Chronicle of Philanthropy, Money & Freedom, Food Hub Video

kristySRI/ESG News

February 2012

The work of the RSF Community is garnering a lot of attention these days: The RSF Shared Gifting Funds are featured in the Chronicle of Philanthropy, Evol Foods & Uncle Matt’s make a top healthy foods list, Common Market releases a great video on Food Hubs, and we put our supported projects at the center of focus with the RSF Impact Map! Also hear from John Bloom on Money & Freedom in light of Martin Luther King’s life and legacy.

RSF Shared Gifting Funds Featured in the Chronicle of Philanthropy!

Last month, The Chronicle of Philanthropy featured the RSF Shared Gifting Funds in an article titled: ?Bay Area Grantees Learn What It?s Like to Be Grant Makers for a Day.? Click here to read the full article.

The RSF Shared Gifting Funds support an innovative new form of giving that turns grantees into grantors and transforms competition into collaborations. Grantees that participate come together to share a pool of money and ideas while building community within one of RSF?s three focus areas. The first round of grant making was held in February 2011 in support of Food & Agriculture. This article shares that story.

It is thrilling to see this work in such a notable publication (dubbed by some the “Wall Street Journal” of the philanthrophic world), and it is a testament to the innovative nature of the program.

Visit http://rsfsocialfinance.org/services/giving/shared/ to learn more about the history of the Shared Gifting Funds or to make a donation in support of the next round of grant making.
RSF Impact Map Launch

We are very pleased to announce the launch of the RSF Impact Map! This is a new feature of our website designed to share the work of the social enterprises we support. Using photos, video, and narrative this section of our website offers a snapshot of the leading-edge, impactful organizations that we are so proud to work with.

This marks the launch of the map but we won?t stop here! In 2011 alone, we supported hundreds of social enterprises through our lending, giving, and investment activities. Visit the map throughout the year as we will be adding new organizations on a quarterly basis. Interested RSF supported projects should contact us for more information on how to participate.

So please, take some time to dig into the RSF Impact Map and share with your friends and community. We hope you enjoy exploring it as much as we have enjoyed creating it.

Click here to view the RSF Impact Map
What Does Money Have To Do With Freedom?

by John Bloom

Freedom is such a challenging word. It stands for a political view encompassing civil liberty; it stands in for the aspiration of the human spirit. What freedom means to me is personal. It informs how I go about the day as an individual and make my decisions, and it governs my communications and relationships as first principle?a capacity to respect the inner freedom of others even as I practice my own. Understanding what freedom means to others, as a right bestowed or limited by the state, as democratic practice, or as an inwardly determined guide to being, is fundamental to healthy relationships…Read the full post on the Reimagine Money blog.
December 2011 Grant Making Activity, B Lab & Pachamama Alliance

So, you might know that RSF provides investing, lending, and giving services, but did you know that those services sometimes overlap, that a single organization and relationship can represent all three? We here at RSF are thrilled when such intersections present themselves in our day-to-day work as it helps us validate that our service areas are in alignment, making our goal to transform the way the world works with money that much more powerful. In December, we were reminded of the ability of different parts of our organization to work together when our RSF donor advisors chose to make grants to two RSF borrowers ? B Lab and Pachamama Alliance…Read the full post on the Reimagine Money blog.
A Closer Look at Food Hubs: Common Market

Our friends over at Common Market Philadelphia (an RSF borrower) just released this awesome video. Check it out to learn more about their work and the growing Food Hub movement.

Click here to read the newsletter