How CFNO invests
We don’t just grant.
We invest.
Most people think of a community foundation as a place that receives donations and hands out grants. That’s true, and it’s a big part of what we do. But it’s only half the story.
CFNO also holds an endowment, money invested for the long term so it can keep giving for generations. Traditionally, that money sits in conventional stocks and bonds. Increasingly, we’re putting some of it to work differently, by investing directly in real, local projects that create measurable social or environmental benefit, while still earning a solid financial return. It’s sometimes called impact investing, and it’s becoming a bigger part of how community foundations across our region think about their capital.
What this looks like right now
Thrive Impact Fund
$40,000 invested • 3.5% paid quarterly
CFNO was the first community foundation to invest in the Thrive Impact Fund, an impact-first fund that provides flexible, patient capital to local enterprises solving today's toughest problems. Local benefits are measured along with progress toward the UN Sustainable Development Goals.
Propolis Cooperative Housing
$20,000 of a $100,000 pooled bond · 53 net-zero homes
CFNO joined four fellow Thompson Okanagan foundations in a $100,000 community bond investment, $20,000 of it ours, to help fund Propolis Cooperative Housing Society’s 53-unit net-zero housing project in Kamloops. That bond has now been repaid in full, plus interest, and the funds are ready to be redeployed into the next opportunity.
Bigger than one foundation
This summer, CFNO joined five other community foundations across the Thompson Okanagan (Shuswap, Central Okanagan, South Okanagan Similkameen, BC Interior, and North Thompson) at a regional gathering hosted through ConnectBC. Every foundation in the room committed to working together more closely on impact investing going forward.
Investing this way works best when foundations pool resources and share risk, and that only happens when we trust each other enough to collaborate across regional lines. It’s bigger than any one foundation, and it’s bigger than foundations, period. Propolis’s community bond alone drew more than 100 everyday residents as investors, not just institutions. The more our community understands and gets behind this kind of investing, the more of it we can do.
Want the deeper dive?
If you’re curious about the different types of social finance, from ESG investing to community bonds, we broke it down here: Social Finance: Investing in Vernon’s Future.
This isn't a program to apply for. It's simply how we manage the money entrusted to us, letting your giving do double duty, earning a return while building something our region needs.
We’re here to help.
Questions or concerns? Reach out to us for any additional support.
Leanne Hammond
Executive Director
leanne@cfno.org
250-542-8655
