Antony Bugg-Levine, Nonprofit Finance Fund

Twitter = @ABLImpact and @NFF-news

Antony Bugg-Levine is the CEO of Nonprofit Finance Fund, a national nonprofit and financial intermediary that unlocks the potential of mission-driven organizations through tailored investments, strategic advice, and accessible insights. In this role, he oversees more than $340 million of investment capital and a national consulting practice, and works with a range of philanthropic, private sector and government partners to develop and implement innovative approaches to financing social change. Antony writes and speaks on the evolution of the social sector and the emergence of the global impact investing industry. He is the co-author of Impact Investing: Transforming How We Make Money While Making a Difference (Wiley, 2011).

In this interview, Antony delves deeper into outcomes-based approaches to social sector finance. For too long, governmental and nonprofit funding has been too focused on compliance and outputs. But recently there has been a strategic shift towards funding for outcomes and results. It may seem simple and logical, but it is part of a broader movement towards outcomes-based approaches, which includes mechanisms like Pay For Success. Antony discusses NFF's work in this area, including a recently announced partnership with the Federal Reserve Bank of San Francisco. Antony talks about all of that, as well as some of the bigger trends in the philanthropic sector, and how NFF is keeping pace with the constant growth and innovation. 

HIGHLIGHTS OF THE SHOW:

In this interview, we discuss:

  1. How the Nonprofit Finance Fund model works, and how they make loans to organizations, and provide and allocate capital to the social sector. (1:55)
  2. How they identify strong loan partners and well-run nonprofit organizations. 
  3. The shift to outcomes-based approaches and why it is so transformational. (11:00)
  4. The partnership with Federal Reserve Bank of San Francisco to create a knowledge campaign around supporting outcomes-based approaches (19:00)
  5. The three needs to strengthen and improve the sector. (27:45)
  6. Why is health care finance reform so important to broader trends in philanthropy? (31:45)

THOUGHT OF THE DAY:

"We believe that the shift to outcomes is going to require a collective change, a fundamental rearrangement of a system that is incredibly complex. No one party can make that change alone."      -Antony Bugg-Levine

LINKS AND RESOURCES MENTIONED IN THE SHOW:

  1. All publications by Antony Bugg-Levine. 
  2. Press Release on recent NFF partnership with Reserve Bank of San Francisco. 
  3. Podcast Interview in the Chronicle of Philanthropy. 
  4. When Can Impact Investing Create Real Impact in the SSIR. 
  5. The Prize: Who's In Charge of America's Schools? book recommendation (on Amazon)

THANKS SO MUCH FOR LISTENING!

If you enjoy The Philanthropy Hour, please leave a review or a rating on iTunes. I read every review and it helps to make the podcast better.