NEWSWORTHY

Returned Peace Corps Volunteer Initiative Nears $1 Million

The National Peace Corps Association (NPCA), which helps promote sales of our Calvert Community Investment Note, is nearing $1 million in Notes that support their specially targeted community investment initiative. This special partnership allows all investment dollars that come in through NPCA to be targeted to microfinance organizations such as Alterfin, Women's World Banking Network and FINCA. These organizations work in many of the same regions that Peace Corps Volunteers did during their terms of service. This initiative allows Returned Peace Corps Volunteers to support the communities they lived in long after they have left.

> Read the press release.

PORTFOLIO NEWS

Calvert Foundation Supports Microfinance Investment in Latin America

We are proud to partner with global microfinance intermediary MicroVest to make a $750,000 loan to FUNBODEM, a microfinance institution working in Bolivia. FUNBODEM serves over 6,000 clients - mostly women - in the vibrant tropical city of Santa Cruz and its surrounding regions. Senior Investment Officer Eliza Erikson, who manages Calvert Foundation’s $30 million microfinance portfolio, said that these loans are going to areas where affordable capital is most needed: very low-income markets. "We are happy to be working with MicroVest to develop and offer this product to microfinance institutions around the world." MicroVest also recently made a loan to PRISMA, a microfinance organization in Peru that grew out of the food security program of USAID.

> Read more about these loans.

SPOTLIGHT ON

Gearing Up for the Giving Season

It will soon be that time of year when families decide on their giving plans. While there are many wonderful options for your philanthropic dollars, always be sure to choose carefully in order to avoid scams and ensure that your donation dollars are used effectively. In order to do so, verify a nonprofit's legitimacy, make sure your contribution will be tax deductible, and research an organization's mission and finances. Websites such as GuideStar and Network for Good provide online search tools to help you investigate your options. Network for Good also offers 10 Tips on Giving Wisely.

While Calvert Foundation's most popular offering is the Community Investment Note (an investment product), you can also donate! A tax-deductible donation to our GiftShares program allows us to make loans to new, innovative organizations that don’t yet meet our financial requirements for our standard loans. GiftShares donations are leveraged 20 times their value as community investment capital to organizations serving low-income communities in the US and around the world. Just imagine - a $1,000 donation to Calvert Foundation actually helps provide $20,000 in loans to high-impact nonprofits and social enterprises.

> Learn more about donating to GiftShares.

ASK TIM

What is a donor advised fund?

With the holiday season approaching, many of you may be thinking about your 2007 giving plans. If so, you may want to consider opening a donor advised fund – an innovative way to give to your favorite charitable organizations.  Donor advised funds allow you to create your own “personal foundation,” which is then managed by a third party that carries out your grant recommendations. This arrangement offers tax benefits as well as ease of set-up and administration.

As the only 100% socially responsible donor advised fund, Calvert Foundation’s Calvert Giving Fund provides a low-cost and easy-to-manage way to receive an immediate tax deduction while placing your assets in a mix of socially responsible mutual funds and our Community Investment Note to appreciate over time.  While you decide which approved 501(c)(3) charities to recommend for grants, your funds appreciate tax-free and are not only supporting socially responsible companies, but also working in communities around the world – helping to support small businesses, create jobs and homes, and improve the lives of thousands of low-income individuals. Calvert Giving Fund provides a creative way to blend long-term philanthropy with socially responsible and community investing, offering donors an incredible opportunity to leverage their donations. It also lets you put assets into highly innovative social capital market deals like Public Radio Capital.

> Ask us a question!