By John Bloom Can you imagine your bank inviting you to come and talk about your interest rate? I usually open RSF Social Finance’s quarterly pricing meetings with this question. So far, no one has said yes. That’s understandable. When we decided in late 2009 to abandon LIBOR (a move that turned out to be […]
The Currency of Self
by John Bloom Technically, money is meant to be nothing more than a holder of assigned value and to serve as a means for facilitating the exchange of goods and services. However, money is also a complicated social reality, and it is encrusted with layers of perception, values, assumptions, and behaviors. For example, we say […]
If Not Wall Street, Then Where?
Following the conversation Don Shaffer started in 2015 about RSF’s decision to seek alternatives to Wall Street, this webinar focuses on different approaches to aligning money with mission and values. Funds, firms, and advisors are now using the term impact investing but definitions and intentions are inconsistent. It can be overwhelming, even for financial professionals. […]
Democratic Finance for Affordable Space in NYC
New York City is the quintessential melting pot. People from all over the world come to the city in search of culture, cuisine, art and opportunity. Yet for many New Yorkers, their ability to stay in the city they’ve helped create has been compromised in recent years by soaring real estate prices. Between 2000 and […]
RSF Spring Quarterly: Is Digital Money Transparent?
In the latest RSF Quarterly, we do a deep dive into digital money and the fast-growing fintech (short for financial technology) sector. Uphold’s Tim Parsa lays out a case for why blockchain technology may mean an end to banks. Jonny Price, senior director for Kiva Zip, critiques mainstream peer-to-peer lending for its lack of investor […]
Inside RSF Social Finance
The purpose of this webinar is to provide an orientation to RSF and all that we offer. Topics include the Social Investment Fund, Social Enterprise Lending, philanthropic activities, and how RSF measures impact. The post Inside RSF Social Finance appeared first on RSF Social Finance.
National Partnership Takes Aim at Strengthening Local Food Connections
Last week, the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA), in conjunction with 15 philanthropic partners that include RSF Social Finance, announced a new initiative aimed at bolstering local food supply chains in ten urban areas. Named Food LINC, the project will focus on increasing customer access to goods produced by farmers and ranchers in their […]
Closing the Financing Gap For Mission-Driven Businesses
RSF Social Finance was recently featured in the January/February issue of Conscious Company Magazine. They sat down RSF President & CEO Don Shaffer to discuss shifting the paradigm of the financial industry and what companies typically need to scale successfully. Here is an excerpt from the conversation. Conscious Company Magazine: How did you develop the […]
Finance Innovation: The Next Frontier in Fair-Trade Supply Chains
Originally published on TriplePundit By Kate Danaher Rising demand for fair-trade products is creating an emerging need for growth in fair-trade supply chains. This is a fantastic opportunity to put more people to work under fair pay and labor standards — but the time and cost involved in scaling these supply chains while maintaining fair-trade […]
The Third Immersion: BALLE-RSF Community Foundation Circle
By Catherine Covington Surrounded by the beautiful rolling hills of Napa County, California, the BALLE-RSF Community Foundation Circle (CFC) gathered at Mayacamas Ranch last November for the third of four gatherings. It has been a year since the initial gathering of the CFC, and so much has happened within the group both personally and professionally. […]
Beyond Wall Street: Transforming the Way We Use Capital
This article originally appeared in The Huffington Post. By Don Shaffer I’ve been talking to a lot of people lately about RSF Social Finance’s decision to walk off Wall Street, and urging others to consider doing the same. The obvious question that comes up is, OK, but where do you go? What are the investment and […]
2016 RSF Prime Rate Change
On January 1, 2016, RSF Social Finance increased its base interest rate for borrowers to 4.75 percent. Other participants in the Social Investment Fund (SIF) are affected as follows: the investor rate is now 0.50 percent, up from 0.25 percent, and the RSF revenue share will remain at 4.25 percent. The decision to raise investor […]
RSF Winter Quarterly: What is the Nature in Art?
