Marc Lane: Are You are .Com or a .Org?

The 1-2-3 Punch
Socially responsible and mission-related investing
Impact investing
Program-related investing

Socially responsible and mission-related investing
Screening
Shareholder advocacy
Community investing

Impact investing
Seeks to solve a social or environmental problem while generating a financial return to investors
Complements philanthropy and government efforts

Program-related investing and the L 3 C

Make grants of 5% of "non-charitable-use" assets to charitable causes annually
or
Make "program-related investments" of 5% of "non-charitable-use" assets annually
The Foundation's Choice

Venture capital and other high-risk investments that would otherwise subject foundation and its manager to 10% jeopardizing investment excise tax.
Primary purpose is charitable - - religious, scientific, literary or educational, fostering amateur sports competition, or preventing cruelty to children or animals
Income production or property appreciation not a significant purpose
Purpose is not to attempt to influence legislation; or to participate in, oppose or intervene in a political campaign of candidate for public office
PRIs

PRIs come in many flavors
Interest-free or below-market-rate loans
Loan participations
Loan guarantees
Deposits in community development banks
Leases
Equity investments

PRIs in Action
Low-interest loans to needy students
Investments in low-income housing projects
Low-interest loans to disadvantaged business owners
Direct investments in businesses which create jobs
Investments in land conservation or brownfields mitigation
Investments in arts groups or cultural organizations
Investments in faith-based programs
Investments in child care centers
Investments in community development initiatives
Investments in social services organizations
Investments in educational or workforce development training opportunities
Investments in businesses that develop cutting-edge technology in rapidly changing environmental or health-related fields
Investments in historic preservation

Additional PRI Examples Proposed by ABA Section of Taxation
Development of new drug
Development of new organic-farming process
Loan made to media in former Communist bloc countries
Economic redevelopment of terrorism site or site of national disaster
Environmental investments in Third World or economically depressed countries
Foreign economic development
Investment that lessens the burdens of government

PRIs have been seen as complex and expensive
No process to guarantee that an investment complies with PRI tax regulations
No standards to ensure that an entity is a proper recipient of PRIs
IRS private letter rulings expensive and time-consuming

A Low-Profit Limited Liability Company (L 3 C) is an LLC
Non-corporate form of doing business that limits owners' liability
Affords them flow-through tax treatment, and
Offers operating flexibility through participation in management

But a special kind of LLC
One or more for-profit "members" and one or more non-profit "members"
Charitable or educational purposes
Would not have been formed except to accomplish those purposes
No significant purpose to produce income or property appreciation
But may produce significant income or property appreciation
No political or legislative purpose

The L 3 C's Promise
Shifting economic risk to third parties
Financial self-sufficiency
Continuing foundation input
Effective leveraging
Capital flow to "double bottom-line" venture
A “win-win” for both for-profits and non-profits

Capital Structure Illustration #1 Foundation incurs high financial risk, earns low (1%) financial return, but high social return Social Return Financial Return Foundation

Capital Structure Illustration #1 Mezzanine investor Socially conscious investor incurs lower financial risk, earns higher (3%) financial return. Social Return Financial Return

Capital Structure Illustration #1 Market-driven investor Market-driven investor incurs market-rate risk, earns market-rate (6%) financial return. Social Return Financial Return

Blended rate of return: 4% - - which L 3 C can generate, but not without the catalyst of the foundation’s PRI.

Capital Structure Illustration #2 Development agency makes a grant, seeking high social return but earning no financial return. Social Return Financial Return Government

Capital Structure Illustration #2 Foundation earns low (2%) financial return, but high social return. Social Return Financial Return Foundation

Capital Structure Illustration #2 Outside investor incurs market-rate risk, earns market rate (7%) return. Social Return Financial Return Market-driven investor

Blended rate of return: Again, 4% - - which the L 3 C can generate, but not without the catalyst of the foundation's PRI.

Inherent Conflict of Interest
Managers of for-profits must maximize financial returns to owners.
v.
PRI recipients must not produce income or property appreciation as "significant purpose."

Solutions
Reliance on applicable constituency statute
“ Expenditure responsibility”

1. Reliance on applicable constituency statutes Texas Business Organization Code § 21.401 Sec. 21.401. MANAGEMENT BY BOARD OF DIRECTORS. (a) … (b) In discharging the duties of director under this code or otherwise and in considering the best interests of the corporation, a director may consider the long-term and short-term interests of the corporation and the shareholders of the corporation , including the possibility that those interests may be best served by the continued independence of the corporation. (Source: Acts 2003, 78th Leg., ch. 182, Sec. 1, eff. Jan. 1, 2006.)

