Now you can raise new, unrestricted funding and promote your mission through everyday real estate transactions – at no cost to your charity or your supporters. IIC is a nonprofit and totally transparent social enterprise.
Here are just a few of the benefits to your charity:
DETAILS: When Heather Hofman got a new job in Washington D.C., she needed a real estate broker for her home sale in Boise, Idaho. Heather used IIC to find her broker and by doing so, generated $1,766 for Waters Elementary, at no cost to her.
DETAILS: Sargent Shriver National Center on Poverty Law chose a broker through IIC. As a result of their new office lease, they were able to generate $25,000 of unrestricted funds for their own mission.
DETAILS: As the result of an office lease renewal in the Central Loop, Eckhart Kolak selected Kennebec Estuary Land Trust in Maine, to receive $6,905 through Investing In Communities.
Here are just a few of our Charities
A Safe Haven helps people transform, aspire and sustain their lives from homelessness to self-sufficiency with pride and purpose. We provide the tools for each individual to overcome the root causes of homelessness through a holistic and scalable model. Our visible social and economic impact unites families, stabilizes neighborhoods, and creates vibrant and viable communities.
The Academies for Social Entrepreneurship promotes the development of social enterprises-- business ventures which address social problems. Social enterprises are Ômore-than-profit' businesses that use blended-value models to create a revenue-generating business with a social-value-generating element. Although our work to date has been directed to not-for-profit organizations, our programs are designed to serve a broad range of social entrepreneurs. ASE's core program is Social Enterprise Academies, which provide training, mentoring and the opportunity to compete in a business plan competition. In the past three years, working with a variety of strategic partners, ASE has produced fourteen Social Enterprise Academies, producing millions of dollars in new investment and earned income streams for over 150 not-for-profit organizations. ASE's programs are fiscally sponsored by Charitable Ventures of Orange County (http://charitableventuresoc.org), a public foundation.
A Home Within is a national organization that provides pro bono mental health services to current and former foster youth. We achieve this by building networks of volunteer mental health professionals who provide direct, pro bono services and professional training. Our work also promotes public awareness and advocates for the emotional needs of foster youth.
AUSL will improve student achievement in Chicago's high-poverty, chronically failing schools through its disciplined transformation process, built on a foundation of specially trained AUSL teachers.
Abraham's Inheritance is a community based organization established solely for the purpose of making a change in the lives of young minority men who do not have a positive male role model in their lives. Our mission is to tackle the root problem of young minority men growing up in a single parent home, create awareness of the issue and break the cycle.
We do this by establishing a spiritual foundation and education and mentorship programs and by finding ways to make use of idle time through after school programs, health awareness, creativity development and other productive activities. Abraham's Inheritance provides all the tools necessary for them to be successful in life and overcome challenges. We plan to reach and reform as many minority youth as possible and eventually expand across the country.
Access Living is a cross-disability organization governed and staffed by a majority of people with disabilities.
Access Living fosters the dignity, pride and self-esteem of people with disabilities and enhances the options available to them so they may choose and maintain individualized and satisfying lifestyles.
To this end, Access Living offers peer-oriented independent living services; public education, awareness and development; individualized and systemic advocacy; and enforcement of civil rights on behalf of people with disabilities.
Access Living recognizes the innate rights, abilities, needs and diversity of people with disabilities, works toward their full integration into community life and serves as an agent of social change.
Opportunity Works Connecticut Inc. (OWC) is committed to enhancing the lives of people through meaningful and gainful employment services. We embrace the idea that all people can live a fully productive life within their community.OWC supports adults in their journey to live successfully by setting the standard in providing program excellence, skill training, mentoring & advocacy. OWC provides services that aid in positive self image in order to foster a sense of respect and dignity for the individuals we serve and enable them to work & live with quality of life.
Barnabas Ministries reaches high-risk youth and families with the freedom, hope, and healing of Jesus Christ through mentoring, sports, life skills, academic advocacy, and homeless youth services.
The Shriver Center provides national leadership in identifying developing and supporting creative and collaborative approaches to achieve social and economic justice for low income people.
Lake Forest Open Lands Association is dedicated to conserving our natural environment through land acquisition, habitat restoration, environmental education and conservation advocacy.
Eighth Day Farm uses its urban fields as classrooms for teaching agricultural knowledge and growing good produce for the community.
