PIP: The Alan Guttmacher Institute emerged from the Planned Parenthood of America's Center for Family Planning Program Development in 1968. It split from Planned Parenthood in 1977 because some foundations would not fund an entity linked to Planned Parenthood. The Institute originally focused on women and contraception but has expanded to include abortion, sexually transmitted diseases, and the changing family. Its mission is to influence public policy to work towards reproductive freedom and to be an unimpeachable source of accurate data on reproductive and sexual health. Its 55-member staff works out of New York City and Washington D.C. Its 1993 budget was only $4.7 million. Its 3 divisions cover public policy, research, and publishing. The Institute determines what research projects to undertake based on what question it wants to answer. The goal of research revolves around changing public policy or public opinion. It obtains funding from a foundation or the government for each research project. Possible donors are not always willing to fund projects, however. For example, the Institute wanted to examine funding of reproductive health care by private medical insurance and first went to possible donors 5 years ago. It was finally funded in 1994 because of the interest in health care reform. Much of staff time is spent writing proposals rather than on research. The Institute does not accept money from any organization that may gain financially from the outcome of the research. Its research activities allow the Institute to achieve its goal of providing thorough information on reproductive health. The Institute has 2 staff members who deal only with requests for information, which they can usually provide or help to provide. The Institute is becoming more international. The staff is rather young and has high morale and a high energy level.