Mission and Values Alignment: The Institute for Family Studies (IFS) is a Virginia 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization with a mission to strengthen marriage and family life and advance the welfare of children through research and public engagement.
IFS solicits and accepts gifts that are consistent with its mission and values, and reserves the right to refuse gifts at its discretion. This evaluation considers both a donation’s stated purpose and the interests of the donor. The IFS Board of Directors retains the ultimate decision-making authority with respect to whether or not a gift should be accepted and the terms of the gift. The Board has delegated the authority for reviewing a gift for conformance with the Policy to the Executive Director and Chair of the Board. Specifically, IFS will not accept gifts that:
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Serve purposes that do not align with the mission
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Come with interests or purposes—stated or unstated—that compromise IFS’ independence or neutrality
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Provide an improper financial or personal benefit to the donor, or to any employee, officer, or director
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Create incompatibility between the donor’s intent and the organization’s use of the gift
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Require associations with illegal, unethical, or otherwise controversial activities
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For any other reason pose significant reputation risk
In general, IFS will not accept donations from technology companies that have a track record of harming children and families, as doing so would run counter to our core mission and values. However, IFS’ acceptance of a donation does not constitute an endorsement of that donor’s words, actions, and values. As a nonpartisan research and educational organization, IFS strives to engage scholars, policymakers, cultural leaders, and laypeople of all backgrounds and systems of belief. No ideological purity tests will be imposed upon donors beyond the evaluation criteria listed above.
Donor Types: Donations will generally be accepted from individuals (directly or through donor-advised funds or other means), partnerships, nonprofit organizations, foundations, government agencies, and corporations. Potential donations from individuals wishing to remain anonymous, government agencies and corporations will receive a higher level of scrutiny to affirm mission and values alignment.
Donation Types: In the course of its regular fundraising activities, IFS will accept donations of cash, real property, tangible personal property, publicly-traded stock and securities, and other gifts on a case-by-case basis. Certain types of gifts, especially property and complex securities, will be reviewed prior to acceptance due to the special liabilities they may impose. IFS does accept restricted, named, and planned/deferred donations, all of which are subject to the same evaluation criteria.
Donation Acknowledgement: IFS will acknowledge the receipt of all gifts in writing and in a manner which satisfies the substantiation requirements for the deducation of charitable gifts.
Evaluation Process: All potential donations are reviewed by multiple IFS staff members. Should a potential donation raise prima facie concern, the Executive Director will be notified. For particularly large (generally $100,000+) and/or complex potential donations, the Executive Director will consult the IFS board. If a staff or board member has a personal or financial relationship with a prospective donor, he or she will recuse him/herself from the evaluation process.
