Two years on, foundations stand by issuing bonds in pandemic

By THALIA BEATY
Associated Press

NEW YORK (AP) — The Ford Foundation took the unprecedented step of issuing $1 billion in debt to help stabilize other nonprofits in June 2020. The move delighted investors and inspired several other large foundations to follow suit. Two years later, the foundations all stand by their decisions to take on long term debt. It allowed several to essentially double the amount they spent on grantmaking in response to what the MacArthur Foundation called the “twin pandemics” of COVID-19 and systemic racism. But the foundations say they are unlikely to repeat the bond issuance any time soon, even though they were attractive to investors who want more ESG investments.