What is “Community Capital?”

Here at NC3, we define community capital as money that comes from the community and goes to the community.

How is our definition different?
Traditionally, the community finance industry has bundled deposits with institutional funds, including government dollars, to invest in the communities they serve. Investment decisions are made by finance professionals, taking into account institutional risk exposure, liquidity concerns, and underwriting requirements.

NC3’s model of community capital focuses on investments sourced from a broad spectrum of a community, including both wealthy and non-wealthy investors. By involving many types of investors and giving them decision-making power, we can build wealth more equitably and create an economy that works for everyone.
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Direct investing opportunities reduce the distance between investors and local businesses and strengthen community ties. The local knowledge and social capital in a community helps to de-risk investments, and create advocates for local businesses and projects.

There are many ways that these investments can be structured: direct peer-to-peer investing, crowdfunding, local investing clubs, community investing funds, and more. But few know how to do these deals.

This is why NC3 was created: to advocate for increased use of community capital and to educate investors, entrepreneurs, economic developers, and professional service providers about how they can use community capital to advance their goals.

To learn more about our model of community capital, and how it can be implemented in your community, check out one of our upcoming events.