Alumni Impact Fund

The Alumni Impact Fund (AIF) provides the entire RAND family with an opportunity to help RAND researchers extend the reach of projects with the potential for greater impact. Together, we have raised approximately $1 million during the past nine AIF campaigns.

Collectively, we can strengthen the RAND community and further the impact of RAND's research and analysis. Join us.

Newton's cradle with Earth globes
  • Volunteers remove debris from the House of Culture in the village of Ivanivka, which was damaged in a Russian attack, in Chernihiv region, Ukraine, September 3, 2022, photo by Vladislav Musienko/Reuters

    Alumni Impact Fund Winner Announced

    RAND Alumni Impact Fund supporters selected “Reforming and Rebuilding Ukraine” as the project that will be funded with AIF donations raised in 2022. The project team will use the funding to help officials prepare and plan for long-term, consistent, and coordinated policy toward post-war Ukraine.

    Apr 10, 2023

Why the Impact Fund Matters

Natalie Crawford

“Each of us has a stake in RAND’s legacy. Some have spent many years giving our time and talents to building this organization into the world-class institution it is. So let’s ensure that the world continues to see and use our best work.”

What Is Meant by “Impact” at RAND?

As alumni well know, RAND research and analysis offers enormous benefit to society. But it does no good sitting on a shelf or locked away in an academic journal. We want it to be used to make a positive difference in the lives of current and future generations. That is, we want to have impact. Impact occurs when our research makes a demonstrable difference in

  • the formulation or implementation of public policy
  • the processes and practices that particular organizations, sectors, or society use to address policy problems, and/or
  • the methodology, techniques, and practices that are used to understand or examine a policy problem.

Past Campaigns: What We Accomplished Together

The 2021 Alumni Impact Fund campaign raised more than $103,000. Donors voted to support a research project that aims to inform the design and execution of programs to counter, disrupt, or contain extremism activity online.

Read more about the winning 2021 project

The 2020 Alumni Impact Fund campaign raised more than $112,000. Donors voted to support a project to mitigate the national security risks of Truth Decay. The research team will use the funding to widely share recommendations to help prevent foreign adversaries from manipulating U.S. public discourse.

Read more about the winning 2020 project

The 2019 Alumni Impact Fund campaign raised more than $125,000. Donors voted to support a project to partner with the people of Puerto Rico in disaster recovery. The research team will use the funding to disseminate RAND's findings directly to the people of Puerto Rico.

Read more about the winning 2019 project

The 2018 Alumni Impact Fund campaign set a new fundraising record, raising $125,000. Donors voted to support a project to expand education and employment opportunities for inmates and ex-offenders.

Read more about the winning 2018 project

The 2017 Alumni Impact Fund campaign once again surpassed the $100,000 AIF goal. More than $110, 000 was raised, and donors voted to support a project that will help shape the policy narrative on accountability in cyberspace.

Read more about the winning 2017 project

The 2016 Alumni Impact Fund campaign raised more than $110,000. Donors who contributed to the campaign were invited to select from among several projects. The winning projects take aim at stemming the opioid epidemic and deploy a RAND-developed toolkit to help community organizations counter violent extremism.

Read more about the winning 2016 projects

The 2015 Alumni Impact Fund campaign surpassed its $100,000 goal, raising more than $110,000. All contributors to the 2015 Alumni Impact Fund had the chance to vote on which projects the Fund would support. Donors voted to extend the impact of two projects: a tool to match veterans with high-quality civilian jobs; and a project to tackle antimicrobial resistance.

Read more about the winning 2015 projects

The 2014 Alumni Impact Fund campaign exceeded its goal to raise more than $111,000. Donors to the 2014 campaign voted to support two projects: one, on the effects of potential changes to the Affordable Care Act; the other, on the use of long-range armed drones. With this support, the researchers were able to develop outreach strategies that engaged the media, Congress, and policymakers. This outreach translated into impact at the policy level.

Read more about the winning 2014 projects