RELEASE: City of Indianapolis and IFF Announce Organizations Selected to Participate in New Energy Efficiency Initiative
City of Indianapolis and IFF announce organizations selected to participate in new energy efficiency initiative
Ten mission-driven organizations in Marion County to receive free energy assessments and matching grants through Thriving Nonprofits initiative
NDIANAPOLIS -- Today, the Indianapolis Office of Sustainability and IFF announced the inaugural cohort of Thriving Nonprofits, a new initiative funded by the McKinney Family Foundation designed to help Marion County nonprofits improve the energy efficiency of their facilities and reduce operating costs. The Office of Sustainability and IFF selected ten organizations to participate in the initiative. Each will receive a free energy assessment of their facility and matching grants of up to $10,000 to facilitate building upgrades that reduce energy usage and monthly utility bills.
Organizations selected to participate in Thriving Nonprofits include:
Aspire Higher Foundation, Inc.
B-SIDE Creative Campus
Coburn Place Safe Haven
Community Action of Greater Indiana
Community Alliance of the Far Eastside
Fairview Presbyterian Church
HealthNet, Inc.
Mary Rigg Neighborhood Center Incorporated
Outreach, Inc.
Second Helpings, Inc.
"Public-private partnerships like Thriving Nonprofits exemplify the ability of the Indianapolis community to come together to achieve common goals like energy efficiency," said Mo McReynolds, director of the Indianapolis Office of Sustainability. "We are excited to build upon our existing energy benchmarking program Thriving Buildings by offering new opportunities for our local nonprofits--entities that typically operate on very slim margins--to significantly invest in their physical infrastructure so that they may continue serving our neighbors.”
Energy assessments of cohort members' facilities will be conducted by IFF's Real Estate Solutions team with additional funding support from Glick Philanthropies. Assessments are expected to be completed by the end of summer. IFF has supported similar initiatives in recent years in Bloomington and South Bend in partnership with local offices of sustainability and CDFI Friendly organizations. In all, IFF helped 75 mission-driven organizations better understand their energy usage and complete building upgrades to reduce their utility bills.
Each energy assessment provided through Thriving Nonprofits will include a walk-through of the cohort member's facility to examine features like exterior walls, roof, windows, and doors, interior elements, appliances, heating and cooling systems, light fixtures, and more to pinpoint specific upgrades or replacements. These findings will be coupled with an analysis of utility bills and external factors like local weather and seasonal patterns to develop a detailed report overviewing opportunities to improve the energy efficiency of the facility. Cohort organizations will also receive recommendations about which building upgrades to complete in the short- and long-term based on estimated cost and complexity.
"Relatively small building upgrades can result in significant monthly cost savings, and IFF is excited to begin working with cohort members to identify opportunities to improve the energy efficiency of their buildings," said Amandula Anderson, IFF's executive director for the Indiana Region. "Based on our experience supporting similar programs elsewhere in the state, we expect Thriving Nonprofits to help local organizations devote more of their funding to programming that benefits Indianapolis residents instead of their utility bills."
Matching grants provided to Thriving Nonprofits cohort members will help to facilitate building upgrades like LED lighting retrofits, HVAC replacements, roof repairs or replacements, weatherization, solar panel installations, and the purchase of more efficient appliances, among other examples. IFF will also provide cohort members with access to flexible loans to supplement project budgets, as needed. All building upgrades enabled by Thriving Nonprofits are expected to be completed by December 1, 2025. While participating in the initiative, each cohort member will also have the opportunity to take part in educational seminars that encourage collaboration and shared learnings that each participant can use to further refine their short- and long-term facility goals.
In addition to helping local mission-driven organizations achieve cost savings that can be reinvested in community-strengthening programming, Thriving Nonprofits will contribute to broader sustainability efforts already underway in Marion County. The City of Indianapolis' Office of Sustainability administers Thrive Indianapolis, a citywide sustainability and resilience action plan that seeks to mitigate the effects of extreme weather events and guide Indianapolis to carbon neutrality by 2050. Thriving Nonprofits will advance several action items in the plan, including establishing financing options for energy efficiency and electrification improvements in new and existing buildings, deploying strategies to overcome barriers to solar energy installations, and promotion of initiatives that improve local water conservation efforts.
###
About the Indianapolis Office of Sustainability
The Indianapolis Office of Sustainability administers Thrive Indianapolis, the first sustainability and resilience action plan in Indy's history. As a division of the Department of Public Works, the Office promotes an environmentally sustainability city through various programs, policies, and partnerships that address the root causes of climate change. Initiatives include the year-round regional air quality awareness campaign Knozone, regional electric vehicle education campaign Highly Evolved, and energy benchmarking program Thriving Buildings. To learn more visit sustainindy.indy.gov, thriveindianapolis.com , or follow the Office on Facebook, Instagram, and X @sustainindy.
About IFF
Grounded in equity and deep sector expertise, IFF is a nonprofit Community Development Financial Institution (CDFI) that champions nonprofits to shape more equitable and vibrant communities through community-centered lending, development, and real-estate consulting. Since 1988, IFF has been working at the intersection of facilities and finance and has provided $1.8 billion in flexible, affordable financing to nonprofits serving a variety of sectors in order to increase their financial stability and programmatic offerings. These investments have leveraged $6.7 billion, developed more than 43.8 million square feet of real estate, and created more than 16,200 child care slots, 160,700 school seats, 788,000 new patient visits, and 21,800 units of affordable housing. Headquartered in Chicago, IFF serves the Midwest from regional offices in Cleveland, Columbus, Detroit, Grand Rapids, Indianapolis, Kansas City, Milwaukee, and St. Louis. To learn more visit iff.org or follow IFF on LinkedIn, Facebook, or X @iffcdfi.