{"id":15831,"date":"2017-09-01T19:58:51","date_gmt":"2017-09-01T23:58:51","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/test.greenmoney.com\/2025\/?p=15831"},"modified":"2018-03-07T22:49:29","modified_gmt":"2018-03-08T03:49:29","slug":"locus-impact-investing-is-empowering-foundations-to-build-prosperous-vibrant-communities","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/test.greenmoney.com\/2025\/locus-impact-investing-is-empowering-foundations-to-build-prosperous-vibrant-communities\/","title":{"rendered":"LOCUS Impact Investing is Empowering Foundations To Build Prosperous, Vibrant Communities"},"content":{"rendered":"
>> Back to September\/October 2017<\/a><\/div>\n

New consulting, financial advisory and services organization offers comprehensive solutions to help foundations unlock new sources of capital, generating more impact in local economies.<\/em><\/h3>\n

\"\"New consulting, financial advisory and services organization offers comprehensive solutions to help foundations unlock new sources of capital, generating more impact in local economies<\/p>\n

Leading community development financial institution (CDFI) Virginia Community Capital (VCC) and the nationally recognized Center for Rural Entrepreneurship (CRE) announced in June the launch of LOCUS Impact Investing (LOCUS), a new social enterprise to empower place-focused foundations to invest their capital locally to build prosperous, vibrant communities.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe are entering a new era in philanthropy and community investing that requires different, more comprehensive solutions<\/em>,\u201d said Teri Lovelace, LOCUS President. \u201cLOCUS Impact Investing provides an on-ramp for foundations around the country that want to engage in local investing for impact, but who currently lack the financial expertise or resources to do so.<\/em>\u201d Increasingly, place-focused foundations\u2014or philanthropies whose efforts are concentrated in a geographic location\u2014are looking to complement traditional grantmaking with direct community investments, and they seek to do so in a way that manages risk and aligns with their charitable purposes. To unlock this new source of capital effectively for the benefit of communities, foundations need access to a different set of capacities.<\/p>\n

LOCUS can help these foundations by assessing the landscape for deals, conducting financial due diligence on specific deals and partners, providing investment services (sourcing, servicing, monitoring and impact tracking) and building internal foundation capacity for continued impact investing. \u201cWe are pleased to see LOCUS, led by a longtime member of Mission Investors Exchange, bringing its resources to help meet the needs of foundations in this sector<\/em>,\u201d said Melanie Audette, Senior Vice President for Mission Investors Exchange.<\/p>\n

Mission-Aligned Investing Expertise<\/h2>\n

LOCUS pairs VCC\u2019s mission-aligned investing expertise in Virginia with CRE\u2019s national community economic development expertise. CRE brings field-tested expertise and resources in entrepreneurial development and community development philanthropy. VCC, as a regulated financial institution and a certified CDFI, created over $915 million of project impact in underserved communities and grew $15 million to over $218 million in assets dedicated to building prosperous, vibrant communities.<\/p>\n

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