fundraising and membership campaigns, expanding membership, and for program development. The collection contains correspondence, survey reports, speeches, and publications.

The David Hovde Civil War Tract Collection contains mostly tract publications from the American Tract Society, the American Sunday School Union, the American Bible Society, and similar nonprofit organizations during the American Civil War. The tracts were used to promote moral and spiritual uplift for soldiers and sailors and to inspire patriotism.

Independent Sector (IS) was founded in 1980 as a coalition of corporate, foundation and voluntary organizations for the purpose of encouraging charitable giving, volunteering and nonprofit activities in the United States. Its mission is to promote, strengthen, and advance the nonprofit and philanthropic community to foster private initiative for the public good. By 2004, the organization maintained a membership of approximately 500 of the nation's leading nonprofit agencies and funders of nonprofit work. The collection consists of board minutes, committee reports, correspondence, publications, lobbying efforts, and conference materials.

The Indiana AIDS Fund (IAF) was founded in 1994 as a private, philanthropic fund-raising and grant-making institution with the goal of supporting HIV/AIDS prevention, education, and services in Indiana. It began as a joint fund-raising and distribution initiative jointly convened by The Health Foundation of Greater Indianapolis and the Indiana State Department of Health. Their efforts spanned the state geographically, and funding priorities centered on HIV prevention programs, harm reduction programs and advocacy, secondary HIV prevention programs (i.e., slowing disease progress), and at-risk populations including youth, injection drug users, and adults belonging to a range of gender, race, and ethnic groups.

Indiana Campus Compact is a 501(c)(3) non-profit partnership of Indiana's public, private, and community college higher education institutions focused on advocating, implementing, and improving community engagement efforts so that students graduate as well-informed, engaged, and productive members of society who are fully enabled to provide leadership and service that advances the public good in their communities. Indiana Campus Compact is a state affiliate of Campus Compact.