COMMUNITY WEALTH EXPORT/IMPORT

RCI Community Funds Benefit LLC (RCI) is planning to establish a series of community investment funds to revitalize, catalyze, and impact selected communities. Its goal is to strategically allocate funding to real estate and local businesses to generate sustainable economic growth for underserved and disinvested communities that have been ‘left behind.’ While working to establish the first fund, it has sponsored the formation of RCI Academy Corporation as a nonprofit to present educational programs on all topics related to community revitalization.

?The goal is to build the wealth of each community, which is paired with a community investment fund.

?Ket to achieving this goal is the need to import more wealth into a community than the community exports. A balance of trade is measured between countries but rarely is it tracked or managed at the community level.

?Importing wealth includes:

·?????? A resident of the community getting a paycheck

·?????? A small business in the community earning a profit

·?????? A grant received by someone in the community that does not have to be repaid

?Exporting wealth includes:

·?????? Every payment to anyone outside of the community

o?? Food

o?? Power

o?? Shelter

o?? Transportation

·?????? Every rental payment to a landlord outside of the community

·?????? Every interest payment on any mortgage, credit card, or other loan to anyone outside of the community

·?????? Every tax dollar to any governmental agency that does not provide a service of equivalent value to someone within the community

·?????? Every payment processing fee on any credit card

?It is common for most transactions to fail the import/export test as people and businesses within a community look to outside vendors and governments for products and services. As a result, the community becomes poorer. This applies to wealthy communities as well as economically distressed communities.

?Many community projects that are intended to help a community will fail the import/export test. Take as an example a fifty-unit residential housing project and ask the following questions:

·?????? Does the landowner live outside the community

·?????? Is the developer headquartered outside of the community

·?????? Is the builder headquartered outside of the community

·?????? What labor, if any, is performed by a resident of the community

·?????? What materials, if any, are sold by a business headquartered in the community

·?????? What financing, if any, comes from any person or business within the community

·?????? What property management fees, maintenance costs, or other payments are made to anyone in the community

?Obviously, the community gets a new building and roofs over the head of several residents of the community, but who owns the building? Are the residential units rentals where the resident gains no ownership in the building? Is 100% of the wealth from rents or real estate appreciation going to someone or a business outside of the community?

?Every financial transaction within a community should be broken down, and the money trail should be followed to see if the wealth ends up in the community or if it is exported somewhere else.

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SEE OUR NEW WEBSITE

?RCI has established its website – https://www.rcicommunityfunds.com We will be adding to this site and adding information on our work and the work of others who are supporting community investment. All of the past editions of this Community Revitalization newsletter have been posted on the website.

?JOIN OUR GROUP

?We have established a ‘Group’ on LinkedIn as a forum for discussion and sharing information on rebuilding communities - https://www.dhirubhai.net/groups/14502175/. We invite people who can team with us to become part of our community.

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CALL FOR COLLABORATION

?RCI is currently reaching out to people, organizations, and programs with whom its leadership team has worked to begin building a national collaboration of partners that can develop best funding practices, share knowledge, and accelerate community revitalization.

?Anyone interested in joining in this effort should contact:

Karl Dakin

[email protected]

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INFORMATION SOURCE ON COMMUNITY REVITALIZATION

?GrantNews published an article titled Building Communities with Civic Projects. The article is a pitch to sell their directory of grants. They claim they are the leading grant directory.

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COMMUNITY REVITALIZATION AT WORK – MINNEAPOLIS, MN NEIGHBORHOOD REVITALIZATION PROGRAM

?“The Minneapolis Neighborhood Revitalization Program (NRP) makes the city's residential areas better places to live, work, learn, and play. NRP is an investment program based on truly empowering residents by bringing them into the city's priority-setting process. It is based on the belief that the empowerment of residents and the mobilization of untapped resources, energy, and creativity can make our collective desire for a better future a reality.”

?The Program implements a six-step process:

1.???? Develop a Participation Agreement

2.???? Build a diverse citizen participation effort and gather and analyze information.

3.???? Draft a plan.

4.???? Review and approve the plan at the neighborhood level.

5.???? Submit the plan to the government jurisdictions for review, approval, and funding.

6.???? Implement the plan.

?Funding of Programs comes out of funding approved by the Minneapolis City Council

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CALL FOR SUCCESS STORIES

?If you have a success story on community revitalization that you would like to share with others through this newsletter, please contact:

??????????? Karl Dakin

??????????? [email protected]

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SHOW ON LINKEDIN LIVE

RCI Community Funds presents the Community Revitalization show on Thursdays at 10 am Eastern Time on LinkedIn, YouTube, and Facebook.

This morning, Steve Shaff and Bill Huston hosted guest Marc Carr with Ashoka.

A recording of the show is available for viewing at: ?

https://www.dhirubhai.net/events/communityrevitalization-marccar7244387641054396416/theater/?

?RCI MANAGEMENT TEAM

?RCI is led by Stephen Shaff, Bill Huston, Jeff Dangremond, Aaron Shalom, and Karl Dakin, who collectively hold over 150 years of experience in community engagement, organization, and fundraising. For detailed information on the management team’s background, see here.

?The management team boasts a robust network of experts across various disciplines and leaders experienced in prior community revitalization and economic justice projects. This extensive network acts as a dynamic repository of knowledge, documentation, and financial data, serving as a foundation for the team's strategic planning and execution. Leveraging these connections, the team is uniquely positioned to implement a scalable proposed funding model with precision, drawing on proven strategies and insights from past successes.