This past month has been unlike anything most of us have ever experienced before. Above all, we hope that you and your loved ones are healthy and taking care of one another in these uncertain times. The CapShift team is currently working remotely and available to answer any questions you may have.

Many people have reached out to ask how to best mobilize capital in this time of need, and we encourage you to give now if you are so inclined and able. Philanthropic funding is critical now — it gives people and communities the flexibility they need to respond to a crisis.

When our focus can shift from urgent needs to recovery, impact investments may be a way to augment your efforts, as the needs of our communities are likely to be large and require all of the tools at our disposal. We’ve spent the past weeks connecting with our partners to understand how they are responding to the COVID-19 crisis, and we are truly inspired by the opportunities that are emerging. We expect to begin sharing these opportunities as early as next week — you can subscribe at the bottom of this page to be notified of updates. Please feel free to reach out, as well, if you’d like to be included in our communications tailored to donors and advisors.

During this time, we see four key trends emerging in the types of funding that will be needed to support communities:

1. Unrestricted grant dollars to make up for deficits caused by market decline and giving repurposed for emergency services;

2. Bridge financing for companies and nonprofits while they wait for recovery dollars;

3. Low-cost capital for community development financial institutions (CDFIs) that typically provide capital to small businesses that may not be able to access traditional bank financing; and

4. The re-emergence of long-term, higher risk impact funds focused on break-through technologies and solutions to global challenges that are often beyond the horizon of traditional investors.

We’ll be sharing more in the upcoming weeks and, in the meantime, we hope that you stay safe and healthy.