IF 160 Sunflower Lane Watsonville, CA 95076 Phone: 831-724-4108
Tax ID#510203813 501c3
page last updated 10-25-2022
October 2022
Dear friends,
We write with a mix of emotions - sadness, gratitude, joyful memories – to announce that IF will be closing at the end of this year. In 2022, IF has continued to fund vital organizations, both locally and in Latin America, to host community fundraisers, and to publish the newsletter. But for reasons explained below (see “Closing IF”), the board has concluded that the trajectory we are on, especially in light of recent developments, leaves us without the resources and energy needed to carry on.
Dear friends,
We write with a mix of emotions - sadness, gratitude, joyful memories – to announce that IF will be closing at the end of this year. In 2022, IF has continued to fund vital organizations, both locally and in Latin America, to host community fundraisers, and to publish the newsletter. But for reasons explained below (see “Closing IF”), the board has concluded that the trajectory we are on, especially in light of recent developments, leaves us without the resources and energy needed to carry on.
Putting the emphasis on how much we have to be grateful for in IF’s 46-year history, we would like to gather one more time for a celebration, fond farewell, and opportunity to thank you, our fellow travelers and donors who have sustained IF over the years. Please join us:
IF Farewell Celebration
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We hope you can join us!
The IF Board: Linda Wallace (Chair), Phil McManus (Treasurer), Adrienne Frisbee (Secretary), Lucia Lopez, Monika Hassler, Karen Cane
The IF Board: Linda Wallace (Chair), Phil McManus (Treasurer), Adrienne Frisbee (Secretary), Lucia Lopez, Monika Hassler, Karen Cane
Closing IF
IF was founded in 1976 by a group of people who, rooted in love, were dedicating their lives to building justice and peace in our world and who embraced the name IF precisely because they saw a world full of possibilities waiting to be explored. Over time that group grew. Individuals and organizations gravitated to IF because they too were exploring possibilities and sought counsel and support. The magazine Integrities nurtured a deep sense of community in common struggle and drew people from far and wide. Individual donors faithfully made their modest contributions and kept the office and minimal staff afloat. Wonders ensued. That history is sampled in the last issue of Integrities, “Bill Cane and the Legacy of Integrities: Circles of Hope” that we published in 2021.
Flash forward 4 ½ decades and IF is still going. But Bill has pulled back as his health has declined, Covid has halted our in-person gatherings, the donor base has aged and diminished, administrative fees have declined, and the board has found it challenging to recruit energetic and especially younger board members. In addition, and for varied reasons, over the last couple years the list of projects and organizations IF is sponsoring or funding has shrunk. As a result, while our overhead has remained steady, the percentage of our budget dedicated to administrative costs had increased relative to program costs. And the board members themselves are not getting any younger.
In this context, the pending departure of our deeply dedicated and highly competent office manager, Lauren Moody, prompted us to take a good look at where we are. After doing our assessment, we concluded that we did not have critical mass for it to make sense to continue. The decision was made to lay down the organization, with some sadness for the end of an era, much gratitude for all the good that IF has helped manifest over the decades, and confidence that the torch will continue to be carried by others, as we see clearly in rising youth leadership in many of our organizational partners.
Flash forward 4 ½ decades and IF is still going. But Bill has pulled back as his health has declined, Covid has halted our in-person gatherings, the donor base has aged and diminished, administrative fees have declined, and the board has found it challenging to recruit energetic and especially younger board members. In addition, and for varied reasons, over the last couple years the list of projects and organizations IF is sponsoring or funding has shrunk. As a result, while our overhead has remained steady, the percentage of our budget dedicated to administrative costs had increased relative to program costs. And the board members themselves are not getting any younger.
In this context, the pending departure of our deeply dedicated and highly competent office manager, Lauren Moody, prompted us to take a good look at where we are. After doing our assessment, we concluded that we did not have critical mass for it to make sense to continue. The decision was made to lay down the organization, with some sadness for the end of an era, much gratitude for all the good that IF has helped manifest over the decades, and confidence that the torch will continue to be carried by others, as we see clearly in rising youth leadership in many of our organizational partners.
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