The Philanthropic Family

We want to start that new graduate off right, of course. I bet what they want most is a job. But after that, the best thing we can give them, really, is a good set of habits on which to build their financial lives. Saving is something we have to learn.

Start them down the road of financial security and social responsibility–a pair of objectives often referred to as a “double-bottom line”–by funding a money market, savings account or CD through a community development bank. Throw in environmental sustainability and they get a “triple-bottom-line” return on your investment.

For relatively young folks just starting out, there are two great institutions you should consider.

Shorebank

With branches here in Chicago and throughout the Midwest, Shorebank is the grandaddy of them all. The first community development bank in the nation, Shorebank was opened in 1973 “to demonstrate that a regulated bank could be instrumental in revitalizing the communities being avoided by other financial institutions.” To the people in the low-income communities where their branch offices are located, Shorebank is like any other retail establishment: checking, savings, loans and IRAs.

But Shorebank has also cultivated the understanding and specialized expertise needed to lend to nonprofits, religious institutions, community development projects and environmental improvement projects. Rather than whisking a poor community’s money away to be lent to big corporations and wealthy people who don’t need it, Shorebank invests back in the people and institutions who are their retail base.

For that new graduate, “Development Deposits” might be a great start to a lifetime of savings. “Your personal financial decisions can be an investment in your values – building a strong economy, a healthy environment, and a vibrant community.” Shorebank deposits are fully liquid and earning market rates while providing the capital for Shorebank to lend to these crucial organizations and individuals. It’s a bank you can feel good about.

Calvert Foundation

Calvert is another storied institution in the realm of socially-responsible investing and cash management. Their “flagship” offering is the Calvert Community Investment Note, which allows you to choose the term for this CD-like investment and even choose an interest rate of 0% to 3%. These days, a guaranteed 3% is looking pretty peachy, although lower interest rates enable lower loan rates for their borrowers, who work in the areas of Affordable Housing, Microcredit, Small Business Development, Community Facilities and Social Innovations.

Much like you can choose to give a nonprofit general operating support or target your donation to a particular program, Calvert allows you to do a note that they can lend as they wish, or target your investment to be lent within a particular geography, such as Gulf Coast (to further recovery from Hurricane Katrina), another region of the United States or internationally.

“With our Community Investment Notes, my husband and I are able to invest much more toward helping the poor than we could possibly give.”

– Kelly S., California, Investor since 1998 (from the Calvert web site)

With both ShoreBank and Calvert Foundation, you can provide resources for your graduate to start saving, investing and provide a critical community service at the same time.

Tags: Calvert, Chicago, gift, graduates, Shorebank, SRI, triple-bottom line

This entry was posted on May 31, 2009 at 9:15 pm and is filed under Giving Money. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.