Donors Forum wants to help grantmakers better understand program-related investments and regard them as an accessible tool to further their social impact.  We will be convening a program on November 27th, which will be hosted by the MacArthur Foundation.  Noted speakers include Debra Schwartz, Director, Program Related Investments, John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation; Tom Trinley, Director, Finance and Administration, Gaylord and Dorothy Donnelley Foundation; and Christa Velasquez, Senior Associate, Impact Investing, Arabella Advisors.

If you are a funder considering coming to the program (and we hope you will), or if you’d simply like to learn more about PRIs, here are some top facts to consider. 

1. PRIs have been around for over 40 years.  In 1968, the Ford Foundation first coined this term to refer to “program[s] in which capital funds … [are] invested directly for social purposes,” and put forth $38 million into forty-eight investments, which led to the creation of nineteen nonprofits and nineteen co-ops and/or businesses.  Additionally, PRIs are deeply rooted in American philanthropic culture, and the general practice can be traced back to the early American republic.  Benjamin Franklin utilized two of his funds in Boston and Philadelphia to provide capital with low interest rates to “young married artificers” for them to start businesses and provide for their families.  Perhaps Franklin would put it this way: “a penny invested in a PRI is a penny earned for you and for your community.”
2. Seven percent of foundations are already engaging in PRIs, according to the Foundation Center.
3. Initiating PRIs encourages staff collaboration that can make your organization more effective and inspire innovation.  According to GrantCraft, building the in-house capacity to engage in these investments necessitates that program and finance staff work together, and this process can potentially “break down silos of staff talent and lead to greater innovation.”
4. Small foundations may be in the best position to implement PRIs; also according to GrantCraft, they “have less bureaucracy, more ownership, and a lower tolerance for process.  In many cases they’re more willing to take risks.” 
5. Rockefeller Philanthropy Advisors makes the case that with philanthropic resources becoming increasingly stretched, there has never been a time of greater opportunity for starting to utilize PRIs.     

Want to learn how to start investing?  All grantmaking Members and Associate Members are invited to attend our program and hear examples of strategies to implement PRIs and case studies from experienced practitioners and experts in the field.  Click here to register. 
 

~Allison Rosenthal, Member Services Coordinator