Endowment Giving
About Endowment Giving
Because the Zoo does not receive any direct tax support, the Indiana Zoological Foundation Fund serves to protect against uncontrollable drops in the Zoo’s earned income, while allowing it to continue the vital programming that fulfills its animal conservation mission.
An endowment gift is foremost a legacy, an expression of the passions and beliefs that guide an individual, a couple, a family or an organization. It is a testament to the donor’s enduring support for the organizations and programs for which he cares the most. An endowment gift also powerfully conveys the donor’s commitment to the future.
Stewarding the Indiana Zoological Foundation Fund and the legacies of the Zoo’s endowment donors is the Indiana Zoological Foundation Fund Committee, providing oversight of all endowment fund investment and management. Vital to its oversight that the Indiana Zoological Foundation Fund remains a permanent fund is ensuring that its principal is never spent, while investment income is spent in support of the Zoo. The IZFFC has a long-term time horizon for investments with the philosophy that high levels of risk are to be avoided. The primary objective is to achieve a total return, net of fees, equal to or greater than spending and inflation.
Accordingly, the Indiana Zoological Foundation Fund and the Zoo’s endowment campaign serve to:
- Underwrite and advance the Zoo’s pivotal work in conservation.
- Improve and support its exhibits and enhance visitor experience within them.
- Support and advance the Zoo’s comprehensive educational and community programming.
- Secure long-term stability against uncontrollable drops in earned income.
TOMBI ANIMAL AND KEEPER ENRICHMENT FUND
Zoo friends and supporters Fred and Beth Cate have loved the Indianapolis Zoo for a long time. Beth has been a Zoo volunteer for over a dozen years and a trustee since 2004; Fred photographically captures Zoo animals with clarity and power.
Fred and Beth have always had a favorite, however: Tombi, one of the Zoo’s adult female African elephants and a fixture of the internationally regarded elephant conservation effort. Wanting to perpetuate the Zoo’s work with Tombi and animals like her, they created the Tombi Animal and Keeper Enrichment Fund to “enrich the lives of animals in the Zoo’s collection.” Their innovative Fund is targeted at increasing the knowledge and skill of animal caregivers; enhancing exhibits and holding areas so animals can be more mentally and physically active; and addressing the comfort and special needs of older animals.
Life Science and Veterinary Science staff members submit annual proposals in the program’s priority areas, with decisions made by the Zoo’s animal care leadership. This guarantees the Tombi Fund’s continued relevance, and the resulting investments will go directly to making the Zoo a better place for animals – including Tombi.
As recently shared by Fred and Beth, “We created the Tombi Animal & Keeper Enrichment Fund as a way to advance the Zoo’s mission to conserve wild animals and places, by enhancing the well-being of both the animals – including our beloved elephant Tombi (the world’s most beautiful and talented elephant) – who serve as the Zoo’s public ambassadors for species and ecosystems, and the keepers whose expertise and dedication directly symbolize our human commitment to conservation. Particularly as educators, we are excited to start a fund that will help our keepers enhance, share and apply their professional knowledge – for example, by funding field research and conference travel – and will also help provide innovative training tools, toys, and treats to enrich the daily lives of our animals and better our understanding of their needs.”
In October 2023, the Indianapolis Zoo was a recipient of a legacy grant from the Christel DeHaan Family Foundation in the amount of $2.7 million. Of the grant, $2 million is designated for the Christel DeHaan Fund of the Indianapolis Prize Endowment – naming in perpetuity the Indianapolis Prize DeHaan Finalists. The additional $748,000 established the Christel DeHaan Conservation Fund, supporting conservation initiatives with a priority on local projects.
“This legacy gift boots our capacity for making a difference, both in our community and for the future of our world. The steadfast support of Christel and the Christel DeHaan Family Foundation has made our impact on conservation stronger and more vibrant for generations,” said Dr. Robert Shumaker, Indianapolis Zoo President and CEO.
Christel DeHaan’s life epitomized the American Dream. Born during World War II in Germany and immigrating to the United States in 1962. When she became the sole owner of RCI in 1989, Christel led the company’s global expansion, creating over 30 international offices. At the time she sold the company in 1966 to NYSE-traded HFS, RCI had over 4,000 employees.
Christel’s philosophy of life was, “to care, to share, to make a difference.” She lived this philosophy through her work as an employer, a community leader and as a philanthropist. Through the sale of RCI, the RCI Foundation was reorganized to form the Christel DeHaan Family Foundation.
The Foundation evolved to have a primary focus in Indianapolis, supporting her lifelong, cherished passion for the arts and other important causes. The Legacy Grants were the culminating gifts of the Christel DeHaan Family Foundation that operated through the years 1997 through 2023. Thanks to Christel’s generosity, with the final Legacy Grants, the Christel DeHaan Family Foundation Board was privileged to oversee more than $133 million in grants over its lifespan to more than 700 organizations.
LUENZ PACHYDERM FUND
For Mike and Pam Luenz, elephants – especially the elephants of the Indianapolis Zoo – hold a special place. For starters, they had contact with Indian elephants while living for three years in India. More recently, they have visited behind-the-scenes extensively with the Zoo’s African elephants.
At home, every room is decorated with at least one elephant statue or painting, including a painting created by history-making Zoo elephant Kubwa, the first African elephant in the world to give birth to three calves successfully conceived through artificial insemination (herd mate Ivory is the second African elephant to accomplish that feat).
Recently, learning of the Zoo’s endowment campaign, the Luenzs undertook a review of their estate plan. They told us, “We were thrilled to discover that we could establish our own endowment fund and also were able to name it and provide direction for its use.”
Elephants were clearly a natural for them. Working with the Zoo’s staff, they designed the Luenz Pachyderm Fund to support the Zoo’s elephant program. While they initially planned to activate the Fund through their estate, they found themselves so excited that they intend to start funding it through outright gifts.
“Working with the Zoo made everything very simple,” Mike and Pam note, “and procedures are in place to begin funding whenever we wish. We are delighted to be helping the Zoo in its important work in animal conservation and education, and creating a specific endowment really targeted our donation to our particular interests.”
A gift of any amount may be directed to the Indiana Zoological Foundation Fund. Examples of outright and planned gifts that may be used include:
OUTRIGHT GIFTS
- Cash
- Publicly traded securities
- Closely held securities
- Real estate
- Other property
PLANNED GIFTS
- Bequests
- Life insurance
- Retirement plan designations (IRAs; 401(k)s)
- Gift Annuities
- Charitable trusts
Endowment gifts are commonly established through an array of planned gifts arrangements that benefit the Indiana Zoological Foundation Fund and the donor. The most commonly used planned gifts include bequests through a will or trust, or designating the Indiana Zoological Foundation Fund as beneficiary of a life insurance policy or retirement plan.