At IFF, our public policy initiatives and research are grounded in the belief that the nonprofit sector is one of the most powerful instruments of change in our society. Strengthen nonprofits, we believe, and you strengthen the communities they serve.

As a leading CDFI, we advocate for community development finance tools, such as the U.S. Treasury Department’s CDFI Fund and New Markets Tax Credits, which help us to meet the financing needs of nonprofits serving low-income communities.

As a stakeholder in the school and early care and education sectors, we join other advocates in those fields to support funding and policy initiatives that improve the operating environment for nonprofits in these and other IFF target markets.

IFF also conducts independent research for and about the nonprofit sector, helping leaders make informed decisions about programs and services, resources, and public policy. Recent examples of our research include:

• Quality Schools: Every Child, Every School, Every Neighborhood
  This study, released in 2012, assesses location and performance of charter and traditional public schools in Washington, DC. It is a supply and demand analysis based on current and projected performance data that provides information to guide education reform and to maximize the impact of resource allocations. This study was commissioned by the Office of the Deputy Mayor for Education of Washington, DC and funded by the DC Public Education Fund through a generous grant from The Walton Family Foundation.

• Early Care and Education: The Top 10 Counties, Municipalities, and Chicago Community Areas in Need of Care
  Modeled on IFF’s 2003 statewide needs assessment for early care and education (ECE), Moving Towards A System, this report finds significant gaps for all types of care and ranks counties, larger municipalities, and Chicago community areas according to their overall need, as well as to their need of specific programs, such as general child care, Head Start and Early Head Start, and PreK.  ECE stakeholders can use the study’s data to prioritize the location of new and expanded ECE facilities, as well as to facilitate community planning and inform other ECE investments and program coordination.

• Lake County Nonprofit Health and Human Services Study
  In 2010, The Lake County Community Foundation, in partnership with Healthcare Foundation of Northern Lake County, the College of Lake County, and the United Way of Lake County, contracted with IFF to research the health and human services provided by nonprofit organizations in Lake County, Illinois. This series of 18 maps presents a visual record of the assets and gaps found. Coupled with demographic and income data, the maps and accompanying presentation show existing resources and where additional services are needed across the county.
   
• Choosing Performance: An Analysis of School Location and Performance in Milwaukee
  This study analyzes the performance, location, and enrollment of Milwaukee Public Schools (MPS), charter schools and certain private schools participating in the Milwaukee Parental Choice Program (MPCP) in 2008-2009.
   
• Public School in St. Louis: Place, Performance, and Promise
  This study analyzes the performance, location, and enrollment of both St. Louis Public Schools and charter schools in 2007-08.
   
• Here and Now 2: Change We Can Measure
  This report examines the performance and distribution of Chicago neighborhood schools between 2004 and 2008.
   
• Missouri Nonprofits: Building Capacity for the 21st Century,
  This study establishes a baseline of data on the finances and management of small to midsized nonprofits that provide direct services to the Missouri public, and which was conducted in partnership with the Nonprofit Services Center in St. Louis, MO.
   
• Opportunities and Challenges: A Community Perspective on Nonprofit Services for Latinos and Community Need,
  This report documents the availability of services to Latinos in the Chicago metropolitan, and which was conducted jointly with the Heartland Alliance for Human Needs & Human Rights.

For more information about IFF’s public policy work and research, call 866 629 0060 or email us.