Ways to support RCAC
Online donations
To make online and donor-advised fund donations go HERE.
General operating grants
General operating support allows RCAC to provide staff training and development opportunities, recognize employees and volunteers, and develop new partnerships and opportunities. RCAC seeks general operating grants and donations to develop best practices in service delivery, maintain high levels of staff expertise, and explore new creative ways to serve rural communities.
Research and development grants
Research and development grants are contributions that enable our Loan Fund to explore and develop additional loan products; enable housing staff to identify new clients; enable water and waste staff to expand environmental protections; and enable economic development staff to research new ways to increase community sustainability. RCAC welcomes donations and grants for research and development.
Training scholarships
RCAC conducts training events each year that range from one-day workshops to multi-day regional and national conferences. Community development practitioners, eager to learn but with limited resources, are often unable to attend without full or partial scholarships. RCAC accepts and administers scholarship funds for these training events. Donations and grants of any size are welcomed for this purpose.
RCAC Loan Fund
RCAC created a low-interest Loan Fund in 1988 through support from foundations, religious organizations, banking institutions and government entities. The U.S. Treasury certified RCAC as a Community Development Financial Institution (CDFI) in 1996.
The loan fund has affordable housing, community facility, small business lending and environmental infrastructure lending programs. Due to the ever increasing demand for funds from rural communities, the loan fund continually seeks additional capital. Although RCAC prefers that investments and grants for the Loan Fund do not have geographic restrictions, we recognize that some funding sources need to impose limits. The Loan Fund seeks capital for:
Capital Grant (Equity)
A capital grant is a contribution of funds to be used as permanent lending capital. Permanent capital becomes a part of the pool of capital from which RCAC makes loans to nonprofit organizations, tribes and units of local government. Our goal is to maintain 20 percent equity or permanent capital in the Loan Fund pool. Capital grants of any size will be accepted.
Capital Investments (Debt)
An investment in the RCAC Loan Fund also increases lending capital, but the investment is repaid to the investor. RCAC accepts investments from corporations, foundations and religious institutions. The minimum investment is $50,000 and investment terms are negotiable. The interest rate on investments is generally fixed for the term of the investment. Longer-term investments made at low interest rates give the Loan Fund more flexibility in the terms it can offer, making the loans less costly to nonprofit and local government borrowers.
