PhilaImpactFund

Posted by Philadelphia Foundation on May 7, 2018

PhilaImpactFund partnership seeks to revitalize communities

The Philadelphia Foundation and Reinvestment Fund have announced the launch of PhilaImpactFund, a new place-based impact investment opportunity targeted to the Greater Philadelphia region. The Fund is believed to be a first-of-its-kind collaboration between a community foundation, The Philadelphia Foundation, and an asset manager that also originates community development loans, Reinvestment Fund. Each organization has committed $5 million toward PhilaImpact Fund’s $30 million goal.

https://www.philafound.org/Portals/0/About%20The%20PhilaImpact%20Fund_1.pdf

PhilaImpact Fund offers an opportunity for investors to channel their capital into neighborhood development projects that support regional growth and local initiatives in the communities that need them the most. The Fund will support projects serving critical needs for people across the region — promoting housing stability for low-income families, better health outcomes, higher educational attainment, greater access to fresh, healthy food, and more.

The PhilaImpact Fund is a fixed income product that will put 100 percent of investments toward enhancing the growth of Philadelphia and the surrounding counties—Chester, Montgomery, Bucks, Delaware, Camden and Burlington.

“The PhilaImpact Fund offers donors and investors a way to make their investments tangible,” said Pedro A. Ramos, President and CEO of The Philadelphia Foundation. “Participants can see positive results in the communities they call home. Reinvestment Fund’s well-established approach to social impact investing makes it the right partner for us as we enter the impact investing space.”

“We are honored to partner with The Philadelphia Foundation, a renowned Philadelphia institution, to create this pioneering model that will efficiently connect local impact investors to neighborhood development projects that deliver tangible results and positive social impact,” said Don Hinkle-Brown, President and CEO of Reinvestment Fund.

For example, Reinvestment Fund financed the construction of the Grays Ferry Education and Wellness Center in South Philadelphia. This transformed a vacant school building into a community health and education center that includes a Family School run by Family Support Services, early childhood education for over 100 children, and complementary parenting education services for families. It also houses Spectrum Health Services, a community health clinic that provides medical and dental care to more than 6,000 patients each year. This is the kind of concrete, local impact that PhilaImpact Fund investors will be able to support.

Investments may be made through The Philadelphia Foundation’s tax-deductible Donor Advised Fund (DAF) or a promissory note offering through Reinvestment Fund. This offers options for investors to optimize portfolio, tax management, and ongoing community support strategies. The DAF offers a tax advantage for those seeking to make impact investments with their principal, while retaining the earnings to support grant making. When the investment matures, the principal is repaid to the DAF and will be available for reinvestment or community grants. The promissory note option is taxable but offers the opportunity to earn annual interest and the full return of principal to the investor at the end of the investment term.

To learn more about the promissory note offering, contact Reinvestment Fund at [email protected] or at 215-574-5819. To participate in its Donor Advised Funds, contact The Philadelphia Foundation at [email protected] or at 215-563-6417.