GoATL Fund: Year in review

Recent reflections and future pathways
Mark Crosswell, Managing Director of the GoATL Fund

As we entered 2020, the momentum from the prior year was at our backs and hopes were high. The GoATL Fund had just finished up an incredible second year of investing and was poised to keep it going. Then a new reality hit.

The COVID-19 pandemic changed everything. Our focus shifted quickly from reviewing investment opportunities and briefing new donor investors to assessing the economic fallout and devising urgent relief efforts. Our first step was to check-in with our investment partners and nonprofit colleagues to understand the effects of the pandemic firsthand. It quickly became apparent that those hit hardest by lockdowns and closures were small businesses, students, healthcare and frontline workers, and low-income households. We studied the CARES Act extensively and began to educate our investors and foundation partners on the fallout. It also became clear that the pandemic was disproportionately impacting Black and Brown communities: early estimates suggested that over 40% of Black-owned businesses have closed, compared to just 17% of White-owned businesses.

Shifting into action
Just a few weeks into the pandemic, the GoATL Fund moved swiftly to assist our investment partners through the lockdown and uncertainty of Q2 by providing select payment deferrals and shifting committed capital to COVID-19 relief. Our ecosystem partner the Georgia Social Impact Collaborative (GSIC) was instrumental in collecting and compiling local, state and federal aid resources. In partnership with GSIC, the Georgia Grantmakers Alliance (GGA) and Mission Investors Exchange (MIE), GoATL held numerous webinars to share learnings on relief efforts and recovery strategies for other investors, foundations and nonprofits. Then, amidst the pandemic, we were all traumatized by reports of police violence towards Black persons, including here in Atlanta, and we sought ways to respond with action.

That action came through a shift in focus from supporting relief to investing in recovery. Inspired by the work of our investment partners, local nonprofits and both national and regional foundations, the GoATL team made strategic investments in metro Atlanta’s communities by moving capital into areas of greatest need, including:

• Redirected capital to Access to Capital for Entrepreneurs (ACE) for use in COVID-19 recovery loans
• Funded $750k in capital for Local Initiatives Support Corporation (LISC) to make COVID-19 recovery loans and launch new microloan programs
• Closed a new investment in Atlanta Neighborhood Development Partnership (ANDP) to revitalize homes for affordable rental housing in South DeKalb, an area still recovering from the last recession;
• Coupled with $100k in grants from partner foundations, launched a new $250k microloan program run by LiftFund for 0% recovery loans for entrepreneurs;
• Arranged subordinated capital to leverage senior financing for a highly impactful mixed-used project in the Historic Sweet Auburn District; and,
• Approved a $500k commitment to Reinvestment Fund’s Fund for Quality to finance expansions of early childhood education centers for low-income households.

Our investments are advancing the impacts of GoATL’s portfolio on the community. Since 2018, our capital has supported:

• The development of over 400 units of affordable housing
• 80 early childhood education slots and over 300 K-12 slots
• Financed small business growth that created over 120 jobs

As a result of our increased our commitment to racial equity, our investments are making a difference for underserved populations, such as:

• ANDP’s homebuyers are 66% are Black, 11% are Hispanic or Latinx and 3% Asian
• LiftFund’s microenterprise clients in GA are over 80% BIPOC-owned
• More than half of ACE’s clients are BIPOC-owned businesses and most are women

A call for capital to scale impact

To prepare for 2021 and beyond, the GoATL team is actively calling for new capital so we can increase our investments in racial equity, build on our work to close Atlanta’s wealth gap and scale sustainable solutions in education, housing, food access and healthcare. Going into 2021, we have a vibrant pipeline of nearly $8 million, representing a wide range of investment opportunities. Yet, with a total capital base of just under $12 million (as of November 2020), a shortfall of capital could limit our momentum.

With as little as $25,000, the Foundation’s donors can invest in GoATL’s exciting momentum. The investments will earn interest, create dramatic impact over a 5-year period, then recycle back to the donor’s fund to be used for other investments or grantmaking. Our goal is raise over $2 million by January 2021.

And investors are responding! In recent weeks, we’ve received preliminary commitments of over $1 million in new investments. Though the pandemic persists, and our communities are still struggling to rebound, we have the opportunity to reshape our local economy by investing aggressively in equitable recovery. To meet these demands and accomplish our goals, we are hopeful that others will enthusiastically join us by year-end!

If you have any questions or want to learn more about how we invest for impact, please see our 2020 Impact Report, GoATL Profile and please don’t hesitate to contact me or your philanthropic officer.