Innovative transactions with FJC and its donors were featured in “How to Bridge a Funding Gap” (October 15, 2025) in Chronicle of Philanthropy, the premier source of news, information, analysis, and opinion for the social impact industry.

The article, written by staff writer MJ Prest, featured FJC’s loan to the Ali Forney Center (AFC), which was made possible by a DAF account funded by the Tikkun Olam Foundation.  From the article:

[Executive Director Alex] Roque went to the Tikkun Olam Foundation, which had supported the center’s operations and HIV programs for more than a decade. “We approached them and said, ‘We have a unique ask: We’re not asking for the money, we’re asking for a long-term, low-interest loan that would allow us to advance our efforts and become more sustainable through this process,’” he says.

“In a time when there’s so much uncertainty in funding for myriad reasons, having an innovative approach to advancing investment and revenue-generating opportunities that is low-risk for the funder — and low-risk for the organization — is key.”

AFC is a leading organization serving LGBTQ+ youth in New York City.  More than 2,200 young people per year seek medical attention, counseling, clean clothes, or a hot meal. It also offers emergency and transitional housing for youth at risk of homelessness in neighborhoods across the city.  The $1 million loan from FJC, at a below market interest rate and funded by Tikkun Olam Foundation, helps AFC manage cash flow from delayed government contract payments and serves as part of a larger organizational capital strategy that includes owning and operating their own real estate. 

The article describes the important role philanthropy can play in resolving funding gaps through loans and other creative solutions that recycle funds.  It cites FJC’s revolving fund with Southern Environmental Law Center, which funds civil litigation expenses with a high likelihood of recovery, if the nonprofit wins its cases. 

“We had a donor who was a lawyer by profession and understood that there were certain expenses in mounting a lawsuit against big companies, that are recoverable when the nonprofit wins the case,” says [Sam Marks, CEO of FJC. “So we created a strategic reserve fund for these kinds of reimbursable expenses.”

The article notes that these specialized funds appeal to entrepreneurial donors.

“They tend to be larger donors.  They tend to be donors that have started companies or founded companies, or they think more like a CEO or a CFO. They tend to be more curious about the inner workings of a nonprofit organization. A lot of times board members are intimately familiar with the business dynamics of a nonprofit and the problems that keep management up at night.”

Read the full article here.

FJC is pleased to announce the awardees under a new program that provides low-cost, philanthropically motivated debt to affordable housing nonprofits that partially match these funds with equity-like grants.  The Working Capital Revolving Match Fund program is backed by a $1 million loan commitment from Deutsche Bank Americas Foundation’s New Initiatives Fund.

Through the program, Deutsche Bank will fund a $200,000 low-interest loan to each of the four awardees, provided they raise the $100,000 match.  The program builds on a successful pilot FJC launched with The Fortune Society in 2023 to expand their supportive housing options available to formerly incarcerated individuals.

The awardees, selected via Request for Proposals process organized by FJC, are:

Fifth Avenue Committee: A community development corporation that advances a more equitable New York City through integrated, community-centered affordable housing, grassroots organizing, policy advocacy, and transformative education, training, and services.

New Destiny Housing: A nonprofit that provides housing and services to survivors of domestic violence and their children.

Urban Pathways: Delivering coordinated outreach, housing placement, and supportive services for New Yorkers experiencing or at risk of homelessness.

Urban Homesteading Assistance Board (UHAB): Empowering low- and moderate-income communities through affordable homeownership and tenant associations.

Each loan is conditioned on the nonprofit raising matching donations, ensuring the program not only injects capital but also drives new funder engagement.  The matching funds raised will remain with the nonprofit developers, allowing the funding to be recycled and used for future projects.

The program provides a dedicated source of capital to nonprofits for the critical predevelopment stage of affordable housing development.  Although public subsidies and bank financing are generally available to nonprofits for construction, it can take years of planning and legwork to get to the closing table.

“Providing enterprise capital to nonprofits will help these affordable housing builders meet the moment as the city works to ramp up housing production,” said Sam Marks, CEO of FJC. “Too often, the nonprofits most committed to an equitable, diverse New York City lack the early-stage funding needed to get a project started. These are mission-driven organizations that stay invested, not just in projects, but in people. This program provides them with a dedicated source of capital to jump-start these projects, so they don’t have to divert resources from their existing programs to cover these costs. Nonprofits are businesses with unique needs, and philanthropy can play an important role in funding their entrepreneurial activities with both philanthropic debt and equity-like grants.”

