CLC Partner Services
The LegacyWorks Conservation Loan Collaborative (CLC) enables organizations and coalitions to efficiently create and capitalize loan funds, thereby providing the necessary capital to seize high-priority opportunities as they arise. To do so we provide an array of consulting and fund management services outlined below.
Our work with funders, land trusts, tribes and other partner clients usually begins with understanding their goals to inform a limited scope of consulting work, often beginning with assessing need and opportunity and undertaking initial fund design. We can then progress into full design, fundraising support, fund launch, and management. Our support is available on an as needed basis, with partners selecting the services they need to advance their program and meet their mission goals.
Consulting Services
Assessment - listen and assess project feasibility
Market Analysis - understand the demand for conservation bridge loans in your target geography and begin to build a pipeline of prospective deals
Fundraising Feasibility - assess the potential for philanthropic gifts and no- or very-low interest loans to capitalize your fund with friendly capital
Fund Design - set up the fund team, define the fund’s purpose and principles, set loan policies and terms, convene a Loan Committee to vet and approve loans
Capacity Building - provide Fund Teams and their borrowers with coaching on loan application process, conservation strategies, deal structuring, partnership building and fundraising
Impact Measurement and Tracking - identify, track and analyze areas of impact, including data visualization and dashboarding
Fund Management Services
Fund branding, marketing and communications
Loan origination, evaluation, underwriting, and documentation
Loan and portfolio management
Financial management and reporting
Impact management and reporting
Partner-Centered Pathways
Partners can choose from multiple pathways forward to launch their funds with the support of the Conservation Loan Collaborative. Whether you choose to launch a fund that is managed by the CLC team, or you choose to house a fund on your balance sheet and engage the CLC team on a consulting basis, we’re here to support you.
Examples of current CLC projects
National Park Foundation - NPF revolving fund on their balance sheet supported by CLC staff [PDF]
Catch Together - CT Revolving Fund managed by CLC [PDF]
Creating and Managing Revolving Funds is Complicated
Operating a lending program is more complex than a grant program or traditional programming offered by a nonprofit. It requires educating prospective borrowers and relies on coordinating the skills of a series of professionals to evaluate an application, assess risk, provide the borrower with technical assistance, make the loan, and steward a relationship with the borrower. Assembling a team with this expertise can be expensive and is not cost effective at smaller scales, such as those often associated with smaller scale revolving funds.
The CLC is collaboratively designed to support the creation and management of revolving funds so the conservation community and its funders can efficiently and effectively access and provide interim finance to achieve their collective impact goals. Let us know how we can help you achieve your goals!
Additional Consulting Services
Outside of the Conservation Loan Collaborative, LegacyWorks Group provides an array of services and runs a number of nonprofit programs to advance place-based, community-driven, impact initiatives. These include but are not limited to:
Designing and facilitating place based conservation and community impact initiatives
Impact investing strategy consulting and implementation support (conservation buyers, social ventures, funds)
Data dashboarding and visualization (e.g. Teton Community Wellbeing Dashboard)
Theory of change, impact frameworks, strategic plans and processes
Shared social sector infrastructure and field building
Support organization services (e.g. LWG as Sentinel Landscapes Support Organization)