One of the fundamental contradictions, if not flaws, of the nonprofit world is how the vast majority of us are funded. People and businesses generate massive profits, often at the expense of people and the planet–underpaying workers, skirting regulations, lobbying […]
When I started Capital Good Fund, in February of 2009, together with Mollie West and with the guidance of Alan Harlam, I was woefully unprepared for running a nonprofit financial institution. At the time, I was 24 and had precisely […]
Capital Good Fund’s role is not to prove that one can do well and do good. No, we are here to prove that one can do good, provided what many called an “integrated capital” approach: a mix of grants, low-interest debt, loan guarantees, and good public policy.
One might reasonably ask why any nonprofit, let alone a nonprofit lender, should dare to comment on politics. Isn’t that best left to pundits and politicians? In ordinary circumstances, I might agree—to a point. But these are not ordinary circumstances.
Celebrating the birthday of a nonprofit you founded doesn’t have the same nostalgia-soaked feeling as your own birthday: rather than the bittersweet recollections of childhood, this celebration has the bracing feel of adulthood.
Thanks to my good friend Dima Trakovsky, who is an amazing filmmaker and the Co-Founder of his own production company, Filmkraft, I now have three short (1 – 3 minute) videos telling the story of three Capital Good Fund clients: Sherlie (Car Loan), Mamadou (Immigration Loan), and Ana (Immigration Loan). I embed them below. Enjoy!
Imagine I told you that by switching your money from one investment vehicle to another—with the click of a button!—you could not only earn the same return on your investment with the same level of risk as before, but also […]
We’ve all heard the Chinese proverb, “Give a poor [wo]man a fish and you feed her for a day. You teach her to fish and you give her an occupation that will feed her for a lifetime.” It’s a great concept, one that is popular with those who are more free market-oriented–they like the notion of hand-me-ups instead of hand-outs–as well as with those who tend toward socialism, as they like the idea of empowering the poor.
