Two years on, foundations stand by issuing bonds in pandemic

NEW YORK — When the Ford Foundation took the unprecedented step in June 2020 of issuing $1 billion in debt to help stabilize other nonprofits, it delighted investors and inspired several other large foundations to follow suit. Responding to what the MacArthur Foundation called the “twin pandemics” of COVID-19 and systemic racism, the foundations mostly issued social bonds ranging from $100 million to Ford’s $1 billion. Greg Ratliff, senior vice president at Rockefeller Philanthropy Advisors, said issuing bonds was an innovative use of the foundation’s assets. That may be because several foundations issued the social bonds to respond to the pandemic and George Floyd’s murder without having to reallocate funds from current grantees, Ratliff said. ———- ‘UNPRECEDENTED’ MOVES These foundations made the unusual move of issuing social bonds or other debt during the pandemic: Bush Foundation, $100 million, 2020 The California Endowment, $300 million, 2021 Doris Duke Charitable Foundation, $100 million, 2020 Ford Foundation, $1 billion, 2020 MacArthur Foundation, $125 million, 2020 Mellon Foundation, $300 million, 2020 Rockefeller Foundation, $700 million, 2020 W.K.