Investor Info
Terms of Social Investment Loans
For more information, click here to download the CFNE Prospectus in PDF format. Please note that the prospectus contains an Investor Response Form. Contact us to see if our Fund meets your needs 800-818-7833.
Social investment loans to the Cooperative Fund are provided on terms chosen by the investor within a range of options. The interest rate may vary between zero and three percent. The social investor may also designate whether the interest will accumulate with principal or be paid out on a quarterly basis. Repayment may be set at either a fixed or indefinite term.
Click here to see a list of CFNE supporters and investors in PDF format
Click here to read about our investor Equal Exchange
Click here to read about our investor Episcopal Diocese of Connecticut
The Fund encourages long-term investment. Social investment loans, however, may be called for repayment within a short period of time. For those that are particularly large, the Fund asks that repayment be limited to five thousand-dollar increments within each 30-day period after it receives notice of withdrawal.
CFNE has been well rated by the Opportunity Finance Network CARS tm independent outside review process.
Social investment loans are not insured in any way or collateralized through secured interests in any property of the Fund. They rest only on the general credit of the Cooperative Fund of New England. Social investment loans are, however provided with a significant-albeit unusual-measure of security. Several social investors, cooperative organizations included, have agreed to designate their funds as the first to assume losses that would otherwise prevent full repayment to other investors.
The following is a chart depicting the CFNE investor mix at 12-31-2009:
Social investment loans made directly to the Cooperative Fund are not tax deductible nor are they included in the income of the investor when they are repaid. Any accrued interest, whether paid out or left to accumulate with principal, is fully taxable to the social investor. An IRS 1099 form is sent out at the end of each year. A social investment loan may, however, be rendered tax deductible when it is provided indirectly through a self-directed individual retirement account with a bank providing such a service. Under this option, funds are deposited with the participating bank and then self-directed for investment in the Cooperative Fund of New England. Funds on deposit in the IRA account may not be prematurely withdrawn without substantial penalty. They may, however, be removed from the Cooperative Fund and redirected elsewhere. Persons desiring to use this tax benefit are advised to obtain further information regarding the restrictions and dollar limitations that apply to the use of this procedure.
Funds remitted to the Cooperative Fund will be acknowledged by a promissory note with the terms chosen by the social investor. Under this note the Fund is obligated to provide financial statements and reports on its activities at least three times a year. The specimen promissory note in Appendix D of the prospectus provides full information as to warranties and obligations assumed by the Fund in its relationship with a social investor.
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| CFNE Prospectus 2009.pdf | 491.33 KB |
Calvert Profile
Click here to read Calvert's profile of CFNE
Invest in Cooperation
Invest in Cooperation
To read about the impact of Cooperatives on the economy click here.
To read about cooperation among cooperatives click here.
To read about one of our cooperative donors Cabot Creamery Cooperative click here.
Co-ops Investing in Co-operation
For many years, the Cooperative Fund of New England (CFNE) has made a practice of holding its board meetings at the workplaces of the co-ops we serve. It’s a way to keep in touch with the community, to learn more about the work of our partners, and to develop new ways of working together to build the co-operative economy. For example, our last meeting was held in the very beautiful and comfortable showroom of the Community Builders Cooperative in Somerville, MA. This successful worker co-op has been providing cabinetry, renovation and design services since 1979 and has recently become an investor in CFNE, sharing their resources with other co-ops through the loan fund.
Another example of this kind of collaboration is the recently launched Cooperative Capital Fund (CCF), a source of patient, equity-like investment for under-capitalized or expanding worker co-ops and other co-operatives. CCF grew out of CFNE’s dialogue with co-op leaders to assess the evolving financial needs of the movement. When CFNE needed to raise matching funds for a grant that would help develop this new fund, co-ops from across the region—and across sectors—made contributions both large and small. For example, early supporters included worker co-ops such as Equal Exchange and South Mountain Company, food co-ops such as Willimantic Food Co-op (CT), Middlebury Food Co-op (VT) and Berkshire Food Co-op (MA), and farmer co-ops such as Cabot Creamery Co-operative, a dairy co-op founded in 1919. To download a profile of Cabot, visit: click here.
Now that CCF has been successfully launched, co-ops are becoming investors, making their resources available for a new wave of co-operative development. If your co-op has resources to invest, CFNE and CCF are options that help put the principle of “Cooperation among Cooperatives” into action by:
Putting your resources to work helping people help themselves through co-operation.
Enabling you to receive a return without compromising your values.
Reducing risk through diversification of investment across many projects.
Building the co-operative economy across all co-op sectors and industries.
Entrusting your resources to an organization with a 30-year record of integrity, success, and impact.
Investor Quotes and Stories
CFNE has always had strong support from the faith-based community and socially responsible investment sector. individuals account for nearly one-fourth of the investor mix. increasingly, cooperatives themselves are becoming CFNE investors as well as borrowers.
Coop investors in CFNE include Hunger Mountain Food Co-op, Community Builders, and Onion River Market (City Market).
"Our End is to strengthen and support the co-operative movement by working together. When we relocated seven years ago, we desperately needed support and our co-op neighbors generously provided it. We’re grateful to now be in a position to help other coops. "
Clem Nilan
General Manager
City Market/Onion River Co-op
"As one of the older worker cooperatives in New England, we are delighted to be able to invest in the future of the movement by supporting the great work of the Cooperative Fund of New England."
-all the worker/owners at Community Builders Cooperative
"CFNE took on the hard part of the market…and succeeded in meeting the needs of borrowers while also providing investors with a reasonable rate of interest and a leveraged social impact. That's pretty exciting!"
Amy Domini
"Cooperative [are} an economic model that promotes value not just externally but internally...So we fund
CFNE and they fund the Co-op.”
Corinne Florek, Mercy Partnership FundOne thing bothered Marian Coulter when the Boston-area resident inherited a large sum of money from her grandmother in tthe early 1996.Her inheritance.. was inveted in energy conglomerates and the companies that she "stongly disapproved of.". .. Click here to learn how she solved the problem.
Click here to read about investor Equal Exchange, a former borrower that became an investor.
"It can take a while to undo some of the misconceptions of a traditional financial education that sees these investments as too risky or having too low a rate of return. But our Trustees have become comfortable with certain SRI funds, and tha includes CFNE."
Toni Gold, Social Responsibility Fund/ Episcopal Diocese of ConnecticutClick here to read about long time social investors Episcopal Diocese of Connecticut.
Opportunity Finance Network Profile of CFNE
Click here to View the Opportunity Finance Network profile of CFNE
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| ofn_cfne_120606.pdf | 100 KB |
Prospectus
Click here to download our prospectus
We proudly report that not one CFNE investor has lost $1. We have consistnetly repaid every investor on time as agreed.
Click here to download our prospectus
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| CFNE Prospectus 2009.pdf | 491.48 KB |