(805 ILCS 5/8385) (from Ch. 32, par. 8.85) Sec. 8.85. In discharging the duties of their respective positions, the board of directors , committees of the board, individual directors and individual officers may , in considering the best long term and short term interests of the corporation, consider the effects of any action (including without limitation, action which may involve or relate to a change or potential change in control of the corporation) upon employees, suppliers and customers of the corporation or its subsidiaries, communities in which offices or other establishments of the corporation or its subsidiaries are located, and all other pertinent factors .
(Source: P.A. 86-126)

2. “Expenditure responsibilities” requirements
Manager’s Commitments
Use of funds for agreed purpose
Annual financial reporting
Maintenance and availability of adequate books of records
No support of propaganda, the influence of legislation, the outcome of public elections or voter registration drives

The Optimal Venture
Socially beneficial mission
Consistent cash flow
Entrepreneurial

L 3 C Applications
For social ventures seeking to secure PRI support from foundations that forgo market-rate returns and thus subsidize private-sector investors who can thereby earn market-rate returns
As single-purpose, wholly owned subsidiaries of tax-exempt organizations
For ventures that seek to draw consumer and funder attention to their status as social enterprises
For coalitions of nonprofits that join forces to tackle a social problem through the application of business principles

Proposed Philanthropic Facilitation Act
Voluntary
Safe-harbor registration by entity
Annual reporting

L 3 C Legislation 2008 Vermont 2009 Michigan Utah Wyoming 2010 Illinois Louisiana North Carolina 2011 Maine 2012 Rhode Island

The Benefit Corporation: Creating a “Public Benefit”

The Requirements of a Benefit Corporation
The corporation must create a material, positive impact on society and the environment.
Impact must be measured by a third party.
A “benefit report” must be published annually.

The Benefit Corporation’s Benefit
Directors have
“ immunity from liability”
“ in the reasonable performance of their duties.”

But not too fast…
Lack of policing
Litigation risk may shift
From shareholder claims that the board is not maximizing profit
To shareholder claims that the board is not sufficiently pursuing the corporation’s general or specific public benefit

Still…
Most early adopters are more interested in branding than derivative lawsuit protection.
The Benefit Corporation codifies the entrepreneur’s social and environmental ethos.
It offers legal recognition of the venture’s core values.

Benefit Corporation Legislation * 2011: Benefit LLC legislation ** Sustainable business corporation legislation 2010 Maryland* Vermont 2011 New Jersey Virginia Hawaii**

Pay-For-Success Bonds (aka Social Impact Bonds)

Pay-For-Success Bonds
Aligns interests of government agencies, private investors, and nonprofits around specific social outcomes.
Leverages private investment capital to pay for early intervention programs delivered by service providers.
Government pays financial returns to investors if and when improved social outcomes are achieved:
If outcomes don’t improve, investors lose their money.
If outcomes are achieved, government returns principal plus specified return.

Social Impact Bonds: The Seminal U.K. Example
Of 40,200 adults serving short-term criminal sentences, 60% were expected to re-offend within one year, at great cost to society and taxpayers.
In October 2010, the Rockefeller Foundation among others invested £5 million (about $8 million) in bonds to fund counseling, employment, housing and other support services for recently released prisoners.
If re-offending is reduced by 7.5% or more, investors will receive payments from the U.K. government reflecting a share of its long-term savings.
If not, investors will lose their money.

Minnesota’s Pay For Performance Act of 2011*
The Act would have established $20 million pilot program.
The State would have contracted with pre-qualified providers.
Funds would have come from “special appropriation” bonds issued in municipal bond market.
Providers would have been paid only if the State’s return on investment was positive.
* The Act was included within the State’s general appropriation bill, which was vetoes on May 24, 2011.

Massachusetts’ Pay For Success Contracts: The Ask
The State’s Executive Office for Contracts Administration and Finance (EOAF) issued a Request for Information on May 6, 2011 to learn:
Which social services are the most promising candidates for pay for success contracts?
Are there innovative social solutions to social problems that have been demonstrated on a relatively small scale that have the potential to be scaled up using pay for success contracts in a way that would reduce costs/or improve outcomes?
Are there areas where targeted investments in preventative services would have a high likelihood of reducing future budgetary costs by more than the cost of the services?
Are there other areas of government activity where upfront investments and innovative contracting strategies could improve performance and reduce costs?
How should pay for success contracts and social impact bonds be structured to support these goals?
What information would be useful to EOAF in drafting a more detailed procurement solicitation for these contracts?

Massachusetts’ Pay For Success Contracts: Next Steps
Responses were received by June 10, 2011.
EOAF will issue a Request for Response targeted at the most promising applications.

For further information: The Law Offices of M ARC J . L ANE A PROFESSIONAL CORPORATION 180 North LaSalle Street Chicago, IL 60601-2701 (312) 372-1040 (800) 372-1040 Fax (312) 346-1040 www.MarcJLane.com

Marc Lane: Are You are .Com or a .Org?

by Net Impact DFW on Jul 11, 2011

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Marc Lane: Are You are .Com or a .Org? — Presentation Transcript