IFF receives prestigious Wachovia NEXT Award

On December 10th, IFF was honored with the highly competitive, $5.5 million Wachovia NEXT Award for Opportunity Finance. This is one of the nation's largest and most prestigious awards in the financial services industry and recognizes excellence among financial institutions that responsibly serve low-income people and communities. IFF competed against numerous CDFIs across the country and was selected for its innovative community financing model and bold strategy to expand its lending services in Illinois, Iowa, Indiana, Missouri and Wisconsin.

You can read the press release or watch IFF’s Wachovia NEXT video at: http://www.iff.org/news

New IFF Wisconsin Director and office

IFF is harnessing the Wachovia NEXT Award funds to establish a new Wisconsin office and hire a Wisconsin director. Nonprofit finance veteran Lanie Wasserman joined IFF on February 2nd to spearhead the new Milwaukee office and grow its presence in Wisconsin’s nonprofit lending market. Ms. Wasserman joins IFF following a successful career as the Chief Operating Officer at Legacy Redevelopment Corporation (a Legacy Bank affiliate). Prior to that, she was the Manager of Community Impact at the United Way of Greater Milwaukee and a Board Member for the Nonprofit Management Fund. Ms. Wasserman comes full circle by returning to IFF, where she conducted her graduate practicum ten years ago.

Plans for a new IFF office in Milwaukee made a splash in the local papers, which you can read on our Web site at http://www.iff.org/news-media/. The office is slotted to open in March.

Record year for IFF's Loan Department

Despite the frozen credit market, IFF made a record number of loans in 2008, closing 69 loans (approving 109 loans for $51 million). In December alone, IFF disbursed $9 million, including $7.7 million in new loans. This brings IFF’s 2008 loan disbursements to just under $32 million -- our largest year in history. For 2009, we are setting the bar even higher.

New Web site for child care planning

Following the success of their Building Blocks program, IFF (with financial assistance from the Grand Victoria Foundation) has developed a new Web site to help communities assess their need for child care and early education services. The Building Blocks Community Assessment Web site is free, interactive and provides reports, recommendations, agendas and resources for communities reviewing their child services and needs. The Web site will be launching in late February, at which time you can access it at www.buildingblockscommunityassessment.org

Turn-key finance and real estate services for high-performing charter schools

As IFF escalates its award-winning Charter Schools Capital Program (CSCP), we are working to provide our finance and real estate services for even more charter school operations, just as we have for long-time client The Noble Network of Charter Schools. For Noble Network, CSCP provided significant financing (both direct loans and credit enhancement for tax-exempt bond financing) and real estate planning, predevelopment and project management services to help it expand by a total of 10 campuses. IFF has already financed over $23 million in loans to 28 schools and provided schools with credit enhancements to finance over $90 million in bond and alternative financing structures, so charter schools can afford to develop much-needed schools in Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, Missouri and Wisconsin.

IFF comes in as a loan and real estate partner

Children’s Home + Aid, a preeminent Illinois child and family services agency, returned to IFF for help developing their new Schaumburg Child + Family Center following a successful collaboration on an earlier child care center in West Englewood. The original entity developing the building for the new center had
abandoned the project, leaving the unfinished skeletal structure untouched for over four years. To resurrect the project, Children’s Home + Aid secured a commitment of state funds and a private loan, purchased the lot and structure, and contacted IFF to be the project manager. 

IFF’s Real Estate Services immediately began selecting the architect, handling public bidding, and selecting the general contractor. They also attended village meetings and procedures, expedited the permit process, and ensured the rapid completion of the project on time and on budget. When state project funds were held-up, IFF worked closely with Children’s Home + Aid to provide alternative financing with a loan for $1 million. After just six months, the Schaumburg Child + Family Center was granted DCFS licensing and a certificate of occupancy – ahead of schedule and with funds remaining to incorporate additional amenities like automatic window shades, classroom furniture and playground equipment. 

The Dedication Ceremony will be March 7, 2009. For more information about the Children's Home + Aid Schaumburg Child + Family Center, visit www.childrenshomeandaid.org

Equipment investments go far in today's economy

The nonprofit corporation Mid-Coast Radio Project (KKFI) has become a vital part of the Kansas City community for its award-winning public radio station, which provides educational and diverse news and entertainment.  With IFF's below market-rate loans, KKFI is able to purchase equipment for an expanded studio and administrative space in a newly leased facility.  This purchase allows KKFI to continue to fulfill its mission of providing stimulating content for individuals, groups, issues, and music that have been overlooked or underrepresented by other media.

For more information on the Mid-Coast Radio Project, visit http://www.kkfi.org/

Financial tips for surviving tough economic times

Slow payments from cash-strapped government agencies and clients can quickly drain an agency’s liquidity (the extent to which a firm has cash, or can quickly attain it). To insure liquidity problems don’t overwhelm an agency’s finances, IFF’s finance experts recommend the following precautions:

1. Initiate a discussion at the Board level. Discussing liquidity issues with your Board or Board Finance Committee is the first step to taking action and raising awareness throughout the organization. Consistently monitor your organization’s ability to meet its short-term financial obligations.
2. Closely monitor how long customer invoices have been outstanding. Make sure your organization is producing and analyzing aging reports (a list of accounts receivable amounts by age) to inform its actions. By helping you examine seasonal payment cycles, when government contracts arrive, or if certain clients habitually pay late, your group can create more informed financial plans.
3. Submit timely, accurate and complete reimbursement vouchers to government agencies. Every inaccurate or incomplete voucher is a lost month (or two) added to already slow payments. Monitoring your voucher rejection rate can help you troubleshoot. Some common causes for rejected vouchers include lax monitoring, under-trained or new staff, and miscommunication between program and accounting staff.
4. Follow-up with unpaid invoices. It can be tough for an agency to collect fees from struggling families; it’s even harder if you don’t ask for payment. Same goes for government. It is important for staff to follow-up on invoices to ensure they have been properly received and reviewed.

If your organization is having financial difficulties, the worst mistake you can make is to hide it from your lender. Lenders are far more open to working with an agency that is proactive and communicative than one that they have to track down. Not communicating allows the lenders to think and act upon the worst. We advise nonprofits to be proactive and forthright about their financial situation by scheduling a conversation with their lender to discuss their current financial picture and plans to move forward.

Planning tool for financing a new facility project

To complement the financial health tips, this issue of ifffyi features the informative worksheet Paying for a Real Estate Project. Whether you are waiting for the economy to improve or are financially able to take advantage of the buyer’s market, this worksheet can help you think through all the different sources of funding that are available for a real estate project, including:

• Agency Cash
• Foundation Grants
• Capital Fundraising Campaign
• Government Resources
• Use of Debt

To get more details on financing your next real estate project, you can download this worksheet by clicking here.

To view all of IFF’s free technical assistance worksheets for nonprofits, visit our online library.