Program Related Investments

Opportunity Fund

http://www.opportunityfund.org

Founded in 1993, Opportunity Fund (formerly Lenders for Community Development) has disbursed over $10 million to more than 3,800 savers through its Individual Development Account (IDA) program, the nation's largest. The group has also made over 600 loans worth over $8 million to support local microenterprise and has directed over $115 million in community investment into affordable housing and community facilities. Read more about Opportunity Fund...

Low Income Investment Fund

http://www.liifund.org

Since the group's founding in the mid-1980s, LIIF has provided capital and technical assistance totaling $1.5 billion, which in turn leveraged an additional $6 billion, broadening economic opportunity for 1.7 million people. LIIF's investments helped to create 174,000 units of low income and special needs housing, 243,000 childcare spaces, and 72,000 educational facilities. Read more about Low Income Investment Fund...

George Gund Foundation, Program Related Investments

http://www.gundfoundation.org/what-we-fund/program-related-investments

The George Gund Foundation, a private foundation dedicated to investment in Cleveland, is a leader among regional foundations in using program-related investments to leverage foundation assets in support of community wealth-building projects. The Foundation's first PRI was made in 1984 when $333,000 was loaned to the Famicos Foundation for construction of the Lexington Village Project, a 183 unit housing development in the Hough neighborhood of Cleveland. Since then, nearly 26 separate PRI transactions have been completed. Read more about George Gund Foundation, Program Related Investments...

ImpactAssets

http://www.impactassets.org

Incubated by the Calvert Foundation and launched independently in 2009, ImpactAssets is a nonprofit financial services company striving to tackle global issues with equal regard for problem solving and profit. With the goal of achieving maximum environmental, social and financial impact, ImpactAssets also works to speed the adoption of impact investing by investors and philanthropists. To date, the nonprofit administers $60 million in assets, with a long-term goal of $1 billion in assets. Read more about ImpactAssets...

Hope-Enterprise Corporation

http://www.hope-ec.org

Enterprise Corporation of the Delta provides financial services in Arkansas, Louisiana, Mississippi and the Greater Memphis area of Tennessee. Since 1994, ECD and its affiliate, Hope Community Credit Union, have generated over $1 billion in financing for small business, homebuyer and community development, and assisted more than 40,000 individuals in low-income communities throughout the Mid South. Read more about Hope-Enterprise Corporation...

Community Economic Development Assistance Corp.

http://www.cedac.org

The Community Economic Development Assistance Corporation (CEDAC) is a quasi-public intermediary that finances community development projects in low-income areas of metropolitan Boston. A 10-year, $1.5 million program-related investment from the Boston Foundation made in 2004 is expected to result in an additional 1125 units of housing for Greater Boston low-income individuals. Read more about Community Economic Development Assistance Corp....

Common Ground Community

http://www.commonground.org

Working to develop supportive housing and implement other research-based practices that end homelessness, Common Ground has developed more than 3,200 units of permanent and transitional housing in New York City, upstate New York, and Connecticut. A recipient of a $2,000,000 PRI to support preservation of affordable rental housing in 2007 from The John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation, Common Ground is working to create an additional 4,000 units of housing for the homeless by 2015. Read more about Common Ground Community...

Ohio Capital Finance Corporation

http://www.occh.org

The Ohio Capital Finance Corporation (OCFC), created in 2002, is a lending arm of Capital Corporation for Housing (OCCH) based in Columbus. OCCH is a non-profit corporation that creates affordable housing opportunities raising $2 billion and creating more than 25,000 housing units since its inception in 1989. OCFC has received a $4 million program-related Investment from the MacArthur Foundation in 2008 for acquisition and bridge financing to preserve affordable rental housing in Ohio. Read more about Ohio Capital Finance Corporation...

National Affordable Housing Trust

http://www.naht.org

The National Affordable Housing Trust (NAHT) is a Columbus-based non-profit organization that creates and preserves affordable housing nationally. NAHT was founded in 1986, and is a financial intermediary and consulting firm. NAHT has assisted in the development of over 14,947 housing units in 32 states with a total cost of $1.5 billion financed. NAHT was financially supported in its founding by the Ford Foundation and received a program-related investment of $2 million from the MacArthur Foundation in 2009. Read more about National Affordable Housing Trust...

Social Funds.com

SocialFunds.com features over 10,000 pages of information on SRI mutual funds, community investments, corporate research, shareowner actions, and daily social investment news.

Read more about Social Funds.com...

Robert Wood Johnson Foundation

This chapter on program-related investments, from a much longer anthology, provides a thoughtful overview of the nature of PRIs and how the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation in particular has used them to finance the construction of community health facilities.

Read more about Robert Wood Johnson Foundation...

Neighborhood Funders Group

The Neighborhood Funders Group is a national network of foundations and philanthropic groups that support community-based efforts that improve economic and social conditions in low-income communities. NFG maintains a number of working groups, including the PRI Makers Network.

Read more about Neighborhood Funders Group...

National Committee for Responsive Philanthropy

Since 1976, NCRP has advocated for the philanthropic community to work toward social and economic justice for disadvantaged and disenfranchised populations and communities. The website contains a number of publications on these issues.

Read more about National Committee for Responsive Philanthropy...

Future of Philanthropy

This website contains a number of reports on trends in the field, including different means of leveraging more effectively, such as through the use of social investment tools like PRIs.

Read more about Future of Philanthropy...

BWB Solutions

BWB Solutions is a consulting firm that helps foundations and corporations make social investments and program-related investments in the form of loans, equity investments and recoverable grants to nonprofits or businesses committed to social change. The website contains a number of publications on these themes.

Read more about BWB Solutions...

Program Related Investments

Foundations use many tools to spur community wealth building. Grant-based initiatives are one prominent strategy. Here, however, we focus on program-related investments. Program-related investments, also known as PRIs, leverage limited foundation dollars—most often by providing long-term, low-interest loans—to promote community wealth building and other mission-related foundation goals. Read more about Program Related Investments...