Social Bond Framework

The Mellon Foundation issued $300 million in social bonds in July 2020 under the Mellon Foundation Social Bond Framework. We intend to use the net proceeds of the social bond offering to fund grantmaking and to refinance previous borrowing used to pay grants in 2020.

In response to the COVID-19 global pandemic and its adverse effects on nonprofits, we have undertaken rapid and increased emergency grantmaking. We announced in June 2020 that it would issue an additional $200 million in grants in 2020—on top of the $300 million originally planned for the year—to help shore up arts, humanities, and educational nonprofits devastated by the ongoing public health crisis.