RSF Social Finance Support of Regional Food Systems Bolstered by $750,000 Investment
SAN FRANCISCO, April 11, 2014 /3BL Media/ - RSF Social Finance (RSF) is pleased to announce a new $750,000 investment in its Program Related Investing Fund (PRI) from the Surdna Foundation. With these funds, RSF will continue to expand its pioneering financing program for sustainable food businesses.
“We have seen a huge need for debt financing for social enterprises working to connect farmers to institutional buyers and Surdna’s investment enables us to increase our funding to organizations that would otherwise have trouble finding financing,” says Taryn Goodman, Director of Impact Investing at RSF. “RSF is often the first organization willing to provide debt to these organizations due to our ability to understand their unique financing needs.”
Designed for foundations eager to participate in program related investing but without in-house capacity to do so, the RSF PRI Fund offers a streamlined means of recycling program payouts through low-interest loans to fully charitable projects. This Fund enables RSF to provide equipment financing and lines of credit to organizations that don’t fully meet their traditional lending criteria. The Fund has a minimum $100,000 investment, a five year term, and returns 1%. The Fund lends out $50,000 to up to 10% of the total fund to any one borrower.
Launched in 2010, the PRI Fund has been a crucial vehicle in RSF’s ability to support the growth of regional, sustainable, and just food systems. The Fund focuses on building infrastructure to support food businesses with the majority of loans going to organizations working on aggregation, distribution, and processing. Without this more flexible vehicle, RSF would not be able to support the smaller organizations that have less of a track record, yet play a major role in this space. Another benefit, RSF is also able to grow with the organization, with the hopes of eventually graduating these loans to their Social Enterprise Lending Program, as was the case with innovative food hub, Common Market Philadelphia.
“Surdna’s mission is to foster sustainable communities,” said Michelle Knapik, director of Surdna’s Sustainable Environments program. “To achieve this, we are supporting efforts to move toward ‘next generation infrastructure’ by improving transit systems, making buildings more energy efficient, better managing our water systems, and building and rebuilding regional food infrastructure - the last of which aligns with RSF's PRI Fund. We know that RSF is not just a financial partner in this work, but a deeply dedicated intellectual partner as well.”
In 2013 alone, RSF made PRI loans to four social enterprises and already has inquiries above and beyond that for 2014. In order to support this growing demand, RSF hopes to raise another $2-5 million in the next year.
About RSF Social Finance
Located in San Francisco, CA, RSF Social Finance (RSF) is a non-profit financial services organization dedicated to transforming the way the world works with money. Since 1984, the organization has made over $275 million in loans and $100 million in grants to non-profit and for-profit social enterprises working in the areas of Food & Agriculture, Education & the Arts, and Ecological Stewardship.
To learn more, visit www.rsfsocialfinance.org.
Contact
Taryn Goodman, Director of Impact Investing
taryn.goodman@rsfsocialfinance.org
415.561.6195
Jillian McCoy, Communications Manager
jillian.mccoy@rsfsocialfinance.org
415.561.6156
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