For my summer internship, I worked with Merton Capital Partners (MCP) on their newly created Housing Philanthropy Fund. MCP attempts to intersect private investment with philanthropy, and currently is pursuing a project to combine the two in a way that can make high-dollar, well-planned projects accessible to Giving Pledge signers who otherwise would have a hard time deciding how to allocate their wealth. Specifically, I worked on three main initiatives for the summer. The first was the completion of a PowerPoint deck to be used for potential investors highlighting what MCP is, how MCP provides a different product offering ,and how donated capital can create huge impact in the affordable housing/homeless space. The second piece was creating an investing model template for MCP to use in the future to analyze the best uses of philanthropic capital in a given project. The third part of the internship was the cold calling/emailing of wealthy individuals/organizations in the space to inquire about potential partnerships for donations.

The biggest applicable skillsets utilized came from the real estate curriculum I underwent at Columbia Business School. I focused my elective course study on real estate, particularly in the social impact space along with study pertaining to the nonprofit sector. I took courses such as Social Impact Real Estate Investing, Markets for the Poor, Nonprofits and the City, as well as Affordable Housing Financing Techniques within the MSRED school. This latter class is where I learned how to model affordable housing deals, which was helpful for this internship. When reviewing potential sites to develop affordable housing projects, I used these skills to model out assumptions that were used to better highlight opportunity with our development partners. The other courses taken helped me better understand the overall landscape of the market.

One of the biggest challenges faced throughout the internship was trying to convey our vision to potential partners with no funding lined up. During the internship, I, along with the other interns, were pitching the idea of having philanthropic capital fund the gaps in affordable housing development projects. Another large challenge was conveying to developers that this market for donations exists, as there wasn’t a precedent that could be mentioned. Due to this, some developers were skeptical to work with MCP. Other challenges included trying to communicate this model to potential donors upon outreach. The Housing Philanthropy Fund was a newly created fund with no development partners and no funding so there was a natural hesitancy from all potential partners as there was no historical context for the vision.

One thing I learned from this internship is how to properly pitch an idea to potential collaborators. One of the issues faced was properly conveying our message on what MCP intended to achieve as an organization and how these developers and donors could use the company as a service. In speaking with donors, it’s incredibly important to present your information in a clear yet concise manner to get the point across. I understood this concept when creating a slide deck for donors to reference. More traction was gained when we simplified the pitch as opposed to highlighting all the areas Merton’s intermediary services could benefit the outcomes for developers. Another key takeaway from the internship experience is understanding that without committed partners and the relevant experience, its hard to progress with a business strategy. The founder had experience in the fundraising space from the nonprofit world but no experience in real estate and affordable housing, so it was hard for him to pitch his vision. The overall takeaway from working this internship is that relevant experience is needed in each area targeted (affordable housing, nonprofits, fundraising) to accurately push through an agenda, otherwise a great deal of pushback will ensue, regardless of the idea potential.