The Greater Cincinnati Foundation received a $5 million impact investment from the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation to support community development initiatives, including expanding access to safe and affordable housing.
The funding is part of a $21 million 2024 allocation by RWJF, one of the nation’s largest health-focused philanthropies. Other recipients include the Community Foundation of Greater Chattanooga in Tennessee and the Saint Paul & Minnesota Foundation, each receiving $5 million.
Flexible, long-term investments like this allow community foundations to develop locally tailored strategies by collaborating with nonprofits, government agencies and residents. Community foundations maintain close connections to their communities, giving them an advantage in driving lasting change.
Traditionally, community foundations have focused on grants. While grants can spark change, RWJF says investments can do more – reaching a wider range of organizations, including for-profit businesses, helping programs grow and supporting long-term stability. Impact investing also allows collaboration with local funders, credit unions and community loan funds, giving foundations more tools to meet local needs.
“This investment gives community foundations the ability to pursue innovative strategies and respond to the needs of residents in ways that grants alone cannot,” RWJF said in a statement.
Investing in Cincy-specific needs
All three of RWJF’s recent awardees focus on increasing access to affordable housing and supporting economic growth.
In Greater Cincinnati, the funding will go toward helping build and preserve affordable housing, create construction jobs and create more economic opportunity, with a focus on addressing longstanding racial and economic disparities.
GCF plans to use the investment to support affordable homes for low-income families, create local construction jobs, and foster generational wealth. In its statement, RWJF said the funding will also help revitalize areas that have experienced disinvestment in Greater Cincinnati.
Specific details on how GCF will use the funds haven’t yet been released. However, in a statement, GCF noted that it’s in the process of consulting stakeholders and developing an investment strategy that “can maximize the impact of this fund.”
GCF plans to share more details in the next two to three months once the strategy is in place.
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