Foundation Grants
Community Vital Signs
About Us
Two Years On, Foundations Stand By Issuing Bonds In Pandemic
Foundation: Doris Duke Charitable Foundation, MacArthur Foundation, Rockefeller Philanthropy Advisors, Bush Foundation, California Endowment, Ford Foundation, Rockefeller Foundation, Kellogg Foundation, Lilly Endowment
When the Ford Foundation took the unprecedented step in June 2020 of issuing $1 billion in debt to help stabilize other nonprofits, it delighted investors and inspired several other large foundations to follow suit.
Two years later, the foundations all stand by their decisions to take on long term debt, allowing several to essentially double the amount of their grantmaking, the AP reports.
But they also caution they are unlikely to repeat the move any time soon.
The foundations mostly issued social bonds ranging from $100 million to Ford's $1 billion.
The unusual move allowed them to increase their donations and take advantage of favorable market conditions, instead of dipping into their endowments.
As of June this year, the Ford Foundation has spent more than 90% of the funds it raised in its only bond offering, with 70% of the grants so far going to organizations led by people of color and 87% going to general support, meaning the funds could be spent any way the organizations wanted.
"It just let us put on steroids something that we wanted to do anyway," says Hilary Pennington, an executive vice president of the Ford Foundation.
Greg Ratliff, senior vice president at Rockefeller Philanthropy Advisors, says issuing bonds was an innovative use of the foundation's assets.
Read the Entire Article
Selected Foundation News
A customized collection of news from foundations from around the Web.
The Tampa Bay Innovation Center is kicking off its spring accelerator program, and it's got eight startups on its list. Among them: AgWise, which focuses on the climate impact of agriculture's...more
A "first-of-its-kind impact investing network" in the Philippines is putting its money where its mouth is, in the form of collateral-free loans to women-led social and environmental...more
"It is simply not good enough that, for many advisers, their understanding of AI is that information goes into a black box,'magic happens' and something comes out." So said the outgoing director...more
"The future is green, and it's ours to invest in." That's the takeaway from Elysabeth Alfano, CEO of VegTech Invest, who is offering an online course on "Impact Investing with Plant-based...more
"Without actively looking for it, I came across a problem to solve, a powerhouse co-founder and an idea worth pursuing, so I decided to go for it," Alba Forns tellsEquities News. Forns is the...more
It's no secret that Africa's livestock industry plays a big role in the region's economy. In fact, the demand for livestock products is expected to grow by 50% by 2030, notes Business...more
The New Mexico town of El Rito has been named one of America's 10 most livable cities by Time. The honor goes to El Rito for the third year in a row, thanks in large part to the work of its...more
"This research pushed me outside my comfort zone and forced me to interact first-hand with hard truths about what social media is being used for in the modern day," Daisy Rehbock writes in her...more
The CEO of the nation's second-oldest civic monument has been ousted over allegations of financial impropriety at Dallas' Fair Park, the Dallas Morning News reports. On May 1, Brian Luallen...more
Quebec City's Mus ? 'e des beaux-arts du Qu'bec museum is getting a major boost from a single man. Michael Audain, chairman of the Jean Paul Riopelle Foundation, has pledged $10 million toward...more
Social Entrepreneurship
Spotlight
Social Enterprise: Reaching Out to the Private Sector for Help
John Converse Townsend, a Forbes contributor, shares what can the private sector do for a social enterprise. He encourages social enterprises to reach out to corporations for help to scale up their businesses.