Public Policy

Why We Fund Policy Work

Good policy starts with good evidence, and a surprising number of public decisions get made without it.

That gap is fixable. The Gilfoyle Foundation funds careful, nonpartisan research that people on either side of a debate can trust, and the evaluation that shows what actually happened after a policy took effect.

Support Bipartisan Research

Policy fights stall when each side shows up with its own facts. We fund research built to hold up across party lines: open methods, published data, and findings released whether or not they flatter anyone.

Grantees reach their own conclusions. Our part is paying for the work and making sure it stays public.

Support Impact-Driven Policy

A new law usually gets judged by whether it passed. We’d rather judge it by what changed afterward.

We fund independent evaluation of programs already on the books, so officials can see which efforts deliver and which need rework. We don’t take positions on bills; the findings stand on their own.

Make Public Data Usable

Governments sit on mountains of data the public already paid for, much of it in formats nobody outside the agency can open.

We fund projects that clean up and publish that data in plain language, so a graduate student or a local reporter can check the numbers without filing a records request.

Bring People to the Same Table

The most useful policy conversations happen before anyone has picked a side. We bring researchers and officials of different political views into one room, looking at the same evidence.

Nobody signs a pledge. People leave knowing more than when they arrived.