Bridge Loans for Impact

We provide fast and flexible bridge loans to impact first organizations.

In a Cash Crunch?

Open Road is committed to supporting you on your journey to impact.

Our loans help social enterprises and nonprofits overcome obstacles to impact as they challenge the status quo to create a better world.

From the tele-health company requiring additional equipment and staff due to rapid demand during COVID-19, to the social enterprise facing a delayed Series A investment due to Brexit, Open Road loans ensure innovative efforts to address the world’s greatest challenges can carry on without interruption.

An Open Road Loan Keeps Impact on Track

Funding Derailments

New regulatory requirements
Changes in personnel
Policy changes
Changes in investment committee schedule
Funder strategy shifts
Pause on investments
Unexpected travel
Third-party delays
World events

Open Road Loan

Impact Kept on Track

Maintain momentum for entering new markets
Continue on-time payment of staff salaries
Enable partnership opportunities requiring upfront investments
Avoid “starvation” of the business
Ensure steady resources for longer-term growth

Our Criteria

As a funder exclusively focused on the unexpected, Open Road provides support across geographies and sectors. The projects we fund must meet the following criteria.

Mid-implementation

Unexpected

Discrete

Catalytic

A mid-implementation project is one that is otherwise fully funded, staffed, and designed. If not for this unexpected roadblock or opportunity, there would be no outstanding need.

MEETS CRITERIA

A clinical trial is underway in South Africa. The trial is fully funded, and all personnel have been hired and trained. The trial is six months into its 18-month cycle. At this moment, something unexpected happens that threatens the success of the trial.

DOES NOT MEET CRITERIA

A health NGO is planning a clinical trial in South Africa. They have wanted to conduct this trial for years and now have a gift of $500,000 to make it happen. But they need another $50,000 to fully design and implement the trial as originally envisioned.

A project that encounters an unforeseeable roadblock or opportunity. This includes changes in government regulations, laws, or tariffs; a crop-destroying virus; unusual weather conditions; or other events exogenous to program design.

MEETS CRITERIA

An NGO budgeted $200,000 to build a monitoring and evaluation database to improve access to programs and services. Three months into the project, the host country’s government asks to license the software. The required software redesign will cost $75,000 and take two months to complete.

DOES NOT MEET CRITERIA

An NGO budgeted $200,000 to build a monitoring and evaluation database to improve access to programs and services. The project was supposed to take four months to complete. But after four months, the developer and NGO realize that due to the complexity of the work, they need another $75,000 and two more months to complete the project.

A one-time, one project loan to address a specific solvable problem that arose mid-implementation. Once provided, no additional funds should be necessary from Open Road or any other funder to see the project through completion.

MEETS CRITERIA

The development of a new mobile health application for rural Americans is almost complete when the Affordable Healthcare Act is passed. The developer must hire a short-term consultant to adjust the software to remain compliant with the new law.

DOES NOT MEET CRITERIA

The development of a new mobile-health application for rural Americans is almost complete when unexpected budget cuts place staff salaries at risk. The NGO needs to find permanent replacement funds for ongoing personnel costs.

A catalytic project expands impact significantly beyond a one to one relationship, resulting in a multiplier effect. Catalytic implies exponential or leveraged returns.

MEETS CRITERIA

An education-focused NGO is expanding its entrepreneurial curriculum to 200 schools in the coming year, serving an additional 2,000 students and training 500 new teachers. More importantly, through existing public-private partnerships, the country's Ministry of Education has agreed to adopt the program nationally if the NGO can prove success at scale of 200 schools. Halfway through the school year, an unexpected roadblock occurs.

DOES NOT MEET CRITERIA

An education-focused NGO is expanding its entrepreneurial curriculum to 200 schools in the coming year. The expansion will serve 2,000 new students and train 500 teachers in their methods. Halfway through the school year, an unexpected roadblock occurs.

Application Process

We understand that emergencies can’t wait. We accept applications on a rolling basis. Our full process from inquiry to decision typically takes two to six weeks.

1. Inquiry Submission

The process begins when you submit an inquiry through our Salesforce platform.

2. Initial Review

A member of our social investments team will review the submitted inquiry and determine eligibility.

3. Initial Call

We will schedule an initial conversation to learn more about your situation and will continue our internal review.

Submission

Potential partners will be invited to complete a short online application.

