Enterprise Capital: A Trust-based Approach to Building Financially Sustainable Organizations

Nonprofit organizations are the “essential businesses” of our communities with the capacity to have profound impact on the lives of people throughout the nation. To achieve this, they deserve the same type of long-term, flexible capital that for-profit businesses attract to achieve their missions. Current philanthropic practices too often deliver short-term funding restricted by program, location or other factors that compromise the ability of organizations to maximize their impact. In contrast, Enterprise Capital—unrestricted, multi-year funding invested in the organization as whole– frees organizations to devote more resources to mission, while building their financial strength and resilience. Lillian Singh will describe how enterprise capital addresses decades of inequitable funding for organizations led by and serving people of color through direct investments into their organizations. Lori Cox will outline how the California Wellness Foundation is integrating enterprise capital into their grantmaking as a strategy to both increase the Foundation’s return and that of their grantees. Andrea Levere will describe national efforts to advance enterprise capital as a philanthropic asset class and its relationship to both trust-based and participatory grantmaking.