Helping a group of CDFIs reach new investors
Twelve Community Development Financial Institutions* (CDFIs) from throughout the United States wanted to raise more loan capital from socially responsible investors. Each organization was raising some capital from individual investors, but the group felt that much more was possible if CDFIs worked together. We formed the CDFI Community Investment Initiative (CCII) to share and improve practices at the individual CDFI level; to increase our understanding of impact investors; and to explore development of a national CDFI investment product.
I reached out nationally to research the impact investor market and to make connections with leading advisors and money managers. At the same time I mapped the process of structuring a security that would be offered nationally and handled electronically.
Over 24 months the CDFIs in this collaborative built a shared understanding of the impact investor market. Combining my research with their insights and conversation, we mapped the investment ecosystem and segmented investor groups for marketing purposes. This helped the CDFIs differentiate and appropriately work with advisors, platform managers, thought leaders and various investor segments.
We also considered the (and rejected) the feasibility of a national, electronically-handled CDFI security.
This work took place from 2010-2012. Download a short description of CCII and its members here.