July 20, 2009
Welcome to the redesigned Civic Federation and Institute for Illinois’ Fiscal Sustainability website. This new site ushers in a new era for the Civic Federation as we embrace additional ways of communicating to the public, government officials, and the media our analysis of government services throughout Illinois.
We hope that the new site structure makes it easier to find the information that you need. The “Issues” section allows you to look at recent Civic Federation and IIFS research on any given topic. Interested only in taxes or privatization? You can subscribe to RSS feeds that will alert you whenever we publish research or commentary on any given topic. Read more about RSS feeds on our expanded help page here.
The “Library” offers another way of searching through Federation and IIFS research by using a filtering system. Search by government, issue type, publication type, fiscal year, or publication year. Because so many of our documents deal with multiple issues, this filtering system provides a powerful, yet easy-to-use way of finding the information you need quickly.
The Civic Federation hosts a number of events each year. Listed here are our upcoming events and recaps, photos, and documents from past events. Here you will also find information about meetings of local municipal boards, Civic Federation committee meetings, and other events.
For media professionals and those interested in the Civic Federation’s presence in the news, the “Press Room” [link] gathers together short primers and factsheets to provide basic information on a range of topics. Here, too, are links to news articles and media that cite Civic Federation research or interview Federation staff.
Interested in joining the Civic Federation? Click on the “Membership” button at the top of the screen to read about how to get involved by becoming a member. The Civic Federation is open to individuals and corporations, service firms, and not-for-profit organizations, and is always looking to broaden its membership base with like-minded Illinoisans interested in advancing the best interests of Chicago and the State of Illinois.
Learn more about the Civic Federation, its mission, and its 115-year history, in the “About Us” section of the site. Started in 1894 by a group of prominent Chicagoans, the Civic Federation was founded to lead the charge to reform the city’s economic, political, and moral climate, and over time broadened its reach to all of Illinois.
The Civic Federation’s new research institute, the Institute for Illinois’ Fiscal Sustainability at the Civic Federation, is an initiative to improve the state’s decision-making process by providing fiscal policy analysis and recommendations and has its own subsection. Just like in the main Civic Federation site, it is possible to examine IIFS research sorted by issue.
The IIFS shares its library with the Federation’s so that all pertinent research on a particular topic is can be found easily. To search for only IIFS-specific documents, click on the “Content” filter on the right side of the screen to select only IIFS research.
Perhaps most exciting, the Civic Federation and IIFS both have new staff-written blogs that will feature analysis of news events as they pertain to our research interests, discussions about Federation and IIFS publications, and more. Keep updated on new posts using the RSS feed feature which works with newsfeed aggregators such as Google Reader or Microsoft Outlook to have posts conveniently delivered to you the moment they are published.
Click on “Links” at the top right of the screen to find a resource list of federal, state, and local government websites. There are also links to media and other non-profit organizations.
If you like what you see, or if you have any questions or comments, please send us an e-mail and let us know.