IFF’s funding and investment partners share our vision for thriving communities.

View IFF's Audited Reports, Financials, and Investors

How to Support IFF

IFF is a unique kind of community development financial institution (CDFI). We work at the intersection of facilities and finance to bring high-quality spaces to nonprofits to increase their financial stability and programmatic offerings. We work closely with our partners to deliver more capital to more community changemakers; more problem-solving for system-level challenges; and more investment impact across the Midwest. Through collaboration and commitment, IFF helps our partners achieve their unique investment goals while exploring better ways to create social impact in the community.

A Unique Approach

Since 1988, IFF has deployed more than $1.3 billion in capital, working with our partners to strengthen nonprofits, support institutional funders and investors, and help Midwestern communities thrive. We work with a wide range of partners, including banks and impact investors, with diverse goals related to social impact and financial performance.

A different kind of lender. IFF’s expertise in nonprofit finance enables us to underwrite loans while reducing structural barriers to capital in under-resourced communities. We make loans from $10,000 to $6.5 million, proving up to 95% of project costs subject to internal lending guidelines. Our long-term, non-appraisal-based loans result in property ownership, eliminate continuous refinancing, and help nonprofits strengthen their organizations and communities.

Highest Aeris ratings. IFF has never been delinquent on investor repayment in our 35-year history and is one of the few CDFIs to maintain the highest Aeris ratings for financial strength and performance, impact management performance, and commitment to — and leadership in — effecting policy change.

Experience and insight to mitigate risk. Our collaborative “One IFF” structure introduces deep market expertise and local knowledge that strengthens everything we do. Because we know the communities in which we lend, we can foresee and mitigate risk factors for our investors.

Funding and Investment Opportunities

IFF offers a full range of products to meet your unique goals for community impact and financial performance. Click on the products below to learn more.

Investor Consortium

Investors can purchase a share of the cash flows from an aggregated loan portfolio in a note sale.

  • Collateralized by real estate and equipment loans
  • Geographically and sector diverse
  • Limited recourse to cash reserve (2%)
  • $250,000 minimum investment
  • Since inception in 2004, 55+ financial institutions have invested more than $430 million

Senior or Subordinated Debt to IFF

Simple direct investment to IFF.

  • Funds are managed and invested based on discretion of IFF’s lending team
  • Loans can be attributed to specific sector or geography on a best-efforts basis (minimum investment of $250,000)
  • $50,000 minimum investment

Capital, Operating, and Special Initiative Grants

Range of grant products designed to provide net assets, support for capacity building programming, and IFF’s infrastructure.

  • Operating grants support the infrastructure that makes IFF a different kind of partner in the market
  • Capital grants provide critical net assets that enable IFF to take on more debt to on-lend to borrowers
  • Special initiative grants align facilities and finance expertise with community needs and IFF’s mission to drive impact

Debt to Real Estate Holdings LLC

Investors can make a direct investment into IFF Real Estate Holdings LLC, an IFF subsidiary that aggregates our real estate owned.

  • Subsequent investments into projects are led by IFF Community Development Solutions and managed by IFF

Direct Real Estate Development Project Investments

Designed to allow direct investment in a specific IFF real estate development project.

  • Allows proximity between investor and funded project
  • Hands-on investor management

Bespoke Investments

IFF will work with single investors to structure a product that meets both the investor’s needs and IFF’s requirements. Requires approval from IFF. An example of this is Michigan’s Impact Connection.

Investor Spotlight · Multi-Sector

Stronger Nonprofits Inititiative

With more than $3.8 million in investment funds from JPMorgan Chase and other local funders since 2017, IFF works with cohorts of nonprofit leaders of color to reduce structural barriers faced in developing their financial capacity and building their net assets.

This intensive program exceeds conventional CDFI capacity-building workshops by providing holistic support through group training sessions, per learning, one-on-one financial coaching, customized real estate consulting, and extensive networking opportunities.

Read Story
Investor Spotlight · Housing

Access Health and Housing

Seeking to support populations disproportionately impacted by the pandemic, Trinity Health partnered with IFF through Access Health and Housing LLC, IFF subsidiary created in 2020 to develop 20 units of accessible, scattered-site supportive housing in Chicago’s western suburbs for people with disabilities. Reclaiming vacant lots, the $9.4 million project represents a long-term commitment to transformational community development in the area.

By investing in the project, Trinity Health achieved its goal to play an active role in the community by aligning its hospital ministries with local work focused on health and housing. An, through the health system’s involvement in the project, residents will have access to critical health and wellness supports, deepening the impact of Trinity Health’s investment.

