A new episode of SOCAP’s podcast, Money + Meaning, is now available!
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Rebecca Masisak and Ken Tsunoda on TechSoup’s DPO
“By asking members of our community to co-invest alongside TechSoup in our future, (we) communicate and strengthen relationships with members of our community and really help the nonprofits in our sector see what our long term vision is.”
–Ken Tsunoda
A global nonprofit network with a mission to create a more equitable planet, TechSoup leverages technology to build a “dynamic bridge” connecting social change agents to the resources and connections they need to innovate and scale new solutions. The organization is currently taking a remarkably inclusive approach to fundraising that aligns with their mission, launching the first SEC-qualified Reg A+ Tier 2 offering. This national direct public offering (DPO) allows them to engage stakeholders across all 50 states as impact investors in their organization.
The idea for this historic DPO began after TechSoup identified their need for $11.5 million in growth capital to build sufficient capacity to expand their offerings and achieve TechSoup’s goals for sustainability and impact. The nonprofit knew that it would be challenging to raise the full amount necessary for their strategic plan through grant dollars alone. As they began planning a growth capital fundraising campaign, TechSoup CEO Rebecca Masisak challenged her organization’s development team to design an offering that would be open to everyone in TechSoup’s community. She wanted to ensure that TechSoup’s fundraising efforts would engage their stakeholders in a way that would build community.
The result was that TechSoup’s historic DPO was structured so that both accredited and non-accredited U.S. investors are able to invest in TechSoup with amounts as low as $50. By offering their entire community of stakeholders the opportunity to make investments in TechSoup, everyone is able to help TechSoup achieve bigger social impact. In the year since they launched they have already raised about $8 million of the $11.5 million that they need. Investments in their offering have ranged from $50 to $1 million.
In this episode of Money + Meaning, Alex Kravitz leads a conversation with Masisak and TechSoup’s Vice President of Development, Ken Tsunoda, about their unique approach to fundraising. Masisak and Tsunoda explain how this historic DPO came together, the challenges and opportunities of democratizing impact investing, the impact reporting expectations of their investors, how they plan to use these funds to expand their outreach to 1.7 million nonprofit organizations globally and more.
Featured Voices
Rebecca Masisak
CEO, TechSoup
Ken Tsunoda
VP of Development, TechSoup
Alex Kravitz
Host
About Money + Meaning
Money + Meaning is the official podcast of SOCAP. This series aims to expand the conversation around impact investing and strategies to finance and support social change while stimulating innovative and valuable new partnerships across sectors.
Additional Resources
- Learn more about SVX
- Learn more about TechSoup’s Growth Capital Campaign
- Ken Tsunoda will participate in Impact Finance Center’s launch of its inaugural Executive Education course: Corporate Financial Innovation and Impact Investing, January 29th-30th at TechSoup in San Francisco. Learn more here.
