Washington, D.C. · Nonprofit
IMPROVING ECONOMIES FOR STRONGER COMMUNITIES
IMPROVING ECONOMIES FOR STRONGER COMMUNITIES (Washington, D.C.) receives grants from 6 organizations whose IRS filings report $31,636,535 to it, the largest being VOLUNTEERS FOR ECONOMIC GROWTH ALLIANCE ($30,784,197). 5 of them have funded it in more than one year.
- Revenue FY2024
- $32M
- Funders on record
- 6
- Grants received
- $32M
- Net assets
- $3.5M
What Improving Economies for Stronger Communities does
Mission
Iesc helps people improve their lives by catalyzing private sector growth and employment in economically developing countries.
As stated on its FY2024 Form 990.
Programs
Trade and enterprise: in the home office, iesc is structured under a practice area model. Our three current practice areas include: 1) agriculture-led growth; 2) trade and enterprise; and 3) workforce, entrepreneurship, and youth. The trade and enterprise practice area works with enterprises across economic sectors to launch, innovate, and grow. It also works to advance trade facilitation efficiency, coordination, and transparency.
$8,794,260 spentof which $2,774,759 as grants34% of program spendingAgriculture-led growth: in the home office, iesc is structured under a practice area model. Our three current practice areas include: 1) agriculture-led growth; 2) trade and enterprise; and 3) workforce, entrepreneurship, and youth. The agriculture-led growth practice area works to foster agricultural development in the economically developing world by facilitating technical assistance, mutually beneficial linkages, and access to information, technologies, and markets.
$5,635,717 spentof which $716,840 as grants22% of program spendingWorkforce, entrepreneurship, and youth: in the home office, iesc is structured under a practice area model. Our three current practice areas include: 1) agriculture-led growth; 2) trade and enterprise; and 3) workforce, entrepreneurship, and youth. The workforce, entrepreneurship, and youth practice area works to equip jobseekers with modern skills and help them secure in-demand jobs, promote entrepreneurship, and empower youth.
$11,123,168 spentof which $6,683,561 as grants44% of program spending
The 3 programs described on its FY2024 Form 990, listed largest first by expense. Program spending in total: $25,553,145.
The organization over time
Each line starts at 100 in 2017, so what you read is the shape rather than the size: 150 means half as much again as 2017, 50 means half. The number beside each label in the key is where it ended.
Balance sheet
Total assets and total liabilities at each year end, in dollars. The largest one-year move in total assets was 2017 to 2018, from $7.7M to $19M (+150%).
How it's funded, over time
Each bar is one year's revenue split into where it came from, and every bar is the same height — these are shares, not amounts, so a year that raised twice as much looks the same size. Hover a bar for the split.
Government-grant reliance: 2017 100% · 2018 53% · 2019 100% · 2020 99% · 2021 98% · 2022 94% · 2023 89% · 2024 93%. Grants only. Government contracts and fees sit inside program revenue.
Surplus & reserves
Operating surplus or deficit each year, and months of liquidity in hand. 3 of the last 8 reported years ran a deficit.
reserve
Leadership and staff
The officers, directors, trustees and key employees listed on each return. Joined and no longer listed compare each filing with the year before, matching people by surname and first initial; a year after a gap, or a roster under three people, has no comparison.
Chief executive
David Hartingh
CEO/president
Board chair
Wing Keith
Chairperson
As listed on its FY2024 Form 990.
Who funds it, year by year
2017 → 2023: the base narrowed from 2 funders to 1 funder, grant income fell $22M → $20k.
2 of 6 of your funders are donor-advised or pass-through sponsors (tagged DAF) — 0% of grant dollars received. That money is really individual donors directing a sponsor; the institutions to cultivate are the non-DAF funders.
From the IRS filings of IMPROVING ECONOMIES FOR STRONGER COMMUNITIES’s funders (the co-funder graph). Association, not causation. Trends are read to FY2023, the last fiscal year that has finished arriving. FY2024–FY2026 are still being filed and are shown unshaded; they do not move any figure on this page.
How concentrated its funding is
IMPROVING ECONOMIES FOR STRONGER COMMUNITIES leans on a few funders — its largest provides 97% of grant income and the top three 100%; half comes from just 1 funder.
the vertical line marks half of all grant income — 1 funder to its left
100% of the income these shares are computed over arrives through pass-through sponsors or from payers whose filings do not say what kind of payment it is. Concentration is still measured over all of it, because the money is real; what it does not support is a claim about how many institutions have chosen to fund IMPROVING ECONOMIES FOR STRONGER COMMUNITIES.
