Ford Foundation President Darren Walker has been in constant talks with nonprofits across the country worried about their futures as the coronavirus pandemic rips through their finances. So now he's turning to Wall Street to raise $1 billion to help.
The 84-year-old organization is set sell $1 billion of taxable bonds this month and use the proceeds to provide grants to nonprofits struggling to recuperate from the virus-related shutdowns that have halted most fundraising.
"We will have a tsunami of sorts that hits this community in the coming months," Mr. Walker said of nationwide nonprofit organizations. "Through this bond offering, we will be able to provide grants to the organizations we support that will help strengthen their balance sheets and make up for the loss that they know they will have to absorb."
Nonprofit organizations like museums and theaters have been reeling from the impact of the virus-related shutdowns as fundraisers are canceled and many have had to shut their doors to paying visitors.