In the latest RSF Quarterly, we explore the role of nature in education and the arts. Brad Miller, a teacher at High Mowing School, shares with us the life lessons his students gain through their study of biodynamic horticulture. RSF’s John Bloom and Enrique Perez reflect on a sculpture recently gifted to RSF, and contemplate […]
Reflections from NC’s Shared Gifting
What is the best way to distribute money amongst a group a non-profits? This is a question that foundations and donors struggle with on a regular basis. Non-profits, the ones on the receiving end of these decisions, don’t often get to take up this question. In an effort to change this common dynamic in philanthropy, […]
The Day of Giving and the Commonwealth
One year ago John Bloom published this blog piece on Giving Tuesday and the nature of gift. We think his words are as relevant as ever today. By John Bloom December 2, 2014—a Day of Giving. I cannot tell you how many e-mail requests I received yesterday. Each made the case for why I should […]
Money and Spirit: An Argument for Rediscovery
SOURCE: RSF Social Finance DESCRIPTION: by John Bloom Money would not exist without spirit. That is, money first occurred as a concept, which is itself a manifestation of human spiritual capacity. Money was generated out of a perceived need to materialize value through physical things, large and small, and as an evolutionary step to replace […]
A Social Lender Pursues a Radical Experiment in Financial Transparency and Participation
On a rainy evening in March, sixteen people gathered in a tucked away conference room in Brooklyn. Before the evening was through, they would decide among themselves a key rate of interest that would affect borrowers and investors across the country. But this was no illicit cartel. There wasn’t a cigar-chomping banker in sight. The […]
Exploring the Purpose of Gift
SOURCE: RSF Social Finance DESCRIPTION: This article was originally published in the Spring 2015 RSF Quarterly. by Kelley Buhles In 2013, a critical op-ed by Peter Buffett was published in the New York Times titled, “The Charitable Industrial Complex”, his term for the growing industry of philanthropy. Buffet explains, “Inside any important philanthropy meeting you […]
Save Organic Citrus!
We are in the peak of citrus season here in California and while we’re all blissfully enjoying juicy doses of Vitamin C, you may not realize that the organic orange you’re biting into is on the verge of dying off from a disease called Citrus Greening. Jessica Shade, the Director of Science Programs at The […]
RSF Social Finance Extends Additional Financing to GREEN CREATIVE
SAN FRANCISCO, April 24, 2015 /3BL Media/ – RSF Social Finance (RSF) is pleased to announce a new loan to GREEN CREATIVE, a San Francisco Bay Area-based developer and manufacturer of commercial and specification grade LED lighting solutions. RSF financing, in participation with New Resource Bank, will be used to fund working capital needs and build inventory […]
Here’s How to Take the First Steps Toward Impact Investing
Written by Don Shaffer of RSF Social Finance for ImpactAlpha. The movement toward investing in what’s good instead of just screening out what’s bad is growing, spurred by a new generation of investors. Millennials are questioning conventional systems and approaches across the board, from food to education to finance. That’s leading many to start aligning […]
The A-List of B Corps
Posted April 16, 2015 B Lab highlights the companies that score in the top 10 per cent of all Certified B Corps. Capitalism can do better. Business can be more responsible. Short-term profit doesn’t have to be the singular focus of private enterprise. This is what Corporate Knights believes. The long term matters, in our […]
Don Shaffer: Momentum Builds for 100 Percent Impact Investment Movement
When I first started working in impact investing, the field’s challenges were foundational: refining the concept, finding suitable investments, figuring out how to measure impact, even determining what to call the concept. Work in all those areas continues, but the field has matured to the point where it’s on the agenda of the G8, finance […]
Don Shaffer: Community Foundations: What It Takes to Become Dynamic Hubs of Local Capital
Community foundations — with their deep local ties, significant unrestricted assets, and community benefit missions — are ideally positioned to play a leading role in solving our communities’ most profound and difficult challenges. Yet many are stuck in a pattern of disbursing only a small percentage of their assets in grants and investing the rest […]