There are more than 1.8 million nonprofits in the U.S., and about 95% of those organizations have no access to credit. From fighting domestic and global hunger to providing disaster relief, educating our youth, providing housing to vulnerable populations, and fighting poverty, nonprofits provide essential services to hundreds of millions of Americans, and the nonprofit sector employs over 10% of the American workforce. Interestingly, the nonprofit sector isn't just big; it is ever-growing, now contributing about 6% to our national GDP and generating over $2.5 Trillion in revenue annually. Yet, despite this massive size, many nonprofits are teetering on the edge of a financial cliff.
"Astonishingly, more than half of all nonprofits in the U.S. have less than six months of cash on hand at any given time. This dire situation is compounded by a significant decline in donations, which has hit a 30-year low in the US," says B Generous founder and CEO Dominic Kalms. "Four in 10 (40%) of nonprofits may cease their core operations without additional funding in the next three years, and the situation is compounded by the fact that donations are continuing to decline across the board." The decline in donations, both in frequency and amount, has exacerbated these essential organizations' financial struggles and created a severe liquidity crisis. The potential collapse of this sector, which holds assets worth $5 trillion, stresses the critical need for innovative financial solutions to help nonprofits.
Kalms' B Generous, a VC-backed FinTech company, is addressing this dire liquidity issue plaguing the sector. B Generous is not just another venture backed technology player in the financial world, but rather they are an essential force for good, dedicated to unlocking billions of dollars of additional liquidity for nonprofits across the United States. B Generous is a true double bottom line venture, generating profits for its investors, and purpose for its employees, clients, and supporters.
Kalms, a devoted philanthropist and successful serial entrepreneur was motivated to create B Generous to bridge the gap in nonprofit financing. "95%, over 9 out of 10 nonprofits today are priced out of the traditional credit markets and cannot access bank credit," he says incredulously.
Initially, B Generous offered a consumer credit product that allowed donors to support nonprofits via donations but defer their out-of-pocket payments through the use of credit. Kalms called that product Donate Now, Pay Later (DNPL). "DNPL did pretty well in its first year, and we approved millions of dollars in credit to donors, but after speaking to hundreds of our nonprofit customers who were using the product, we realized that the demand for credit wasn't on the donor side, but rather it was on the enterprise side where nonprofits struggle immensely to access credit from financial institutions." In response to this learning, the company decided to expand its offerings to provide direct enterprise lending to nonprofits, which has since led to it becoming the leading FinTech company in the United States providing credit to nonprofits and charities.
Kalms' adds, "There isn't a major FinTech company lending to nonprofits, which is strange considering there are tens of thousands of small business commercial lenders out there, but everyone is ignoring the nonprofit space, which is even more unusual considering there are the same number of C-corporations in America as there are nonprofits (1.8M). And while there are some community banks that do nonprofit lending, they do so on a hyper-local level, and some big banks like Wells Fargo and JPMorgan also do nonprofit lending, but they really only lend to the top 2–3% of nonprofits by revenue, which again leaves 95%+ of the market unserved. Think about that: over 1.7 Million nonprofits basically cannot access credit from banks. It's a major problem and a major opportunity that needs to be addressed, and that is what we are focused on."
B Generous is addressing this problem with its direct enterprise lending product Accelerate, which focuses on the 95% of nonprofits that are overlooked by traditional bank lenders. B Generous' Accelerate program lends between $25,000 and $3 million using a proprietary credit infrastructure platform and credit box designed by the company. These loans are designed to meet the unique cash needs of nonprofits, so they don't require personal guarantees or expansive collateral, and there aren't any restrictions on the use of funds so long as they are in line with legitimate charitable operations. Kalms' goes on to state that the loans from the Accelerate program have the most attractive terms in the market today for nonprofits, having concessionary interest rates and lengthy amortization and repayment timelines so that nonprofits don't have to stress about their finances.
The impact of B Generous' lending products cannot be overstated. They don't restrict the use of capital; therefore, nonprofits have utilized B Generous funds for various critical needs, from plugging financial gaps due to lost grants and donations to making strategic hires, purchasing assets such as buildings, planes, and cars, and improving facilities. This unrestricted use of capital empowers nonprofits to address their most urgent needs and invest in their growth and sustainability. Many of these loans go to schools, hospitals, museums, camps, theaters, youth centers, and other critical infrastructure.
B Generous has garnered significant market traction since they launched the Accelerate product in October 2023. They receive an average of 1,100 loan requests a month, for a total of 6,500+ loan requests received through the B Generous platform since late last year, and they have received loan requests totaling over $470 Million, of which they have already approved tens of millions of dollars in lending.
Moving forward, the company aims to scale its impact, with a goal of lending over half a billion dollars annually to nonprofits in the next few years. "No one else is doing this. This is a completely blue ocean. We just need to get in front of the nonprofits and show them that they can access credit to grow their organizations just like a small business or a corporation. We have millions of nonprofits that need this type of capital, many of whom have healthy balance sheets and good cash flow, and we are excited to support their missions and important work."
"When we talk to our clients and ask them about their experience working with B Generous, they tell us over and over again, 'You guys saved us.' So, we know we are having a serious impact, and despite the fact that we lend to smaller organizations, we have a 0% default rate today and already 8% of our portfolio has been paid back on time. This just shows you that nonprofits are determined to pay back what they've borrowed, and make good on their commitments."
B Generous' innovative approach and dedication have earned it significant accolades as well, including being named as one of Fast Company's World Changing Companies for 2023, winning the PayTech Award for FinTech for Good, and most recently being selected as a winner in the Fintech Category for the 8th Annual Product Awards. B Generous has also been profiled in The Washington Post, Associated Press, and CBS National News about their company. These recognitions affirm the transformative role B Generous plays in empowering nonprofits and driving positive change in the sector.
"Not only are we helping the most vulnerable amongst us, but we are helping the groups that traditionally have had no access to this type of capital. We are helping deploy the boots on the ground, the real social work that is pushing our communities forward and helping people across the country. We're getting capital to the people that need it most and where it's going to be most impactful."
By providing accessible, flexible, and tailored capital solutions to nonprofits, B Generous is ensuring that nonprofits can continue their essential work, supporting communities and driving social impact across the United States. To learn more about how you can help B Generous address the liquidity crisis and ensure the sustainability and growth of the nonprofit sector, visit bgenerous.com.
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