Dear Friends,
 

We are thrilled to announce that thanks to over 250 contributions, we raised the necessary matching funds to receive our full 2012 US Treasury Department award of $1.7 million. We will use these funds to continue our support of the cooperative economy in the following ways:

  1. Expand our staff capacity by bringing on a full-time Portfolio Manager,
  2. Make more loans to new and expanding co-ops, community-based nonprofit organizations and healthy food retail options in food deserts;
  3. Increase our loan loss reserve to better protect our growing investment pool;
  4. Improve the look and functionality of our website; and
  5. Facilitate more training and technical support for our applicants and borrowers.

Thank you to everyone who helped us meet this goal. While we can't name everyone, we wanted to thank these groups in particular:

  1. Our partners in cooperative development, including: Cooperative Development Institute, Neighboring Food Co-op Association, New England Farmers Union, and the Valley Alliance of Worker Cooperatives;
  2. Foundations that supported us, including: CHS Foundation, Community Foundation of Western Massachusetts, Create Jobs for USA, the Howard Bowers Fund, NCB, New Alliance Foundation, Newman's Own Foundation, People's United Community Foundation, TD Charitable Foundation, The Cooperative Foundation;
  3. Start-up co-ops that helped in our match efforts, including: Assabet Village Food Coop, Dorchester Community Food Coop, and Simple Diaper and Linen; and
  4. The 168 individuals who donated to support our efforts.

One effort that had multiple positive effects for co-op development was our fundraising for Rebecca Dunn's induction to the Cooperative Hall of Fame. With the support of the Hall of Fame, we were able to raise funds for the Cooperative Development Foundation (CDF), the Hall of Fame sponsor, which were counted towards our U.S. Treasury match. You still have a few more weeks to make a contribution in Rebecca's honor to the Cooperative Hall of Fame. These contributions will support CDF's work supporting domestic and international cooperative development projects. Please visit heroes.coop for information on how to contribute.

 

Once again, we want to thank everyone who helped us meet this match challenge and who continue to support our work year in and year out.

 

In Cooperation,                                                  

Phebe Quattrucci,

CFNE Clerk and Development Committee Chair