Meyer Foundation Suspends Cash Flow Loan Program

The Eugene and Agnes E. Meyer Foundation is suspending its longstanding Cash Flow Loan Program, and will no longer be accepting applications for new loans effective immediately.

The Foundation is putting the program on hold in response to a decreasing number of applications that meet the program’s guidelines, a significant number of loans that are not being repaid in full and on schedule, and limited capacity to manage the program given staff reductions at the Foundation in the aftermath of the economic downturn.

“While we recognize that grantees continue to face significant financial challenges,” says Meyer Foundation President & CEO Julie Rogers, “our loan program no longer seems to be the right tool to meet grantees’ needs and build long-term financial strength. Like the organizations we fund, the Foundation has to focus on those programs that are most effective and central to our mission, which is why we are stepping back from the loan program.”

Over the next year, the Foundation will assess how the financial environment for nonprofits has changed since the loan program was established and whether the program can be modified or continued in some other form.

Since 1994, the Cash Flow Loan Program has offered short-term loans of up to $75,000 to grantees facing cash flow challenges due to delayed payments on confirmed grants and contracts. Over the past 18 years, the Foundation has made 165 loans totaling $7 million, with a successful repayment rate of more than 95 percent.

Established in 1944, the Meyer Foundation identifies and invests in visionary leaders and effective community-based nonprofit organizations that are working to create lasting improvements in the lives of low-income people in the Washington, DC metropolitan region. The Foundation also works to strengthen the region’s nonprofit sector as a vital and respected partner in meeting community needs. For more information, visit www.meyerfoundation.org.