Invest in Kids

A note on this page's publication date

The last time we examined the charities working primarily in the U.S. was in 2010. As of 2011, we have de-prioritized further work on this cause.

The content we created in 2010 appears below. This content is likely to be no longer fully accurate, both with respect to what it says about the organization and with respect to what it implies about our own views and positions.

Published: 2010

Note: in 2010, we conducted research focused specifically on identifying and recommending top US charities. IIK was one of three US organizations we recommended due to that research. We have now deprioritized work on US charities.

Table of Contents

What do they do?

Story

Invest in Kids (IIK) was started in 1999 by a group that wanted to find proven prevention programs to help low-income children in Colorado.1 They considered their options and spoke with experts to identify programs with strong track records, and they ultimately decided to implement the Nurse-Family Partnership program, a nurse home visitation program with strong evidence of impact.2

After implementing Nurse-Family Partnership, Invest in Kids began to look for other evidence-based, child-focused programs to implement. Among other things, they asked the community what type of program it was interested in and hired a researcher from the University of Denver to recommend a program.3 In 2003, Invest in Kids decided to implement the Incredible Years program, a set of group-based training programs for parents, teachers, and children that aim to promote children's social and emotional competence, and reduce their aggression and emotional problems.4

From 2008 to 2010, Invest in Kids participated in an evaluation of the Good Behavior Game to determine whether Invest in Kids would include the program as an additional offering.5 The game is a classroom management strategy used to reduce student problem behaviors by rewarding good behavior.6 According to Lisa Merlino, Executive Director of Invest in Kids, the first year evaluation of the program found positive results but none of these effects were statistically significant. Therefore, Invest in Kids chose not to replicate the program.7

Current programs

Invest in Kids currently focuses on the Nurse-Family Partnership program and the Incredible Years program.8 Most or all of the budget Invest in Kids allocates to the Nurse-Family Partnership Program is provided by the State of Colorado,9 so Invest in Kids intends to spend most of the additional funding it receives on the Incredible Years program. We therefore focus our review on Invest in Kids' implementation of the Incredible Years program.

Incredible Years

Invest in Kids' implementation of the Incredible Years program consists of:

  • Informing local communities about the program so that communities can decide whether or not to implement it.10
  • Providing the initial training and ongoing monitoring and consulting to teachers and parent group leaders who implement the program.11
  • Retaining the OMNI institute to evaluate the progress of children, teachers, and parents in the program.12

Does it work?

Evidence of impact

Both of the programs on which Invest in Kids focuses have been rigorously, independently evaluated in studies that found positive results. For more on these, see our reviews of the Nurse-Family Partnership program and the Incredible Years programs. As discussed above, we focus on the Incredible Years programs here.

The Incredible Years programs have shown positive short-term results; however, they have not been subject to long-term follow ups to determine whether the short-term results persist and lead to positive impacts on children's life outcomes.

To evaluate the ongoing effectiveness of its implementation of the Incredible Years programs, Invest in Kids retained the OMNI Institute to annually monitor the Incredible Years implementation and outcomes in Colorado.13

Ongoing monitoring

As of mid-October 2010, OMNI had published three annual evaluations of the Incredible Years Program.14 We focus here on the 2009 evaluation, the most recent report available as of the writing of this report. Overall, we feel that this report provides reasonable evidence that Invest in Kids is careful to (a) replicate a program with fidelity to the evidence-based model and (b) monitor whether child outcomes remain positive.

The OMNI report evaluates the two Incredible Years programs that Invest in Kids implements: the school program and the parent training program.15 According to Invest in Kids' Executive Director Lisa Merlino, approximately 90% of the children who Invest in Kids serves participate in the school program;16 we therefore focus on that section of the OMNI review.

