Categories for Heron

Questions We’re Asking this Week: Pensions & Community Prosperity

Pension liabilities can be a detriment to community prosperity, while pension funds can be a source of power for workers. With those dynamics in mind, here are a few pension-related questions we’re asking this week.

Questions We’re Asking This Week: San Joaquin Valley Edition

We’re launching a new series called “Questions We’re Asking This Week” that catalogs some of the inquiries we’re chasing in order to help people and communities help themselves.

A Quick Guide to Place-Based Investing

At Heron, we’re always looking for opportunities to better align our investments with our mission — which sometimes involves investing deliberately in specific geographies. Here is a spectrum of strategies that we look to when we are trying to invest in a specific place.

Heron’s Fixed Income Letter of Intent

To convey our mission to our preexisting and prospective managers, Heron has created a Letter of Intent for our fixed income portfolio.

Heron’s Fixed Income Letter of Intent

To convey our values and mission to our preexisting and prospective managers, Heron has created a Letter of Intent for our Fixed Income portfolio.

The Unintended Consequences of a “Jobs” Investment

A few years ago, Heron gave a sizable grant to stimulate job growth in a city that had high rates of unemployment. While our intentions were good, our grant resulted in unintended consequences for the community— prompting us to reevaluate how we think about net contribution in a place.

Thinking Out Loud: Implications of the Small Business ACE Act

This summer, Congressman John Curtis (R-UT) introduced a bipartisan bill called the Small Business Access to Capital and Efficiency Act, also known as the Small Business ACE Act. The point of the Small Business ACE Act is to strengthen the Small Business Administration 504 loan program (SBA 504) by reconciling conflicting requirements and removing unnecessary burdens.

Steps to Approach Nonprofit Capitalization Planning

In part two of a video series on nonprofit capitalization, Heron’s Rodney Christopher shares thoughts on assessing where an organization stands financially, and four capitalization goals to help ensure a nonprofit has the right kinds of money when various needs arise.

Building vs. Buying: Distinguishing Capital and Revenue for Nonprofits

Capital and revenue are as different, and important, in the nonprofit space as in the for-profit space, but these differences are often overlooked—endangering the health and sustainability of nonprofit enterprises and the missions they serve.

Properly Capitalizing Nonprofits: A Key to Long-Term Impact

Part one of a video series on nonprofit capitalization: Heron’s Rodney Christopher discusses how the right approach to capitalization can be the difference between a nonprofit that struggles and one that thrives while pursuing its mission.