Central Indiana Community Foundation

Overview

For nearly three decades, Central Indiana Community Foundation (CICF) has been a driving force for good—channeling the vision and generosity of the community toward its most pressing needs. As the region’s champion for philanthropic giving, CICF continually evolves to meet the moment.

In recent years, that evolution included:

• Articulating CICF’s mission delivery, unique from The Indianapolis Foundation with which it once shared leadership.
  
• Adopting a new strategic plan
  
• Sharpening its focus on systems-level leadership
  

With this new era of impact came a clear need: a refreshed brand and website that honored CICF’s deep partnerships while reflecting its evolving identity. At SmallBox, we know first-hand the impact of CICF’s leadership in our own community and were honored to partner with them in this work.

The Challenge

CICF’s transformation called for more than a visual upgrade—it required a digital experience that could fully represent its role as a systems-level leader in philanthropy. The new site needed to serve as a central hub where multiple audiences could easily access resources, explore grant and scholarship opportunities, and engage with powerful community stories. Equally important was creating seamless, inspiring pathways for donors to connect with the causes they care about most. To support CICF’s broader mission, the platform also had to function as a unified home for all entities within CICF Collaborative, enabling them to share content, amplify impact, and present a cohesive voice to the community.

Our Approach

For the brand refresh and website redesign, we began with key questions:

• How do audiences currently perceive CICF?
  
• How can the site meet their expectations while deepening understanding of CICF’s evolving  role?
  
• How might the website bring CICF’s story to life through both content and experience?

Research & Discovery
We conducted in-depth user research—including interviews, testing, and surveys—to uncover what different audiences wanted and needed.

Collaboration & Alignment
We worked closely with internal teams to ensure the digital strategy aligned with CICF’s new goals. Multiple collaboration rounds helped refine the vision, resulting in a solution that blends storytelling, data, and functionality.

The Solution

At the heart of the new CICF site is a shared CMS serving all four affiliated organizations. This single point of entry allows critical grants, scholarship, and impact content to seamlessly integrate across sites, reinforcing the CICF Collaborative’s relationship.

Key features include:

• Centralized nonprofit resources and grant information
  
• Scholarship search tools and easy application pathways
  
• Community storytelling to inspire engagement
  
• Streamlined donor experiences with clear giving options and impact information
  

The Impact

The refreshed CICF site positions the organization as a clear and trusted leader in Central Indiana’s philanthropic landscape. Visitors can now easily explore the breadth of CICF’s work, access resources, and connect with giving opportunities, all within a single, intuitive platform. By streamlining the donor experience, the site removes barriers to engagement—making it simpler and more inspiring for both prospective and current fundholders and donors to confidently discover ways to align their passions with their giving.

For the other entities within the CICF Collaborative, the shared CMS has transformed content management, allowing information to flow seamlessly across all affiliated sites. This unified approach not only reinforces the strength of the CICF Collaborative’s shared mission, but also ensures that stories, resources, and opportunities reach the right audiences at the right time. The result is a digital presence that reflects CICF’s evolving identity while strengthening its ability to connect people, ideas, and resources for lasting community impact.