Previous evaluations of the Incredible Years school program found that participant children showed a "significant increase in positive behaviors... compared with controls."17 The evaluations used a variety of measures to assess "positive behaviors and social competence."18 OMNI used one particular measure, the Social Competence Scale/Teacher to assess children's social competence.19 It is unclear to us whether and to what degree this measurement tool differs from assessment tools used in the randomized evaluations.20 On this measure, OMNI identified large increases for each of the items measured.21

OMNI also assessed whether teachers' implementation of the Incredible Years program maintained fidelity to the evidence-based model through regular visits by independent observers to classrooms implementing the school program.22 OMNI concluded that "it is clear that teachers demonstrated very high levels of fidelity to the Invest in Kids curriculum."23

While we don't focus on the following variables when assessing the implementation and results of the Incredible Years program, we note that OMNI Institute also reported on how much technical assistance teachers need to implement the program,24 connection between fidelity to the model and child outcomes,25 and teacher satisfaction with the program.26

What do you get for your dollar?

In the 2009-10 school year, Invest in Kids served approximately 5,032 children across its Incredible Years programs.27 Its 2009 audited financial statements show program expenses of $559,365 for the Incredible Years program.28 Allocating the appropriate portion of administrative and fundraising expenses,29 we estimate that the total cost to Invest in Kids of the Incredible Years programs was $700,477 in 2009.30

In addition, classrooms and parent groups implementing the Incredible Years program must purchase program materials:

  • Classrooms' material costs: The materials cost schools $1,840 per classroom in the first year of running the program.31 We don't have figures on the number of classrooms Invest in Kids serves, but assuming 25 students per class, Invest in Kids would serve 191 classrooms (4,782 / 25) at a total cost of materials of $351,955.32
  • Parent groups' material costs: Using a number of assumptions, we estimate that materials for each parent training group cost about $1,595,33 and that Invest in Kids served 30 parenting groups in the 2009-10 school year, for a total cost of materials of $47,850.34

These figures yield a total cost per child served in Invest in Kids' Incredible Years programs of around $220.35

Note: these costs include only Invest in Kids' costs of implementing Incredible Years and the classrooms' and parent groups' material costs. The program is mainly implemented in the classroom,36 so the primary additional costs are in the form of teachers' time rather than direct monetary costs. We have not estimated the time cost.

A cost-effectiveness study of the parent program conducted in the United Kingdom estimated the cost of the program at $2,579-$3,868 per child (for the 8 or 12 child groups, respectively) including all one-time costs. Excluding one-time costs, the study estimated the cost-per-child at $2,218-$3192 (for the 8 or 12 child groups, respectively).37

Room for more funds?

Invest in Kids intends to spend most of the additional funding it receives on the Incredible Years program. Invest in Kids estimates that it could employee one additional consultant for each additional $80,000 it receives, allowing it to serve an additional 35-50 classrooms with the Incredible Years program.38 Invest in Kids believes it could likely incorporate an additional 3-5 consultants, for a total room for more funding of $240,000-$400,000.39 Invest in Kids notes that they would hire additional staff only if they believed that the revenue they received was likely to repeat in the future (so that Invest in Kids will be able to continue paying the staff members).40

Invest in Kids plans to primarily spend additional funding on the Incredible Years program because most or all of the expenses Invest in Kids' allocates to the Nurse-Family Partnership Program are provided by the State of Colorado.41

Financials

The data on Invest in Kids' revenues, expenses, and assets comes from its IRS 990 forms and 2010 projected budget.42

Revenue and expense growth (about this metric): Invest in Kids' highest annual revenue from 2003 to 2009 was $1.4 million in 2003. Revenues were substantially lower in 2004. Since 2004, both revenues and expenses show a trend of growing slowly over time.

Assets-to-expenses ratio (about this metric): From 2003 to 2009, Invest in Kids' assets-to-expenses ratio has been in the range 0.7 to 1.2. These ratios are in the range we consider reasonable.

Expenses by program area (about this metric): Invest in Kids spends the majority of its program expenses on the Incredible Years programs (52% in 2009 and it projects it will spend 57% in 2010). The share Invest in Kids spends on the Nurse-Family Partnership program has decreased over time from 54% in 2003 to 31% in 2009 (and Invest in Kids projects it will spend 27% of its expenses on it in 2010). Invest in Kids spent 17% of its program expenses on the Good Behavior Game in 2009 and projects to spend 16% on it in 2010, although it is phasing out this program.43

Expenses by IRS-reported category (about this metric): Invest in Kids maintains what we consider a reasonable "overhead ratio," spending between approximately 75% and 84% of its budget on program expenses in years 2003 to 2010.

