In addition to grants, the Meyer Trust makes low-interest loans and equity investments to advance charitable work. Such loans and investments extend the reach of the Meyer Trust’s philanthropy by employing a portion of its endowment corpus to support nonprofits and other qualified organizations. Since 1984, the Meyer Trust has approved more than $18 million in Program Related Investments. We have issued nearly $13 million such investments since 2005, when the trustees determined to prioritize them as an investment strategy.
The Meyer Trust has made program related investments to support economic development projects, affordable housing, community facility development, environmental protection, and the arts. Nonprofit recipients have used such funds to start social business ventures, capitalize lending intermediaries, pay construction costs, buy land, and retire conventional mortgage debt.
The Trust seeks to deploy its capital creatively. We welcome proposals that identify innovative uses of Meyer Trust debt or equity capital to support charitable work. The Trust views its Program Related Investment funds as risk-tolerant investment capital. At the same time, we have a strong expectation of repayment and look closely at repayment strategies when we evaluate proposals for these funds.
