Deaconess Foundation is inviting organizations who are seeking financing up to $450,000 to apply for a loan to strengthen their programs and further their mission.  Deaconess Foundation seeks to improve the St. Louis metropolitan community by providing below-market rate loans to nonprofit organizations. Unlike a grant, these funds are a loan that will be repaid with interest.

To apply for a loan, an organization must be a non-profit organization that aims to improve conditions for community level well-being and located in the Eastern Region of Missouri (St. Louis City, St. Louis, St. Charles, Franklin, and Jefferson Counties) and Southern Illinois (St. Clair, Madison, and Monroe Counties). Prospective partners may include, but are not limited to, nonprofits pursuing change through coalition and base-building, grassroots advocacy, community organizing or public policy development, community development including community development financial institutions or a community development corporation, intermediaries, and non-profits with revolving loan funds.

View Details Request for Proposals

 

In the past, Deaconess has considered requests for financing from revolving loan funds in which money will be re-distributed either to businesses or nonprofits; bridge loans so that nonprofits can begin a project while waiting for cash or additional funding; and money that will provide a stable amount of cash to meet ongoing operations during times of variable cash flows.

The loans to nonprofits for social impact are part of the Foundation’s work to create conditions where liberation is the lived reality within seven generations. Deaconess created this effort to expand community access to financial capital and subsequently, build local capacity to achieve positive health incomes. This effort is part of the Foundation’s effort to invest responsibly and to leverage its investment portfolio for greater social impact. Since 2017, Deaconess has dispersed more than $1.4M in total funding through this initiative.

“We are privileged to use a portion of our investment portfolio in a way that improves access to capital,” said Bethany Johnson-Javois, President and CEO of Deaconess Foundation. “We believe that by investing in ways that allow for nonprofits in our community to bridge a gap, we are reducing organizational stress and enhancing their work which we hope will provide greater outcomes for all.”

About Deaconess

Deaconess seeks to create conditions where liberation is the lived reality within seven generations. A ministry of the United Church of Christ, Deaconess has invested more than $100 million to improve the health of the St. Louis community since 1998. Our grants and cultivated relationships support the accelerated change in conditions through policy, advocacy, and/or organizing efforts building and wielding power to transform systems to respond to the will of the people. The Foundation’s advocacy and grantmaking footprint includes St. Louis City, St. Louis, Jefferson, St. Charles and Franklin Counties in Missouri and Madison, St. Clair, and Monroe Counties in Illinois.