Sources

  • 1

    "IIK was founded in 1999 by a group of mostly attorneys doing pro-bono work on behalf of families in need in Colorado. They wanted to find prevention programs that were proven to work for people in their state." Lisa Merlino, phone conversation with GiveWell, July 16, 2010.

  • 2

    "They went all around the country looking for effective programs and ended up deciding on the Nurse-Family Partnership (NFP) as the best program they knew of." Lisa Merlino, phone conversation with GiveWell, July 16, 2010.

    For more on the impact of the Nurse-Family Partnership program, see our report on the program.

  • 3

    "People wanted to know what else we could do after NFP. NFP ends at age 2, so what else could we do? We asked the community what they wanted. And, universally, people wanted early childhood mental health and school readiness – everyone had heard of the 4 year old who got kicked out of three preschools or the 18-year-old day care teacher that had little relevant education. So, after hearing of the needs, we hired a PhD from the University of Denver who did nothing but read research for 6 months." Lisa Merlino, phone conversation with GiveWell, July 16, 2010.

  • 4

    "We narrowed the field and ultimately made the decision to implement the Incredible Years (IY) (the teacher, child, and parent components).... We started IY in 2003 and lots of children have the curriculum on a daily basis." Lisa Merlino, phone conversation with GiveWell, July 16, 2010.

    For more about Incredible Years, see our report on the program.

  • 5

    "In 2008-2010, Invest in Kids participated in a research trial to test the effectiveness of this program." Invest in Kids, "Invest in Kids & Good Behavior Game."

  • 6

    For more on the Good Behavior Game, see Coalition for Evidence-Based Policy, "Good Behavior Game."

  • 7

    "The trial was conducted and then we got the first year data and all the outcomes looked good but none were statistically significant. One year of data is just a small slice of the entire program's possible outcomes (lots of the strong results in Baltimore for the 1st grade program came out in 4th grade), but because of our high standard of evidence, we weren't confident enough to replicate this program at this time." Lisa Merlino, phone conversation with GiveWell, July 16, 2010.

  • 8
    • Invest in Kids, "Nurse-Family Partnership."
    • Invest in Kids, "Incredible Years."

  • 9

    "The NFP program is so beneficial that we advocated to the state legislature to incorporate paying for the NFP program into the state budget. At IIK, I have a $350,000 budget for NFP and all but $70,000 is covered by the state. It isn't hard for IIK to fund our costs of delivering the NFP in Colorado because we secured the state funding for direct services and program administration." Lisa Merlino, phone conversation with GiveWell, July 16, 2010.

    "Our 2010 projected budget is $1.3 million, of which NFP [Nurse-Family Partnership program] accounted for 21%; IY [Incredible Years] 45%; Good Behavior Game, which we're phasing out, 13%; administration costs are 10%; and fundraising costs are 11%. Since this is the 2010 budget, it is a bit of a projection through the end of the year, but we're currently in line with the projection." Lisa Merlino, phone conversation with GiveWell, October 19, 2010.

    We say that maybe all of Invest in Kids' expenses on the Nurse-Family Partnership are covered by the state since Invest in Kids' projected budget for Nurse-Family Partnership is 21% of $1.3 million, which is $273,000. This is less than the $280,000 ($350,000 - $70,000) Invest in Kids says in the quote above is covered by the state.

  • 10

    "The goal of IIK is first to identify the programs to implement. After we have identified, the next stage is introduction, i.e. partnering with communities and giving them the information they need to introduce it. Part of that phase is ensuring that the program is a good fit for the community. We advocate, but we don't sell the program, so if we go to a community and have a conversation but they don't want to implement the program, we understand and move on to the next community (though this doesn't happen often). The locals are the experts about their community so that is the best method." Lisa Merlino, phone conversation with GiveWell, October 19, 2010.

