TechSoup Launches Growth Capital Campaign with Direct Public Offering

TechSoup is one of the pioneers of the nonprofit technology sector. Over the past 30 years, they have built the world’s largest network of nonprofit organizations, funders, and corporations – all striving for social impact through technology.
Last night I attended a celebration for TechSoup’s  Growth Capital Campaign to raise $11.5 million over the next three years. This will help them increase resources distributed globally to $4.8 billion by 2021 and reach to serve more than 1.7 million organizations around the world. For every $100 invested, they will distribute over $47,000 of additional resources to the nonprofit sector.
What is innovative about this campaign?
TechSoup is introducing a direct public offering (DPO) to offer impact investment opportunities to people of all economic backgrounds.  In other words, you’ll earn interest on your investment, and receive repayment of principal at the end of a five-year term. Investment minimums are as low as $50, and returns range from 2 to 5 percent annually.
What’s making this possible is a new investment platform that has launched this week called SVX.US.
According to an article in Locavesting, the platform is partnership between Cutting Edge Capital, the Bay Area-based community capital consulting firm, Bequia Securities, a broker-dealer, and SVX Canada, an impact investing platform based in Toronto. The platform will handle a broad range of offering types. As a broker-dealer, SVX.US will curate and vet offerings with an eye toward financial strength as well as social impact and practices.
I just became a community investor of TechSoup. This is a new way to give – and get a social impact return.