Largest funder’s share by year: 2017 99% · 2018 98% · 2019 100% · 2020 100% · 2021 100% · 2022 81% · 2023 100% — broadly stable.
“Effective funders” = inverse Herfindahl index (1 / Σ shareᵢ²) — the number of equal-sized funders that would give the same concentration. Trends are read to FY2023, the last fiscal year that has finished arriving. FY2024–FY2026 are still being filed and are shown unshaded; they do not move any figure on this page.
Where its funders are
98% of IMPROVING ECONOMIES FOR STRONGER COMMUNITIES's grant income comes from Washington, D.C. funders.
In-state vs out-of-state, by year
Funder states come from each funder’s own filing. $80k arriving through sponsors registered in 2 states is excluded from the map and the split above: a sponsor holds money on a donor’s behalf, so its registered address would place those dollars somewhere no donor need ever have been. Trends are read to FY2023, the last fiscal year that has finished arriving. FY2024–FY2026 are still being filed and are shown unshaded; they do not move any figure on this page.
Government funding IMPROVING ECONOMIES FOR STRONGER COMMUNITIES receives
Grants and contracts to this organization from federal (USASpending) and state checkbooks, reconciled to its EIN. $252.4M on record.
- Department of Agriculture$162.5M
- Agency for International Development$89.9M
Federal grants vs contracts are distinguished; state line items keep their reported category. Matched by name + geography (the BMF), so coverage is partial and precision-first.
Organizations like IMPROVING ECONOMIES FOR STRONGER COMMUNITIES
Organizations whose mission and program text most resemble this one, by semantic similarity over every organization in the US filings — the closest peers, and often the clearest route to shared or prospective funders.
In Washington, D.C.
Nationally
Read directly from this organization’s own Form 990, as neutral context.
Where the money goes
80% of spending goes to programs.
Governance
Public support
100%
Share of support from the public (Schedule A) — the basis for its public-charity status.
Footprint & structure
Files a return copy in 1 state
Screen this organization
A dated, signed PDF of the compliance screen for IMPROVING ECONOMIES FOR STRONGER COMMUNITIES: IRS status (Business Master File, Publication 78, auto-revocation), the OFAC sanctions lists, the Internal Revenue Bulletin, and California registration, with the Rev. Proc. 2018-32 §8.01 reliance elements stated element by element. Generated from the current files at the moment you download it.
Screens are triage, not determinations; a source that cannot be read reports not screened, never clear. Screen this nonprofit · How the screen works · on the API as GET /api/screening/{ein}?format=pdf
Questions and answers
- Who funds IMPROVING ECONOMIES FOR STRONGER COMMUNITIES?
- IMPROVING ECONOMIES FOR STRONGER COMMUNITIES (Washington, D.C.) receives grants from 6 organizations whose IRS filings report $31,636,535 to it, the largest being VOLUNTEERS FOR ECONOMIC GROWTH ALLIANCE ($30,784,197). 5 of them have funded it in more than one year.
- How many funders does IMPROVING ECONOMIES FOR STRONGER COMMUNITIES have?
- IRS filings report 6 organizations giving $31,636,535 in grants to IMPROVING ECONOMIES FOR STRONGER COMMUNITIES, 5 of which have funded it in more than one year.
- Who is the largest funder of IMPROVING ECONOMIES FOR STRONGER COMMUNITIES?
- VOLUNTEERS FOR ECONOMIC GROWTH ALLIANCE is the largest funder on record, with $30,784,197 in grants. The full list of funders is on this page.
- How can an organization like IMPROVING ECONOMIES FOR STRONGER COMMUNITIES find more funders?
- Start with the funders already giving here, then look at the foundations that back similar organizations in Washington, D.C.. The funding by cause and by state pages list the largest funders for a given area and how to approach them.
These figures are read directly from IRS Form 990 / 990-PF e-file XML: this organization’s own return for FY2024 (financials across 2017–2024), and the filings of 6 funders that report grants to it. “On record” means captured in the filings we have parsed — a funder that does not e-file, or whose grant detail is not itemized, will not appear. Filings run roughly 12–24 months behind. Trends on this page end at FY2023, the last fiscal year that has finished arriving; later years are shown and marked, and move no figure. Data on this page was exported October 14, 2026. What this page cannot tell you · view filing