  • 11

    "Once we've had these conversations and the community is ready, we train the necessary leaders. We train teachers to implement IY and we train the leaders of the IY parent groups. We are the only ones in Colorado who have IY certified trainers to do that level of training.

    In the first year, we observe and visit the classrooms a lot to oversee what the teachers are doing, and whether they're implementing the program with fidelity. Each of the consultation visits is directed to fidelity. These visits occur monthly in the classrooms (in the first year) and 3 times during each 14 week long group-based parenting course. We use fidelity checklists in each visit." Lisa Merlino, phone conversation with GiveWell, October 19, 2010.

  • 12

    "We're also providing before and after evaluation through the OMNI Institute of all the group leaders and children. In the beginning of September, we got the most recent OMNI Institute evaluation. We'd be happy to share the report with you." Lisa Merlino, phone conversation with GiveWell, October 19, 2010.

  • 13

    OMNI Institute 2007, Pg 3.
    OMNI Institute 2008.
    OMNI Institute 2009.
    OMNI Institute 2010.

  • 14

    OMNI Institute 2009, Pg 2. Note that in late October 2010, Ms. Merlino sent us the 2010 OMNI report (OMNI Institute 2010). We have not yet had a chance to review this document.

  • 15

    "The Incredible Years is divided into distinct training programs that are designed to enhance social competence and reduce aggression in young children aged three to eight years. The developmentally-appropriate and culturally-sensitive programs (e.g., Webster-Stratton, 2004) are the child social skills and teacher training program, known as the Dina Dinosaur Classroom Curriculum (referred to as the Dinosaur School program throughout this report), and the BASIC Parent Training Program (referred to as the Parent program). Together, the training programs provide a cost-effective, comprehensive approach that supports the healthy development of young children, engages parents in their children's education, and strengthens teachers' skills." OMNI Institute 2009, Pg 3.

  • 16

    "I can say now that there is much greater demand for the child-teacher component, with which we serve teachers of approximately 4,500 children, compared to the parenting component, which serves approximately 400 parents in parent groups." Lisa Merlino, phone conversation with GiveWell, August 5, 2010.

  • 17

    "Children in treatment groups that received parent training, child training, and/or teacher training showed a significant increase in positive behaviors at home or at school compared with controls (p .001 to p .05). Control conditions included wait list, regular Head Start, or regular school curriculum and services. When the treatment groups were compared, child training alone or in combination with parent or teacher training had greater effects than parent training only, teacher training only, or parent and teacher training combined." National Registry of Evidence-Based Programs and Practices, "Incredible Years."

  • 18

    "Child positive behaviors, social competence, and school readiness skills were assessed using the following:

    • Independent observations in the home by trained coders of the child's positive affect and warmth, including smiles, affectionate touch, and positive talk (Dyadic Parent-Child Interactive Coding System Revised), and child's affectionate or prosocial behaviors (Coder Impression Inventory)
    • Independent observations at school or with peers by trained coders of the percentage of time the child was engaged or involved in classroom activities during unstructured time (Multiple Option Observation of Child Behaviors at School); positive communication with peers, such as sharing positive experiences, verbalizing a friendship, and agreeing with a friend (Dyadic Peer Interaction Scale); and ability to problem solve (Wally Child Social Problem-Solving Detective Game and Child Social Problem-Solving Test--Revised)
    • Parent reports of child adjustment (Child Behavior Checklist); prosocial behaviors (Parent Daily Report); and other behaviors, such as demonstrating a desire to resolve peer problems and an understanding of others and emotion regulation (Social Competence Scale--Parent)
    • Teacher reports of the child's social competence, emotion regulation, and expression (Social Competence and Behavior Evaluation); other prosocial and school readiness behaviors, such as being friendly, staying on task, completing assignments, and being self-reliant (Social Health Profile); and positive behaviors, such as making friends easily and having a lot of friends (Teacher Assessment of School Behavior)"

    National Registry of Evidence-Based Programs and Practices, "Incredible Years."