“FJC’s program builds upon the legacy of Deutsche Bank Community Development Finance Group’s cornerstone programs, which have enabled the creation and preservation of over 14,700 affordable homes and numerous community facilities since their inception.” said Cheryl Gladstone, Head of Community Development Finance Group (CDFG) at Deutsche Bank. “We are proud to expand our support for new capital resources that will help create additional affordable housing units in New York City.”

“With over 47 years of experience building affordable housing and uplifting communities in Brooklyn and beyond, funding gaps at the very start of a project are still one of our biggest hurdles. This fund will give us the capacity to advance our 2,000 Brooklyn Homes campaign and move forward on projects our community and New York City needs without lengthy delays. That means affordable homes arriving faster and stable, inclusive neighborhoods for all residents we serve. FAC is grateful to FJC and Deutsche Bank for this critical financing support.” said Michelle de la Uz, Executive Director of Fifth Avenue Committee (FAC).

“At Urban Pathways, we believe in a ‘housing first’ approach, providing housing and personalized support as the initial building blocks for stability,” said Ariel Garcia, Chief Housing Development Officer at Urban Pathways. “This fund will be the foundation for developing housing more strategically and rapidly, opening doors to safe, permanent housing for our neighbors experiencing homelessness.”

“Over five decades, UHAB has helped low-income New Yorkers become homeowners in affordable cooperatives and stay rooted in their communities. Access to early-stage capital has long been one of the biggest barriers nonprofit developers face, especially when working to create deeply affordable, community-controlled housing.” said Margy Brown, UHAB’s Executive Director “With support from the Working Capital Revolving Match Fund, UHAB can move more swiftly to advance affordable cooperative homeownership opportunities across New York City and ensure low-income New Yorkers have long-term housing stability.”

This summer FJC made a $65,000 low-interest loan to the Brooklyn-based Greene Hill Food Cooperative with philanthropic funds raised by the Park Slope Food Coop (PSFC) and its members.  The loan is the latest from the Fund for New Food Coops, an initiative launched by PSFC in 2016 in partnership with FJC, with the goal of bringing healthy food at low prices to residents across Brooklyn and beyond.

With over 17,000 members throughout the New York City region, all of whom are required to work shifts every six weeks, PSFC is the biggest member labor food cooperative in the world.  In 2012, PSFC’s membership voted to create a revolving loan fund to support the establishment of new member labor coops and help them pay for the critical items that enable them to grow and to generate income.  The loan fund was funded in part by contributions from the coop itself and matched by charitable contributions from its members.

FJC established a Collective Giving Account (CGA) to receive the charitable dollars and has provided PSFC technical assistance to administer the loan fund: developing loan documentation for borrowers, disbursing loan funds, and servicing the interest payments from borrowers.  Because loans are sourced with philanthropic dollars raised specifically for this purpose, FJC is able to lend on concessionary, below market terms as guided by PSFC (unsecured, and at an interest rate as low as 2% fixed). 

“This loan fund represents one way we can support the cooperative movement,” explains Joe Holz, a founder of PSFC and a member of the Loan Committee that established the Fund for New Food Coops.  “New member labor food coops like Greene Hill face many challenges during their start-up phase, and access to affordable loans is one of them.”

Greene Hill is one of the most promising worker-owned and operated food coops in New York City, which started in 2007 and renovated and opened its first store in 2011. This loan, along with an additional loan from New Economy Project, will enable the Coop to replace critical infrastructure including their produce cooler and replace their HVAC (heating and cooling) system, essential capital improvements to grow their cooperative in the years ahead.  

Alliance Magazine, an international publication celebrating the impact of philanthropy globally, featured a story on FJC’s partnership with Tikkun Olam Foundation (TOF) to provide a philanthropic loan to The Ali Forney Center (AFC), a leading provider of services to LBGTQ+ youth experiencing the harms of homelessness.

Through its donor advised funds (DAF) accounts, FJC allows donors—including private foundations—to recommend loans on below-market terms to the nonprofits of their choosing.  In this case, TOF recommended a revolving line of credit to AFC of $1 million, which it capitalized with a grant to a DAF account at FJC.  FJC then managed the loan origination, legal documentation and loan servicing. 