Community Shares of Illinois represents a diverse group of charities with a common mission, to make our world a better place. Whatever your passion - women's issues, protecting children, helping animals, preserving the environment, promoting health care or curbing poverty and disease - Community Shares members provide options for you to help make positive change in your own community.
Learn how to generate unrestricted funding at no cost to your supporters.
That’s what we call a Charity that meets our guidelines and, as such, is able to receive Charity Support Payments from us. Generally, we will approve as an Eligible Charity any organization that is tax-exempt under Section 501(c) of the U.S. Internal Revenue Code and whose principal purpose is to address issues of health, education, employment, poverty, safety, shelter, arts, science, animal welfare and/or general welfare on a non-discriminatory basis, and no part of the net earnings of which inures to the benefit of any private shareholder or individual. We will generally not approve as an Eligible Charity any organization significantly engaged in, or attempting to influence, political, legislative, or religious activities (though we may approve organizations with a religious affiliation that provide services described above to members of the community at large without regard to their religious affiliation).
We currently pay as an Introduction Fee five percent (5%) of the Referral Fee that we receive on a transaction. We pay this Introduction Fee from the portion of the Referral Fee that we retain after paying out the Charity Support Payment.
Barring unusual circumstances, we anticipate distributing the Charity Support Payment on a transaction promptly after we receive our Referral Fee on that transaction.
Charities receive unrestricted funding and internet exposure from IIC – at no cost. When you use IIC to engage your Representing Broker, you have the right to choose a charity (your Favorite Charity) to receive a Charity Support Payment equal to 70+% of the referral fee that broker’s sponsoring broker will pay to IIC when your transaction closes.
Yes. IIC is licensed in Illinois as a real estate broker. This allows sponsoring brokers in any state to pay us a Referral Fee in full compliance with their state’s licensing regulations. But IIC has not in the past, and has no plans in the future, to act as the licensed real estate fiduciary (Representing Broker) of any party in any real estate transaction.
We exist to help you make the world a little better, in a way that costs you nothing to make that good happen.
IIC provides a program, via a web based platform, (the “IIC Program”) for individuals and companies that are socially-minded to leverage the power of their real estate transactions to support a charity of their choice (an Eligible Charity) at no expense to themselves. In this way IIC provides Eligible Charities with a new fundraising resource – all at no cost to charities and their supporters!
IIC serves as a middleman between consumers and brokers, thereby making it possible for virtually any brokered real estate transaction to fund a charity of the consumer’s choosing, at no cost to that consumer. That’s because the philanthropy occurs when IIC gives most of its referral fee to a charity of the consumer’s choice. IIC does this by finding appropriate brokers for each consumer’s upcoming transaction and/or referring consumers to a broker they may already be considering. In either case, IIC is then paid a referral fee by the broker that the consumer chooses, 70% of which is given by IIC to that consumer’s Favorite Charity.
This is a question that you should ask your accountant. We have been advised that IIC funding is the same as a charitable contribution. Even if you do need to pay UBIT, your organization would likely still net over $1,000 from the $1,300 IIC distribution that would typically result from the sale of a $300,000 home.
We’ve set up a tracking system that enables Charity ABC to get 5% of the referral fee when a supporter of ABC chooses XYZ to get 70% of the referral fee. For a $300,000 home sale, Charity ABC would get $93. We call this an Introduction Fee.
Charities with loyal supporters are in a great position. Charities with large numbers of supporters can also do well, even if some of their supporters choose a different charity. (Please see preceding FAQ.)
If your organization has a “give or get” policy for board members, you could offer to count IIC transactions that either they (or people they’ve referred!) use IIC to find a broker and pick your organization. Our broker referral request form asks how you heard about IIC and there’s a place for name and email address so we can credit people with resulting transactions. Pretty nifty!
It only takes a 3-5 minutes to complete your IIC application. It can take up to 5 days for us to approve your application, but typically it’s only 1 or 2.
IIC subtracts $50 from the first check you receive each each year, to help offset our administrative costs. If you don’t get a check, there is no fee. And after your first check each year, there are no fees.
Perhaps, your organization has all the funding it needs to meet its mission? Honestly, the only reason we can think of is that you’re too busy writing grant applications or planning annual campaigns. Signing up is easier than any grant application and having just one supporter a year use IIC to buy or sell a $300,000 home would net your organization $1,320. And, you won’t have to write a grant report!