  • 19

    "Change in children's social competence throughout the year was measured through pre- and post-testing using the Social Competence Scale (Teacher Version) developed by the Conduct Problems Prevention Research Group, or CPPRG (1995). The Social Competence Scale/Teacher is composed of three sub-scales: (1) Prosocial/Communication skills or PCS (e.g., “resolves peer problems on his/her own”), (2) Emotion Regulation Skills or (ERS) (e.g., “accepts legitimate imposed limits”) and (3) Academic Skills or AS (e.g., “follows teacher's verbal directions”). Students are rated on a scale from 1 to 5 with 1 = “not at all,” 3 = “moderately well,” and 5 = “very well.” This measure provides individual scores for each of the three sub-scales; that is, PCS, ERS and AS, as well as a PCS/ERS combined score and a PCS/ERS/AS overall score. An increase in the mean score from pre-test to post-test indicates an increase in student social competence." OMNI Institute 2009, Pg 18.

  • 20

    We note that at least one evaluation used the "Social Competence Scale--Parent." See National Registry of Evidence-Based Programs and Practices, "Incredible Years."

  • 21

    "Overall there was a statistically significant increase (p0.05) in the mean rating of student skill from pre-test to post-test for each of the five scores reported for this measure. Moreover, effect sizes were large, ranging from 0.87 to 0.96. This is noteworthy since effect sizes in social science research are typically small (under .20). These large effect sizes suggest that participation in the Dinosaur School is related to the kind of positive change in social competence the program is intended to affect." OMNI Institute 2009, Pg 19.

  • 22

    "How well the Dinosaur School program in Colorado adhered to the model program was assessed through observer ratings and the process rating scale that teachers completed at three time points during the year. These measures were based off of the recommended measures by IY program developers. The observation structure for teachers consisted of monthly visits in the first year, quarterly visits in the second year, bi-annual visits in the third year and, in the fourth year and beyond, there will be no formal visits. One hundred twenty classrooms were observed at least once during the school year by trained staff from Invest in Kids. The Teacher Process Rating Scale (TPRS) rated teachers on whether they completed an action that is critical to implementing the IY program with fidelity and how well/how much TA they needed for that action." OMNI Institute 2009, Pg 20.

  • 23

    "Looking at both the observer- and teacher- TPRS ratings, it is clear that teachers demonstrated very high levels of fidelity to the Invest in Kids curriculum. On average, across all scales, both observers and teachers reported 94% compliance for administering essential curriculum items. Scores for observers ranged from 81% compliance on the Vignettes scale to 100% compliance on the Responses scale. Scores for teachers averaged across all three rounds ranged from 80% compliance on the Review scale to 99% on the Responses scale. It should also be noted that teacher-reported compliance scores generally increased from Round 1 to Round 2 to Round 3, suggesting improvements in compliance as the program year progressed." OMNI Institute 2009, Pg 22.

  • 24

    OMNI Institute 2009, Pg 23.

  • 25

    "An important evaluation question related to program fidelity is: Do children in classrooms with a higher level of fidelity to The Incredible Years Dina Dinosaur Classroom Curriculum show greater gains in social competence during the program year? ... HLM analyses were conducted to assess whether increases in fidelity to The Incredible Years Dina Dinosaur Classroom Curriculum led to greater increases in children's social competence during the school year. Results did not provide statistically significant evidence for this hypothesized relationship." OMNI Institute 2009, Pgs 26-27.

  • 26

    OMNI Institute 2009, Pg 27.

  • 27

    In the 2009-10 school year, Invest in Kids served 4,782 students through teachers in its Incredible Years school program. Invest in Kids, "Incredible Years: Free/reduced lunch statistics," Sheet By District w Numbers Served. The numbers in Column D sum to 4,782. In a phone conversation with GiveWell on October 19, 2010, Lisa Merlino, Invest in Kids Executive Director, explained that the numbers in this Column D are number of children served by teachers in Invest in Kids' Incredible Years school program, excluding the children served through Invest in Kids' Incredible Years parent training program.

