Three business veterans with a philanthropic bent have created a new foundation to breathe life into a little-used alternative-investment tool, Program Related Investments, or PRIs.
And they are working with other foundation executives to further so-called "impact investing."
On Wednesday, the Venn Foundation will release a report on how PRIs, "underused" since 1998, can become a source of patient, low-cost growth capital for nonprofit enterprises, or even small businesses or community-government collaborations that have a social impact.
"PRIs and other impact-investing tools are the future of philanthropy," Trista Harris, president of the Minnesota Council on Foundations, said in a prepared statement. "The 'PRI Pulse' is a powerful resource for foundations exploring how to invest capital where it's needed most."
Venn was formed by board members Rob Scarlett and Jeanne Voigt, and Venn CEO Jeff Ochs, a veteran executive who has led the Minnesota angel-investor network as well as the University of Minnesota's Discovery Capital Program.
"Our vision is to create a new category of flexible, below-market-rate capital that can be directed creatively to projects and organizations across all sectors that advance charitable goals," Ochs said. "By opening a special donor-advised fund called a Venn Account, any individual or organization can recommend that their charitable dollars be used by Venn to make PRIs.
"Venn can syndicate any one PRI among any number of Venn Accounts. Financial returns from these PRIs go back to participating accounts pro rata for the donors to redeploy into new PRIs, or grants, as desired."
PRIs are a special type of investment that private foundations make for the primary purpose of advancing charitable missions.
