Bridge Funding Pilot Program to Support Community Partners

Our new governance model is designed to decentralize our decision-making, be inclusive of diverse lived experiences, and share power with community leadership in meaningful ways. On the internal operations front, it also distributes power and decision-making to short-term, project-specific Teams that engage subject-matter experts relevant to the project. This allows our Teams to be collaborative, nimble, and responsive to both organizational and Community Partner needs. Last year the Finance Team was made aware of a potential necessity among our Community Partners for funds to bridge the period between program service delivery and reimbursement from the Oregon Department of Education. This is a systemic problem sometimes requiring Community Partners to pay expenses for which they may not be reimbursed for… months.

Then, a few months ago, this situation became an issue for our Community Partner, the Center for African Immigrants & Refugees Organization (CAIRO), who forecast a need for $150,000 in cash to ensure program continuity. Our Finance Team responded by fast-tracking a Bridge Funding framework that allows us to be true to our mission and responsive to our Community Partners. The Finance Team quickly and thoughtfully approved an advance to cover CAIRO’s immediate cash need. It was not a grant, but rather funds that were returned to us once they received the state funds they were already awarded. Finance Team member Larry Fox says, “The bridge funding was a new kind of request that took several people out of their comfort zone, but we concluded that we must prioritize our dedication to equity.” Finance Team Chair Nicole Thibodeau adds, “We are in the unique position to offer bridge funding to our Community Partners because we have proximity to and relationships with the nonprofits that other lenders, like banks, don’t–as a “lender” we operate on more than trust, but also on deep partnership.”

CAIRO has a grant contract through the African American and Black Student Success Act for which they received an award letter from Oregon Department of Education, but it wasn’t approved by Oregon’s DOJ by the time they needed to pay their expenses. There was no reason to believe the DOJ would not approve the funding – it was simply a matter of when. Without the funding, management would have to go without pay and staff furloughed without pay, which would have resulted in programs being shut down. At the request of Acting Lead Partner Rob Aslett, the Finance Team met with Rob and CAIRO’s Executive Director Abdikadir Bashir and Director of Finance & Operations Mark Chapman to hear the urgent request because the situation was straining their cash flow to the extreme. Mark shared, “SVP Portland's bridge funding to CAIRO was an absolute lifesaver. Most of our revenue comes from government grants and contracts, and so we are at their mercy if they decide to take eight months to pay us. The funding provided the liquidity we needed to make payroll and keep our programs open and uninterrupted.”

We are proud to have clear and equity criteria, as well as a system in place, to extend our financial privilege to support our Community Partners in this way. As Finance Team member Ron Eiseman puts it, “In this particular case, it was a matter of timing. The grant requested had been approved by the funder and it was only a question of when the funds would be received. As it turned out, funds were received quickly after approval.” CAIRO received the State funds within days after they received funding from us, and they paid us back immediately. Most importantly, their programs serving so many families and children were able to operate without disruption.