    In the same phone conversation, Invest in Kids suggested to us a rough way of calculating cost per child served in Invest in Kids' Incredible Years programs, and in relation to that said, "In 2010, we're projected to spend $590,000 on IY, and we are projected to serve, through parent and teachers, about 5,000 children (about 4,600 children through our IY school program and 400 parents in our IY parenting program)." Lisa Merlino, phone conversation with GiveWell, October 19, 2010. We don't have exact figures for children served through Invest in Kids' Incredible Years parenting program but given that the program was running in 2009 and that Invest in Kids projects it to serve 400 children in 2010, it seems reasonable to assume approximately 300 children served in the 2009-10 school year.

    We thus estimate that the total number of children served in the 2009-10 school year by Invest in Kids' Incredible years programs were 4,782 + 300 = 5,082.

  • 28

    Invest in Kids, "Audited Financial Statements (2009)," Pg 5.

  • 29

    We allocated 52% of overhead (general and administration, and fundraising) expenses to Incredible Years consistent with its 52% share of program expenses.

  • 30

    In 2009, Invest in Kids' total program expenses were $1,075,668. Invest in Kids' program expenses for Incredible Years were $559,365, i.e. 52% of $1,075,668. Invest in Kids' 2009 general and administration costs ($112,563) plus its 2009 fundraising costs ($158,797) equals $271,360. The Incredible Years programs' share (52%) of the $271,360 is $141,112. Incredible Years' program expenses plus its general, administrative, and fundraising expenses thus equals $559,365 + $141,112 = $700,477. Data from Invest in Kids, "Audited Financial Statements (2009)," Pg 5.

  • 31

    Invest in Kids, "Sample Budget for a Classroom to Implement Incredible Years."

  • 32

    $1,840 * 191.28 = $351,995

  • 33

    "PRESCHOOL BASIC Parenting Training Program (ages 3-6) (9 DVDs) $1,595.00" The Incredible Years, "Price Sheet and Order Form," Pg 1.

  • 34
    • We estimate Invest in Kids served 300 children through its Incredible Years parenting program in the 2009-10 school year.
    • We assume 10 children served per parenting group. We don't have information on how many parents or children are usually served by each Invest in Kids' Incredible Years parent group. But we assume 10 parents per group based on a study of the Incredible Years' parenting program: "The Webster-Stratton (Webster-Stratton, 1998a, 1998b; Webster-Stratton & Herbert, 1994) parenting programme employs a collaborative approach, building on parents' strengths and expertise.... The 14-week intervention was delivered weekly to groups of 10–12 parents in two-hour sessions." Gardner, Burton, and Klimes 2006, Pg 1124.
      Maybe both parents of a child attend the group, which would suggest fewer children served per group. On the other hand, maybe parents in the group have several children which would suggest more children served per group. In the end, we consider 10 children served per parenting group a reasonable assumption.
    • Number of parenting groups times the material cost per parenting groups gives a total cost of materials for Invest in Kids' Incredible Years parenting program of 30 * $1,595 = $47,850 for the 2009-10 school year.

  • 35

    We estimate that the total cost to Invest in Kids for the Incredible Years program in 2009 was $700,477. Adding the approximate material costs to schools ($351,955) and parent groups ($47,850) in 2009-2010 school year gives $700,477 + $351,955 + $47,850 = $1,100,282. Dividing $1,100,282 by number of children served in Invest in Kids' Incredible Years programs (5,082) gives a cost per student served of $217.

  • 36

    According to Invest in Kids, "Incredible Years: 2009 and 2010 Budgets," Sheet 2009 IY Budget, the Child/Teacher (school) component of Invest in Kids' Incredible Years activities gets 70% ($390,554.51) of Invest in Kids' 2009 Incredibly Years budget, while the parent training component gets 30% ($168,810.36).

    "I can say now that there is much greater demand for the child-teacher component [of IIK's Incredible Years activities], with which we serve teachers of approximately 4,500 children, compared to the parenting component, which serves approximately 400 parents in parent groups." Lisa Merlino, phone conversation with GiveWell, August 5, 2010.

