Frequently Asked Questions


  1. What is FII’s mission?
    FII aims to break the cycle of poverty by creating an opportunity rich environment that invests resources in low income communities based on the strengths and initiative they demonstrate towards improving their lives and others lives in their community and by testing and advocating for a new set of policies and practices that support community initiative while still protecting the current needs-based system for those in crisis.
  2. What are some of the benefits of FII’s program?
    All enrolled families get a computer so that they can enter their progress data such as income or savings changes online every month. FII provides 3 levels of awards
    1. Small Steps
      Families are also eligible to earn up to $2,400 per year for two years for taking small steps such as improving their kids grades, saving more, improving their credit rating and taking financial training, among many other documentable steps.
    2. Bigger Assets
      Families can also earn up to $2,000 In matched savings for the purchase of a house, the start up or expansion of a business or for going to college and extending their education.
    3. Community Building
      Lastly, the families can earn awards for recruiting and helping other families to also join FII and they can apply for fellowships if they wish to play a more central role in their community as well as help FII to recommend new policy directions.
  3. How does the initiative work?
    FII gathers data about families’ progress in the six areas of self-sufficiency (income and assets, education, health, connections, and resourcefulness/leadership) over the course of their involvement with FII. While all participants’ personal and financial information is kept confidential and anonymous, aggregate data for each family group is documented and shared with policy makers to shed light on current social services policies that are – and are not – working.
  4. Since you send families award checks quarterly, how do you monitor how they spend it? What if they spend it on drugs?
    When our government provides monetary or tax benefits for the upper income we do not monitor how these families spend the money. What is certain is that if these upper income families spend their money on drugs and ruin their lives, then they will no longer be eligible to get these benefits. FII uses a similar structure. Monetary benefits and connections are available to families in small increments and over long periods of time to allow for mistakes and adjustments in goals. Benefits are earned through continued family progress and success. Should they misuse the funds or through misfortune, have their lives fall apart, these families, like the upper income families, will need to rely on help from friends or our social service/welfare system.
  5. What families does FII target?
    FII does not start with families in crisis or those that will clearly succeed. An underlying premise is that the reason entire communities become isolated and make little progress toward self sufficiency is that there are very few typical families that succeed in our toughest neighborhoods. If people do not see the success of their peers they tend to primarily focus on survival. Therefore, FII seeks to find the families that aren’t necessarily expected to succeed, because if these more typical families do succeed with just small incentives, other families, including the most in need, will gain hope and pathways to follow.
  6. How long are families enrolled in FII?
    Families are enrolled in FII for 2 years. After the 2nd year, FII will continue to stay in contact to obtain information on the progress of the families through monthly reports but the families no longer get quarterly awards or matched savings.
  7. What are the eligibility requirements of FII?
    FII is looking for families that are under resourced, willing to help themselves, and who will work together to improve their lives by setting goals and taking action. Typically FII starts with families earning around 30% – 40% of the local median income. These families then recruit friends and extended family members to be a core group that can be enrolled.
  8. So what policies does FII feel need to be created or changed?
    Research to date indicates that this country has benefits that accrue primarily to the upper income in this country. A study by the Corporation for Enterprise Development found that the federal government allocated $367 billion in benefits to build assets. But the structure of the benefits means that these benefits go mostly to the upper income. FII seeks to make those types of benefits accessible to working families.
    Policies we are looking at are extending the Earned Income tax Credit, developing a self employment tax credit, matching scholarship funds started by communities, matching savings that are investing in business or education, reducing penalties for surfacing under the table businesses, venture capital investment funds for new businesses, etc.
  9. So why do you keep calling FII a project and not a program?
    The primary reason is to distinguish it from current social service approaches that tend to tell a family what it should do to make progress. While FII has some program elements such as a monetary award system that requires families to have documentation on the progress they make, what is different is that FII is using these program elements to learn what families do when given access to funds directly. FII is more of an experiment and learning project than a program.
  10. So what does FII staff do that is different than social service staff?
    The primary role of FII staff is to collect data and document what families do on their own initiative to improve their lives. Staff is trained not to give families directions or advice until families have taken the lead in their own solutions.
    FII staff also asks as a bridge to new connections. FII pilots generally have the support and access to the top officials in the pilot area. FII will help families get access to people of influence if the contact is needed. Recently the Director of San Francisco’s homeownership programs was asked to present directly to FII families and friends. She then provided the families her direct phone number.
    At its heart, FII only looks to provide some extra capital and connections for the families, but then uses what we learn from the families to make a more effective support system to those communities that take control of their own future.