Ten of Illinois’ leading foundations invested $1 million to improve participation in the 2010 Census among hard-to-count, poor, minority, rural and high-rise communities. The Count Me In campaign marks the largest investment to date in 2010 Census efforts in any one state by a group of philanthropic funders.

The 2010 Census will help determine the distribution of roughly $400 billion a year in federal funds to state and local governments. For every person not counted, Illinois will lose $12,000 over the next 10 years. Low-income, immigrant and minority communities, who have historically been undercounted in the survey, will be disproportionately affected by these cuts.