Capital + Consulting: A Powerful Combination

In partnership with the Conrad N. Hilton Foundation, NFF runs a $9 million bridge loan fund offering zero-interest, no-fee loans and free financial management consulting to Hilton grantees working in areas like foster and opportunity youth, early childhood education, and homelessness. The capital helps organizations keep staff, run payroll, and maintain services when government doesn’t pay its contracts on time. The technical assistance is tailored to each nonprofit’s particular needs, helping leaders better understand and address unmet financial challenges, as well as prepare for future financing.

“Offering capital and technical assistance together is the best of both worlds,” explains Dominique Fortune, Senior Director, Investor Relations. “It allows nonprofits to address their immediate cash flow needs while gaining a better understanding for their finances and planning for the future.”

Safe Parking LA employs underutilized lots to provide safe overnight parking for people living in their vehicle due to housing instability. In addition to its zero-interest, no-fee loan, the nonprofit received financial training and analysis for its executive staff and board to help navigate fiscal challenges.

“Our organization would not have achieved its current position without the invaluable support of our partners at NFF,” says Matthew Tecle, Executive Director, Safe Parking LA. “In addition to their generous financial assistance, NFF has provided significant ongoing technical support and training. They have delivered comprehensive dashboards, analyses, and presentations to senior executives and Safe Parking LA Board members. Those resources have been a game-changer in understanding our financial position and creating a strategic framework for executing our mission.”

NFF consultants worked with leaders on a range of topics. They conducted full cost analyses to understand the economics of their programs and funding sources and advocate for funders covering the full cost of providing services. They dived into data to understand how changes to a business model would affect a nonprofit moving forward, and created dashboards to keep board members informed and engaged. With a better understanding of their financial position and a framework for moving forward, organizations built stability and strength to guide them into the future.

“We were able to provide diagnostics to help many organizations understand their financial needs,” explains Alex Chan, Senior Director, Consulting. “Many had experienced recent growth due to influxes of funding, and needed assistance with understanding and leveraging their data, accounting, and finances.”

“There are broad structural funding problems that cannot be solved by cashflow planning alone,” Chan notes, “but the combination of capital and technical assistance helps organizations navigate challenges and understand their options in an uncertain funding environment.”