“I had come to understand you can make a gift to things that are meaningful to you — whether that be your church, the cancer society or education — and you won’t miss that money because you’re going to be gone,” Carolyn explains. “It’s easier to do it in your will than while you’re still living and need the money. It’s a way to make a statement that says, ‘This was important to me.’”

Carolyn started her career in education at the age of 20. As a Head Start teacher, she developed a passion for early education and its impact on children. She later spent time doing community-based work and fundraising before getting a call in 1998 to lead Early Learning Indiana, at the time called Day Nursery Association. Carolyn was at the helm of Day Nursery for 15 years, before passing on the torch in 2013.

After a few years away, Carolyn became involved with Day Nursery Auxiliary. Day Nursery Auxiliary is a group of more than 150 members who support Early Learning Indiana’s programs by raising money, providing volunteer services and serving as community ambassadors for high-quality early learning. In recent years, the primary Auxiliary fundraiser has been the annual Style Show in late fall, an elegant luncheon, silent auction, pop-up shop and fashion show.

“The Auxiliary is a group of some of the dearest ladies there are,” Carolyn says. “They asked me if I would chair the annual Style Show event, and I agreed. I wanted to work hard to raise more money to make all our work worthwhile. We grew it from $30,000 to now $50,000 in income. I’m very proud of that.”

Now Carolyn is passionate about encouraging her fellow early childhood education supporters to join the Early Learning Indiana Next Century Society through a legacy gift.

“I could have given to the United Way or other large organizations I’ve been affiliated with, but Early Learning Indiana is local. Not having a million dollars to give away, I know that a gift of my size is a meaningful gift to an organization ELI’s size — it’s small enough that my gift will have an impact, and not so small that it cannot stand on its own two feet. It has capacity.”

Carolyn explained that giving through a legacy gift is often beneficial to the donor’s family as well, especially if giving from an individual retirement account (IRA) or other investments.

“I’m not a wealthy person, so I depend on my IRA and investments to provide income for me in my retirement, but when I’m done with them, I’ll be done with them. If I leave all of what’s left to my heirs, they will have to pay taxes on it. But if the benefactor is a nonprofit organization, then that money is tax exempt. I would rather give some to the causes I care about than have my family pay taxes on it.”

Carolyn understands many of her peers may be reluctant to sign the paperwork that commits them to a legacy gift, often unsure of what they will have left to give and knowing they won’t see the results. But she believes it’s all part of making a lasting impact.

“There will always be small children, and the early years are so important for learning. Even if early childhood education finally becomes publicly funded, which it really needs to do, there will always be a role for advocating for the importance of the early years in young children. That’s advocating for our future.

I like to think of it as investing, paying it forward. I believe in children, I believe in families, and I don’t think we should take them for granted.”

If you are interested in learning more about Early Learning Indiana’s Next Century Society and making a legacy gift, contact Early Learning Indiana Director of Development Kirsten Yeager at kirsteny@earlylearningindiana.org.

Many years ago, Jeff selected Early Learning Indiana as the recipient of The Hagerman Group’s workplace giving campaign where employees are able to opt-in to donate a portion of each paycheck to Early Learning Indiana. In 2022, The Hagerman Group was the title sponsor of Early Learning Indiana’s annual Day of Impact. Day of Impact helps raise awareness of the critical importance of quality early care and learning and ensures children in Early Learning Indiana’s Day Early Learning centers have the resources and experiences they need to thrive. During the 2022 Day of Impact, The Hagerman Group employees and other volunteers built furniture, enhanced playgrounds, equipped new classrooms, landscaped outdoor spaces and more.

“Investing in our children has always been incredibly important to me, both personally and corporately,” Jeff says. “We support Early Learning Indiana because their mission is to ensure children throughout Indiana are empowered with essential skills to thrive in kindergarten and beyond. Creating a solid foundation in children ages 0-5 is critical for their growth and future success, and ELI works tirelessly to provide that foundation for all children. Hagerman is proud to support such a great organization, and we are thankful to all of our employees who selflessly give their time, talent and treasure to do the same!”

“There’s a former employee of ELI who worked on ELI’s Salesforce implementation, and he and I attend church together,” Nathan explains. “I offered my professional assistance on whatever he was working on with Salesforce at the time. Some pro bono work just to strategize around ELI’s Salesforce implementation.”

Then in October 2022, the global Salesforce Solution Engineering Team works with higher education and nonprofit organizations had its annual virtual summit. The week is always full of activities, Nathan explains, and one of those was a cycling, running and walking challenge. The team member who logged the most miles in each category would have the opportunity to allocate $300 to a nonprofit of their choice, which would then also be matched through Salesforce’s corporate giving policy.

“I enjoy walking, I walk a lot anyway, and it felt like a reasonable thing to achieve during the week,” Nathan says. “So, I set my mind to it, and I did it.”

Each day that week, Nathan got up early and walked before and after work. He even participated in several meetings while walking.

“I was in close competition with a colleague in the UK. We were neck and neck all week, so the last day, I had to walk extra to make sure I pulled ahead.”

When the final totals were tallied, Nathan had logged 82.36 miles, a little less than 10% of the 843.78 miles walked by the whole team. As the winner, he was able to select a nonprofit to receive Salesforce’s $600 donation.

“It’s a nice complete life cycle story,” he says. “ELI is a Salesforce customer. Something we really care about at Salesforce is equity and access to education. ELI is working diligently to increase access to early learning in Indiana. I recognize the disparity in educational access in Marion County, even just with where I live in Hamilton County. Our values align really well, so it hits close to home. I’m happy to collaborate with them on their work and what they’re trying to accomplish.”

Early Learning Indiana is grateful to Nathan for his donation. If you would like to learn more about making a corporate or personal donation, contact Kirsten Yeager at kirsteny@earlylearningindiana.org.