AFC will use the loan as a source of affordable bridge financing to help offset payment delays from government contracts for committed funds and as an emergency reserve for extraordinary programmatic or operational needs.

From the article:

Sam Marks, CEO of FJC – A Foundation of Philanthropic Funds (FJC), added: ‘The timing of payments from government is more uncertain than ever, and philanthropy can play a key role as capital providers to help nonprofits manage through these challenging times.’

Alexander Roque, president and executive director of AFC, added: ‘The strategic reserve fund is crucial for AFC and will offer the opportunity to enhance and expand our capacity.

‘There is so often a lag between funding and disbursement. We can now allocate resources towards initiatives that further our mission, new programs, expanding international efforts, acquiring properties, or improving existing facilities.’

The loan is the first in a series of planned strategic investments from Tikkun Olam Foundation. Each year through 2028, TOF intends to provide similar strategic loan funds up to $500,000 to provide greater stability and planning capability to nonprofits nationwide.

“In our decade-long partnership with the Ali Forney Center, we have seen them grow their work in response to the increasing need to provide safety, care, and empowerment to trans and queer youth,” shared Tikkun Olam Foundation Executive Director Zev Lowe. “We are excited for our longtime partners at AFC and what this loan will mean for the communities they serve, and also about what this collaboration with AFC and FJC can teach us and the sector about innovative ways to deploy philanthropic resources.” 

Read the full article at Alliance Magazine’s web site.

Like so many nonprofit organizations, HERE Arts Center encountered a cash crunch this year, and also like so many nonprofits, its borrowing options were limited.  The organization had assets, including a recently renovated building serving as its theater, community space, and headquarters, but the building was already mortgaged by a bank.  They needed a lender that approached the relationship with mutual trust, support, and collaboration, rather than simply credit risk and collateral.

They found just that kind of lender with FJC and HERE Arts Center Board Chair Jennifer Suh Whitfield. She and her husband Benjamin quickly opened a Donor Advised Fund (DAF) account at FJC and contributed appreciated stock that, when liquidated, capitalized a $200,000 loan to the organization.  FJC closed in the loan within two days of opening the account.

“Through our DAF account, FJC provided a loan to HERE quickly, and at a lower interest rate than what was otherwise available from FJC or other lenders,” explains Ms. Whitfield. “We have long been supporters of this organization, and this is just another tool we can use to help the organization smooth out its business operations.”

Founded in 1993, HERE was envisioned as a welcoming, safe environment that could attract and launch a variety of artists. Since its inception, HERE has been home to such acclaimed artists and works as Eve Ensler’s The Vagina Monologues, Taylor Mac’s The Lily’s Revenge, and Basil Twist’s Symphonie Fantastique. HERE has produced and presented over 1,200 original works, served over 15,000 artists, and welcomed over one million audience members. HERE’s work and artists have received 16 OBIE Awards, 2 Pulitzer Prizes, 6 Drama Desk nominations, 2 MacArthur “Genius Grant” Fellowships and most recently, 7 Tony nominations.

“We are thrilled to receive this support from Jennifer, Benjamin, and FJC,” the co-directors of HERE Arts Center—Annalisa Dias, Jesse Cameron Alick, Lanxing Fu, and Lauren Miller—said in a statement. “The loan came at a crucial time of transition for HERE, and has been a key part of setting our new leadership team up for success as we steward this season of extraordinary art and build towards a thriving future for the organization.”

We often hear about philanthropy piloting new programs that are replicated by government, but the reverse can also happen. Sometimes philanthropy can breathe new life into existing tried-and-true programs that have promising results, complementing work initiated by the public sector.

Take the Equitable Retention Mortgage Assistance Program (ERMA), a foreclosure assistance program run by the Center for NYC Neighborhoods (CNYCN), the go-to citywide nonprofit focused on affordable homeownership. The program just received a $1 million infusion of revolving philanthropic capital from an anonymous donor, held at an account at FJC. The philanthropic investment extends the life of this impactful program, which helps seniors save their homes from foreclosure. The program launched in 2020, in response to data analysis provided by the  New York State Office of the Attorney General (OAG) that identified a rapid increase in reverse mortgage foreclosures, putting senior New Yorkers at risk of homelessness.  Initial funding was provided by Enterprise Community Partners with additional recycled settlement funds made available by the NYS OAG.