5. Review & Revise

A member of our team will work with you to refine your application and prepare for investment committee review.

Final Call & Decision

Potential partners will join the investment committee for a final interview and a decision will be made within one week.

Need Funding?

We’ll help you through it.

Our investment strategy is designed to keep impact first. We seek to maximize social returns while meeting financial requirements. We exist to serve the social sector, not the other way around. If you think that you are eligible for a one-time Open Road loan please submit an initial inquiry.

Our Customer Service Credo

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Case Studies

Hello Tractor

Hello Tractor is a social enterprise focused on increasing agricultural productivity to match the food demands of the world’s growing populatio...

Sidai

In the Spring of 2017, a UK-based animal nutrition company expressed interest in investing in Sidai. Conversations progressed and Sidai was on tr...

TILT Forward Initiative and DreamFund (Association for Enterprise Opportunity)

Following the US financial crisis, large banks drastically reduced lending to sm...

Loans: Frequently Asked Questions

What different entities does Open Road work through?

Established in 2012, Open Road Alliance is a philanthropic initiative that serves the social sector by Keeping Impact on Track™ in an unpredictable world. We provide short-term solutions by disbursing fast grants and loans to nonprofits and social enterprises facing discrete, unexpected roadblocks during project implementation. We also conduct research and advocates for the adoption of long-term, system-wide risk management practices across the social sector.

Open Road Ventures is a fund established by Open Road Alliance, with proprietary capital, to disburse below market-rate loans. While ORV is a legally independent entity, it is wholly managed by Open Road in accordance with our philanthropic mission. The loan fund is designed to break even, covering the costs of any potential losses. Any income generated from interest will be used as reserves to absorb future losses. No earnings will be distributed to investors.

The Impact Fund is the first fund by Open Road that is open to outside investors including family offices, foundations, and impact-first investors. Impact Fund loans range from $100,000 to $1M and are extended to social impact organizations located primarily in Africa, U.S., Latin America, and South Asia.

In contrast to the Open Road Impact Fund, ORV is not open to external investors.

Who is eligible for a loan? What are your terms?

Open Road is sector (issue area) and geographically agnostic and serves both nonprofits and for-profit social enterprises of any size. Our funds are only used to support mid-implementation projects facing unexpected obstacles or sudden catalytic opportunities that can expand their impact.

Terms:

Average loan size: $250,000, max $1M

Interest rates: 2–5% for non-profits, 5–10% for social enterprises

Average term: 9 months, ranging from 30 days to 24 months

Details:

Open Road is not solving for the greater working capital issue in the sector, but providing a, “bridge to somewhere.”

Our three types of loans are: (1) a bridge to committed funding, (2) help with delays in accounts receivable and (3) an unexpected opportunity for impact such as an unexpectedly large purchase order.

Why loans?

In 2017, after five years of funding nonprofits and social enterprises facing roadblocks, we learned a lot about “what goes wrong” during project implementation and what organizations need to overcome those barriers.

From observation, empirical data, and many, many conversations with our social impact partners, we realized that oftentimes the problem is not a lack of money in general, but a lack of money NOW. In other words, whatever the cause of the problem, the result in financial terms is simply a cash-flow issue. In these cases, additional funding is coming–whether through a committed grant, equity raise, confirmed sales, or other source–but it is not coming quickly enough to address the problem at hand. As such, these organizations need a financial bridge–a loan–to keep impact on track while waiting for the additional, committed funds. Once those pre identified funds come in, Open Road is paid back.

In addition to loans, Open Road also continues to make charitable grants to both nonprofits and social enterprises in cases where an organization does not have committed revenue or expected income.

Open Road is able to generate greater impact through loans because the funds are recycled over and over to multiple organizations pursuing their social missions. Serving more organizations ultimately means more impact across the sector.

Do you charge interest? Why?

Loans are offered at below market rates, ranging from 2-10%, depending on the market, to serve as a bridge or working capital. The average loan term is 9 months, with a range of 30 days to two years. By charging interest at below market rates, Open Road is able to preserve the value of its capital in the face of inflation, as well as cover expected losses. Open Road Ventures is not designed to generate profits and Open Road Impact Fund distributes below-market returns to investors.

Who are the investors?

Open Road Alliance and Open Road Ventures are solely and privately funded by its Founder, Dr. Laurie Michaels. The Open Road Impact Fund is funded by a variety of investors.