Thursday morning’s panel with Jeanne Bell, CompassPoint Nonoprofit Services; Pamela Davis, Nonprofits Insurance Alliance Group; and Charlie Wilcox, Consultant explored the problem of access to credit for non-profits.
The non-profit sector has long been plagued with problems of undercapitalization and access to finance. Yet at the same time, there is so much potential within the sector to unite and fix problems of financial market failures together. This forward-thinking panel shared their thoughts on how innovative institutions such as the American Nonprofits Federal Credit Union and other cooperative models can fix problems of credit.
Food for thought from this session:
- The plaguing problem of undercapitalization in the non-profit sector severely hinders the good work that non-profits are doing. Problems such as donor imposed restrictions, and inability to access capital to scale impact are some examples that prevent non-profits from doing more good.
- There is a need for non-profit focused organizations that are sensitive to the business reality of non-profits, and offer sustainable self-replenishing means of attaining credit.
- By pooling shared resources and capital together, non-profits can harness the collective strength of the sector to repurpose money already in the banking system to work for good.
Anyone interested in revolutionizing the capital markets for non-profits should definitely get in touch with the amazing work the panelists are involved in.
By SOCAP13 Volunteer Dora Heng