The goal of ERMA is to help low- and moderate-income seniors and people with disabilities avoid foreclosure due to mortgage and condo/coop arrears or a temporary inability to pay property taxes, property insurance, water/utility bills, or other charges. The program provides 0% interest subordinated liens up to $50,000, the payments of which are deferred. In other words, homeowners are not required to make monthly mortgage payments; instead, the loan is only repaid when a property is sold or refinanced or the 30-year term expires.

Since 2020, ERMA has successfully prevented 126 distressed homeowners from facing foreclosure or other home loss. However, in 2023, despite very strong demand for the program, CNYCN had to cease accepting new applications for ERMA once initial funds for the program were depleted. This left over a hundred applicants on a waitlist.

An anonymous donor learned about ERMA and found the program appealing and impactful, due to its strong track record.  The donor’s $1 million in loan capital could be leveraged with additional resources provided by CNYCN, such as free housing counseling and legal services. What’s more, the revolving nature of the funding meant that a single commitment of $1 million could be recycled multiple times.  As homeowners eventually sell or refinance their homes, the subordinated loans would be repaid, allowing the same dollars to be redeployed to other distressed homeowners.  The donor worked with CNYCN to deposit grant funds in a fiduciary account at FJC, which governs the use and revolving nature of the philanthropic loan capital. “This much needed additional investment in ERMA brings additional capacity to a program designed to stabilize the housing and finances of our most vulnerable neighbors,” says Christie Peale, CEO and Executive Director of the Center for NYC Neighborhoods. “This critical funding, combined with the Homeowner Protection Program services provided by our partners across the state, will help seniors and people with disabilities stay in their homes and remain connected to community networks and resources.”

We invite you to read this blog post by FJC CEO Sam Marks about the existential threats facing nonprofits as a result of delayed government payments – and the role philanthropy can play in helping nonprofits manage through these challenges. The blog post was published in Alliance’s online magazine, and is excerpted here.

Imagine being charged with critical life-changing responsibilities while being starved by the same public actors to whom you are accountable. This is the crazy-making situation nonprofits are finding themselves in, whether they are housing the unhoused, providing safe spaces for women fleeing intimate partner violence, or providing childcare, many of society’s most critical services rely on timely, predictable funding from government agencies. The problem is that payments for contracted services have become anything but reliable for too many organisations.

For too long, nonprofits’ business needs have been woefully misunderstood and undervalued, and the bill is now coming due.

Not-for-profit operations face the same financial challenges as their for-profit counterparts — managing cash flow, planning payroll, and navigating financing relationships. However, the segment of the nonprofit sector that carries out necessary services funded by the public sector faces unique challenges.

Public contracts come with immense upfront costs of delivering services, and oft-delayed payments are gumming up the underlying financial machinery for many service providers. As my friend John MacIntosh wrote in City & State last year, ‘Nonprofit vendors regularly complain that the procurement system is complex, antiquated and creates lengthy payment delays that are costly, sometimes even fatal, to organizations waiting for their money.’

The fundamental problem for nonprofits is that without reliable access to capital and credit, something as basic as delayed contract payments can pose an existential risk. To be clear, committed officials at every level of government are delivering important reforms to the public contracting process. Bureaucratic reform, however, is slow. In the meantime, foundations, which provide grants and help nonprofits build capacity in myriad ways, can and must develop creative new ways to support nonprofits and rally the support of committed philanthropists.

Increasingly imaginative philanthropists and foundations are developing creative solutions to help nonprofits navigate unreliable cash flow, providing a model for others to follow.

Please read the full blog post at Alliance Magazine, which includes examples of recent solutions FJC has executed, including a bridge loan to Brooklyn Defender Services, and low-interest revolving loans for Brighter Tomorrows and an LGBTQ youth-serving organization.

Earlier in November, FJC’s CEO Sam Marks was a guest on Get Connected with Nina Del Rio, New York City’s 106.7 Lite FM’s weekly talk show featuring NYC’s influencers, experts, and vibrant non-profits.

Del Rio interviewed Marks about his background and the world of Donor Advised Funds, as well as the creative ways that FJC puts philanthropic resources to work. 

