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The RSF PRI Funds give family foundations a streamlined way to make loans from program payouts. Because these funds offer a modest return, your foundation’s contributions can ultimately be “recycled” toward additional program related investing (PRI) or grants. Participation in these funds allows RSF to provide low-interest capital to projects that are 100% charitable, regardless of whether the organization receiving the loan is for-profit or nonprofit.
Rather than go through the trouble, expense, and steep learning curve of setting up an in-house PRI program at your foundation, you can take advantage of RSF’s twenty-five years of experience as a social enterprise lender. Since the RSF PRI Funds pool investments from multiple foundations, they allow each foundation to participate in more diverse portfolios than would be possible otherwise; this model both mitigates risk and maximizes social impact.
PRI is a tool that foundations can use to leverage their philanthropic dollars. PRI is made out of the 5% minimum payout required by foundation law. Unlike grants, however, PRIs provide a return on foundations’ investments, either through repayment or return on equity. Some foundations choose to do PRI without going through an intermediary, a process which requires finding and evaluating eligible projects, drafting investment terms, monitoring, and administration to make sure the loan or investment is paid back.
The RSF PRI Funds are designed for family foundations who can invest at least $250,000 in the program, and whose missions include any of the following:
RSF PRI Fund borrowers must meet additional social impact hurdles above and beyond the RSF Social Investment Fund criteria.
For more information about investing in the RSF PRI Funds, please call Elizabeth Ü at 415.561.6181.
February 25, 2010
In the Pacific Northwest, refugees and immigrants are getting help starting organic market gardens and small farming enterprises that will improve self-sufficiency, as well as provide their communities with nutritious ... More >March 30, 2009
Foundation staff visit a cherry-processing facility in Hood River, Oregon during the Sustainable Agriculture & Food Systems Funders Annual Forum last June. By Elizabeth Ü In June of 2008, the Sustainable Agriculture ... More >
© 2010 RSF Social Finance
