If One of Us Benefits, We All Benefit

Terri Olian, Executive Director, Highland Park Community Foundation

I've known Terri for a while now.

When I started my consulting business we sat down and talked philanthropy. Since then, she’s been generous with introductions and her time. It’s in her nature to help others, and that’s one of the reasons she’s great at her job.

Recently, I had the chance to sit down with her and talk about the Highland Park Community Foundation (HPCF), I wasn't surprised that the conversation was less about strategy and more about people.

She Didn't Plan This

Terri didn't set out to run a community foundation.

She started where a lot of great community leaders start, in her kids' school, doing whatever needed to be done. She helped create a service club at Ravinia School called the Care Club. One of their first projects was making paper plate masks and bringing them over to Tricon Child Care Center, a program serving families who were struggling to make ends meet.

She stood back and watched the kids interact.

"Kids are just open," she told me. "They don't look at what somebody looks like, what clothes they're wearing. And as I watched, I thought — this is community. This is what it's all about."

That moment planted something. From there, it was the school board, then city council, then coordinating a Lake County-wide healthcare enrollment program. And then one day, a phone call.

A friend asked if she was looking for something to do. She mentioned a few nonprofits. One of them was the Highland Park Community Foundation.

Terri called the board chair directly. "Once I heard about the role, I was definitely interested," she said.

They hired her part-time in 2017. About a month in, she knew there was nothing part-time about it.

What She Walked Into — And What She Built

When Terri arrived, the foundation was awarding under $200,000 in grants annually, somewhere in the mid 30s in terms of number of grants.

Last year, the foundation awarded $1,012,240 across 64 grants!

That number didn't happen by accident. Terri spent years formalizing policies and procedures, building the kind of infrastructure that lets donors trust you with their money and lets nonprofits trust you with their work.

That rigor paid off in a surprising way. In 2025, the foundation qualified for the Illinois Gives Tax Credit Program, which provides a 25% state tax credit for cash donations. That means a $20,000 gift yields a $5,000 tax credit. It's a powerful incentive, and re-qualifying required earning Community Foundations National Standards Accreditation.

A process that can take over a year.

Terri submitted everything in December 2025. They were approved in March 2026.

Three months.

"I think it just showed that we are an organization people can trust," she said. "That we have solid procedures. That we manage our money well. That we are structured in an accessible and reliable way."

Worth noting: IRA distributions qualify for the credit. DAF gifts do not. If you're working with major donors in the Highland Park area, that's a conversation worth having.

The Model That Sets Them Apart

What I find most fascinating about HPCF isn't the growth, it's how they operate.

Every board member is a year-round liaison to one to four grantee organizations. Not just during grant season. Year-round.

They attend events. They check in. They go to soccer games hosted by a Waukegan-based after-school program because they want to understand the work, not just fund it.

When applications come in, board members meet with their assigned organizations, review the requests in depth, and bring recommendations to cohort groups that review by category. Then the full board convenes in October to make final funding decisions.

What happens to the organizations that don't get funded?

They get a call. From their liaison. With an explanation.

"We don't just leave people hanging," Terri said. "Which some grantors do."

She said it matter-of-factly, but it landed. Anyone who has ever worked in the nonprofit world knows exactly what she means.

The liaisons rotate every three years, so board members get to know as many organizations as possible. There's an interim report in March, kept deliberately short so it doesn't burden nonprofits, and another check-in from the liaison around that time.

Every touchpoint is intentional. Every touchpoint is relational.

Cocktails, Conversations, and an Abundance Mentality

Once a year, everyone comes together.

Grantees. Board members. Corporate Champions and Foundation Champions who commit a multi-year pledge to make a sustained commitment to the foundation's work.

Over 100 people showed up to the most recent one, held at a board member's home. They call it Cocktails and Conversations.

What happens when you put all those people in a room together?

Neighbors meet each other for the first time. A business hears what a grantee is doing and offers to send volunteers. In-kind donations get arranged over a glass of wine. Collaborations start that no one planned.

Terri told me she's received emails the morning after saying what a special event it was. She wasn't surprised.

Terri also does something that made me smile. When she has information that might be helpful to her grantees — an opportunity, a resource, a connection — she sends it out to everyone. Terri puts all the names in the header on purpose.

"I do it because I want to put the names of the people who are doing this wonderful work out there for each other to see."

She knows it violates every email best practice and doesn't care.

"If one of our grantees benefits, we all benefit."

That line stayed with me.

It's the opposite of how a lot of organizations operate. There's no gatekeeping, no protecting your relationships, no fear that someone else might benefit more than you.

Just a genuine belief that a stronger community is better for everyone.

What She Wants You to Know

I asked Terri what she wants people to walk away with when they think about the foundation.

With no hesitation, "We're here to help people."

She explained that the foundation can't help individuals directly. Their charter is to support the nonprofits doing the work. And by funding those organizations, they multiply what any single donor can accomplish on their own.

"A lot of people are stymied," she said. "They don't know how they can be helpful. We provide that answer. And remove the guesswork."

Terri continued with two sentences every nonprofit should hear, "Every dollar, whether it's five or fifty thousand, matters. It’s not the amount that shows you care; it’s the act."

The goal wasn’t to build one of the most thoughtful community foundations but luckily for Highland Park and Highwood residents, that’s what Terri has built.

For more information about the Highland Park Community Foundation, visit hpcfil.org

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I help nonprofits raise more money through education, coaching, and strategic planning. I also lead high-impact professional development, coaching programs, and retreats for companies of all sizes. If you're ready to strengthen your fundraising strategy, turn board members into advocates, or build a comprehensive legacy giving program, let's talk.