He spoke about FJC’s Agency Loan Fund, an impact investment vehicle that allows donors to invest some or all of their accounts in a pool of loans to nonprofits, so that funds are actively supporting nonprofits even before they are disbursed as grants. He cited capital grants and contract receivables as payments FJC’s loans typically bridge. “We do a lot financial intermediation, during these timing gaps for nonprofits,” said Marks.

He also spoke about innovative transactions with nonprofits like The Fortune Society and the Tenement Museum. 

From the interview:

People typically think, my philanthropy is to make grants to help an organization hit their goals to operate in the black for the year. But you could also use philanthropic dollars to help organizations be more entrepreneurial and take on more exciting projects that will help them grow and expand their services.

The nonprofits we work with understand the challenges that their businesses face, whether it’s cash flow issues because of late payments or a dearth of capital to take on new, exciting projects.  The nonprofits really know where their gaps are.  The challenge for us is finding donors with the imagination to put their philanthropic dollars to work to fill those gaps. If we could get more of our donors to think about, while the dollars are with us, how they could be invested for the benefit of nonprofits, we could really help nonprofits worry less about where their next dollars are coming from. We could go to the heart of what makes these nonprofit businesses challenging.

You can listen to the whole interview at this link.

We invite you to read this guest essay by CEO Sam Marks published in Inside Philanthropy.  The article suggests that “this is a time to experiment with deploying philanthropic dollars more strategically to help nonprofits address those issues more effectively and spend more effort on mission-critical work.”

The essay recommends that donors look beyond grantmaking for their philanthropy and consider other approaches to using philanthropic capital.  Examples cited include the revolving predevelopment fund FJC arranged for the Fortune Society, and the refinancing of the Tenement Museum’s mortgage through a DAF investment.

From the essay:

The conversation between philanthropy and nonprofits very often begins and ends with grantmaking, and there is no question that grants are a key component of nonprofit business models. But the nonprofit sector could surely benefit if this conversation were more expansive — on both sides. Nonprofit practitioners could be more explicit with their philanthropic partners about their cash flow challenges that distract senior management from a full focus on their missions, or the capital resources they need to grow and be truly transformative. Donors could consider more inventive and mission-focused uses of the philanthropic dollars that are currently invested in the private sector, whether in foundation endowments or in DAF accounts. These approaches depend on donors and nonprofits engaging more deeply and finding a common cause.

Simply put, there’s an opportunity to grow beyond the conventional relationships between donors and nonprofits by elevating creative, entrepreneurial thinking. Sponsors of DAFs, in particular, can play a role in helping small donors align their funds and execute some of the more inventive uses of their philanthropic dollars, such as loans, recoverable grants or impact investments. DAF sponsors have always offered donors operational scale and efficiency; why not also offer technical and legal assistance to facilitate these more complex transactions? Or to pull together multiple donors that want to work collectively to create a solution?

This vision for DAFs is not just about more effective donations; it’s about building a more robust philanthropic ecosystem where the interests of donors, nonprofits and beneficiaries converge.

Read the full essay here.

Crain’s New York Business has published an op-ed by FJC CEO Sam Marks and JoAnne Page, the president and CEO of The Fortune Society.  The piece, titled “How Creative Funding Can Help Kickstart Complex Capital Projects,” describes a unique partnership between a leading nonprofit serving people coming out of incarceration and a foundation sponsor of donor advised funds (DAFs).

Through the initiative, FJC has arranged a fund that will empower The Fortune Society to scale its housing development work.  See our FAQ document for more information.

From the op-ed:

The Fortune Society, a leading supportive housing provider, and FJC – A Foundation of Philanthropic Funds, recently launched a revolving loan fund that will provide desperately needed working capital to kickstart supportive housing projects.

The fund’s low-interest loans are capitalized by contributions from FJC’s donor-advised fund holders and matched by additional resources from the Fortune Society. The loans will allow the nonprofit Fortune to significantly expand its supportive housing portfolio over the next five years.

Most donors are not thinking about using their philanthropic dollars this way. But imagine the possibilities if philanthropic leaders who think and act in business terms were to partner closely with nonprofits. They could help identify and fill common gaps that nonprofits face. Donors would see a bigger impact from their giving, and entrepreneurial nonprofits could take on more ambitious projects to solve our most challenging problems.

Read the full article here.