Read Story
Lloyd Shields

Lloyd Shields

Acting Chief Financial Officer
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Audited Reports and Financials

Current Investors

Investor Consortium Members
  • Associated Community Development Bank
  • Barrington Bank & Trust Company
  • BMO Harris Bank
  • Byline Bank
  • Carrollton Bank
  • CIBC Bank N.A.
  • Citizens Bank
  • Commerce Bank
  • Crystal Lake Bank and Trust Company
  • Evergreen Bank Group
  • Fifth Third Bank CDC
  • First Bank Chicago
  • First Eagle Bank
  • First Merchants Bank
  • First National Nebraska CDC
  • First Savings Bank of Hegewisch
  • Hinsdale Bank and Trust
  • Huntington Community Development Corporation
  • Lake Forest Bank and Trust
  • Lakeside Bank
  • Libertyville Bank and Trust
  • Midland States Bank
  • Midwest BankCentre
  • Mission Investment Fund of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America
  • MUFG Union Bank N.A.
  • Northbrook Bank and Trust
  • Northern Trust
  • North Shore Community Bank and Trust
  • Old National Bank
  • Old Plank Trail Community Bank and Trust
  • PNC Bank
  • Providence Bank & Trust
  • Simmons Bank
  • St. Charles Bank and Trust Company
  • State Bank of the Lakes
  • State Farm Mutual
  • Stifel Bank & Trust
  • TD Bank N.A.
  • TIAA-CREF Trust Company, FSB
  • Town Bank
  • Twain XX LLC
  • U.S. Bank
  • Village Bank and Trust
  • Wheaton Bank and Trust
  • Wintrust Financial
Note Program Investors

Faith-Based Institutions

  • Adrian Dominican Sisters
  • The Benedictine Sisters of Chicago
  • Benedictine Sisters of the Sacred Heart
  • Congregation of the Sisters of St. Joseph
  • Institute of the Blessed Virgin Mary
  • Mercy Investment Services
  • Mount St. Scholastica
  • Missionary Sisters of the Sacred Heart
  • Religious Communities Impact Fund
  • Seton Enablement Fund
  • Sinsinawa Dominican Sisters
  • Sisters of Charity of Leavenworth
  • Sisters of Charity of Nazareth, KY
  • Sisters of the Holy Name of Jesus and Mary U.S.-Ontario Province
  • Sisters of the Most Precious Blood of O’Fallon, MO
  • Sisters of St. Francis, Clinton, Iowa
  • Sisters of St. Joseph of Carondelet,
  • St. Louis Province
  • Sisters, Servants of the Immaculate Heart of Mary
  • St. Viator High School

Foundations, Corporations, Universities, and Individuals

  • Arc Chicago (Benefit Chicago)
  • Bank of America
  • Blowitz-Ridgeway Foundation
  • BMO Harris Bank
  • Cathay Bank
  • Chicago Community Foundation
  • Citizens Bank N.A.
  • Federal Home Loan Bank of Chicago
  • First Savings Bank of Hegewisch
  • Richard W. Goldman Family Foundation
  • Goldman Sachs Social Impact Fund
  • Greater Cincinnati Foundation
  • JPMorgan Chase
  • The Kresge Foundation
  • Marquette Bank
  • Timothy & Risa McMahon
  • North Shore Bank
  • Northern Trust
  • Opportunity Finance Network
  • Opus Foundation
  • PNC
  • Pritzker Family Foundation
  • Rotary Charities of Traverse City
  • Starbucks Corporation
  • University of Chicago
  • U.S. Bancorp Community Development Corp.
  • U.S. Bank N.A.
  • Village Bank and Trust
  • W.K. Kellogg Foundation
  • The Walton Family Foundation
  • Wisconsin Preservation Fund
  • Wells Fargo Bank
  • Woodforest National Bank
  • YouthBridge Community Foundation

Hospital Systems

  • Advocate Aurora Health
  • American Medical Association
  • Ann & Robert H. Lurie Children’s Hospital of Chicago
  • CommonSpirit Health
  • Rush University Medical Center
  • Trinity Health
Michigan Impact Connection
  • Ann Arbor Area Community Foundation
  • Max M. and Marjorie S. Fisher Foundation
  • Grand Haven Area Community Foundation
  • Grand Rapids Community Foundation
Funders

Foundations, Corporations, and Individuals

  • Breaking Ground
  • The Builders Initiative
  • Chicago Community Foundation
  • The Chicago Community Trust
  • CIBC
  • Community Focus Fund
  • Early Childhood Investment Corporation (ECIC)
  • Everybody Ready
  • Max M. and Marjorie S. Fisher Foundation
  • Ford Foundation
  • The Glick Fund
  • Goldman Sachs Foundation
  • Greater Milwaukee Foundation
  • The Joyce Foundation
  • JPMorgan Chase Foundation
  • Kansas Health Foundation
  • The Ewing Marion Kauffman Foundation
  • The Kresge Foundation
  • Local Initiative Support Corporation (LISC)
  • John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation
  • Robert R. McCormick Foundation
  • National Urban League
  • North Chicago Education Fund
  • Northwest Housing Partnership
  • Old National Bank
  • Opportunity Finance Network
  • Polk Bros. Foundation
  • PNC Foundation
  • Pritzker Children’s Initiative Foundation
  • J.B. and M.K. Pritzker Family Foundation
  • Providence Bank and Trust
  • MacKenzie Scott
  • SSM Health Care
  • Stateline LLC
  • Terra Foundation of American Arts
  • U.S. Bank
  • W.K. Kellogg Foundation
  • Walder Foundation
  • The Walton Family Foundation
  • The Harry and Jeanette Weinberg Foundation
  • Ralph C. Wilson, Jr. Foundation

Government

  • Chicago Metropolitan Agency for Planning
  • Chicago Public Schools
  • City of Rockford
  • City of South Bend
  • Illinois Housing Development Authority
  • Michigan Department of Education
  • U.S. Department of Education
  • U.S. Department of the Treasury