  • 37

    See the cost-effectiveness section of our report on the Incredible Years program.

  • 38

    "The bottom line is, if we got another $100,000, we'd engage another community or district. Now, we are turning people away. With those funds, I'd be able to hire another master's level consultant which would allow us to grow the IY program appropriately. We could spend that amount overnight with the demand for IY that we're seeing. For every such full-time employee, which would cost us close to $80,000 per year, we would serve maybe 35–50 more classrooms. We”˜d be able to go to a community that wants the IY program but doesn't receive it and tell them they can have it today." Lisa Merlino, phone conversation with GiveWell, October 19, 2010.

  • 39

    "Ideally, we could absorb 3–5 more staff members who would be liaisons to the neediest communities in our state. Right now, we have 4 full-time-equivalent consultants and I don't think we're likely to ever go beyond 10." Lisa Merlino, phone conversation with GiveWell, October 19, 2010.

  • 40

    "Before making that decision, I'd consider whether we have the funding to employ those people long term. We don't want to hire someone this year that we can't retain next year." Lisa Merlino, phone conversation with GiveWell, October 19, 2010.

  • 41

    "The NFP program is so beneficial that we advocated to the state legislature to incorporate paying for the NFP program into the state budget. At IIK, I have a $350,000 budget for NFP and all but $70,000 is covered by the state. It isn't hard for IIK to fund our costs of delivering the NFP in Colorado because we secured the state funding for direct services and program administration." Lisa Merlino, phone conversation with GiveWell, July 16, 2010.

    "Our 2010 projected budget is $1.3 million, of which NFP [Nurse-Family Partnership program] accounted for 21%; IY [Incredible Years] 45%; Good Behavior Game, which we're phasing out, 13%; administration costs are 10%; and fundraising costs are 11%. Since this is the 2010 budget, it is a bit of a projection through the end of the year, but we're currently in line with the projection." Lisa Merlino, phone conversation with GiveWell, October 19, 2010.

    We say that maybe all of IIK's expenses on the Nurse-Family Partnership are covered by the state since IIK's projected budget for Nurse-Family Partnership is 21% of $1.3 million, which is $273,000. This is less than the $280,000 ($350,000 - $70,000) IIK says in the quote above is covered by the state.

  • 42

    Invest in Kids, "IRS Form 990 (2003)," Pgs 1, 2.
    Invest in Kids, "IRS Form 990 (2004)," Pgs 1, 2.
    Invest in Kids, "IRS Form 990 (2005)," Pgs 1, 3.
    Invest in Kids, "IRS Form 990 (2006)," Pgs 1, 3.
    Invest in Kids, "IRS Form 990 (2007)," Pgs 1, 3.
    Invest in Kids, "IRS Form 990 (2008)," Pgs 1, 2, 10.
    Invest in Kids, "IRS Form 990 (2009)," Pgs 1, 2, 10.

    The figures for 2010 in this section are from Invest in Kids' projected budget: "Our 2010 projected budget is $1.3 million, of which NFP [Nurse-Family Partnership program] accounted for 21%; IY [Incredible Years] 45%; Good Behavior Game, which we're phasing out, 13%; administration costs are 10%; and fundraising costs are 11%. Since this is the 2010 budget, it is a bit of a projection through the end of the year, but we're currently in line with the projection." Lisa Merlino, phone conversation with GiveWell, October 19, 2010.

  • 43

    "Our 2010 projected budget is $1.3 million, of which NFP [Nurse-Family Partnership program] accounted for 21%; IY [Incredible Years] 45%; Good Behavior Game, which we're phasing out, 13%; administration costs are 10%; and fundraising costs are 11%. Since this is the 2010 budget, it is a bit of a projection through the end of the year, but we're currently in line with the projection." Lisa Merlino, phone conversation with GiveWell, October 19, 2010. Note that our percentages spent on the different programs don't match this quote since the quote refers to percentages of Invest in Kids' total budget (including administration and fundraising), but we refer to percentages of Invest in Kids' program expenses (i.e. total budget minus administration and fundraising expenses).