The Legacy

The Legacy is OSALT's endowment fund: gifts to OSALT of funds by farsighted individuals and organizations who understand that sustainability is an ongoing activity and needs unrestricted resources to be able to go where the answers lead us. The Legacy is a permanent fund designed to free OSALT from the need for constant fundraising. and like most of OSALT's activities, The Legacy is a little unusual. Most endowments are invested in stocks, bonds, income properties or other common investments that yield a steady income stream. The income is used for day-to-day operations.

The Legacy is also invested to yield a steady income stream for day-to-day operations. But it is not invested on stocks or bonds or income property. It is a low-interest revolving loan fund of low interest mortgages and operating loans to selected small agricultural operators, processors and retailers.

In this way, the fund generates income for OSALT’s activities at the same time the loans directly support OSALT’s goals of making agricultural lands available to future generations and supporting the development of sustainable approaches to production and distribution of food, fiber and building materials. And because one of OSALT's goals is to support exactly these kinds of efforts, and because The Legacy's primary function is to provide support for OSALT, we are able to make funds available for these borrowers under very favorable terms, and in cases where traditional lenders will not, not because the borrowerrs are bad risks but because most lenders don’t deal with small-scale agriculture so don’t make these types of loans.

OSALT requires minimal operating expenses: staffing will remain small and other operating expenses are modest, primarily phone, printing and postage. The primary use of earnings is to support research and education projects and for land acquisition and permanent protection.

While we expect it may take some years to fully fund the endowment (our goal ia $33,000,000) these loans are being made as funds become available.

Gifts to The Endowment Fund not only support OSALT, but also support those who are developing sustainable agriculture and secure food systems, and will continute to do so for generations to come.

You can contribute to The Endowment Fund by sending a check to:

    OSALT - The Endowment Fund
    PO Box 1106
    Canby, Oregon 97013

You may also be interested in becoming a Pioneer, a primary supporter of The Endowment Fund, or borrowing from The Endowment Fund.