Greetings!
 Bruce Arbit,
Principal & Founder
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While I don't agree with everything in Jason Saul's new book, The End of Fundraising, he does make a compelling case for additional tools that create new funding sources. It is in this spirit that Melarbit announces the addition of its Community Investing services. This is a natural outgrowth of our fundraising and capacity building work and extends what we do in a few direct ways:
For local community enterprises and entrepreneurs it creates new sources of capital, brought together in 'blended' community investment funds. For funders and private investors it enables them to access and leverage a wider range of resources for sustainable community and economic development initiatives (see below). Read about a $4 million social investment fund we created to attract a variety of funders for an arts-based affordable housing developer in Orange, NJ. Click here to learn about current collaborations that are helping us leverage our impact. And stay tuned for new ones that are being added to our network. The ability of Melarbit's Community Investing services to connect capital to local communities that are solving real problems and expanding opportunities will be the true measure of our work. Specific examples include: 1. Creating and preserving affordable housing and mixed-use real estate development in diverse neighborhoods. 2. Support for organizations/associations that are using the arts to build creative, healthy, inclusive communities in formerly distressed urban areas. 3. Efforts to scale-up the supply of fresh, local food through investment in local/regional food systems and other early stage/emerging businesses. 4. Providing new solutions to social issues, including poverty alleviation, educational reform, health care and youth development. But in the end, regardless of what we do or what we call it, we remain committed to creating opportunities, changing lives and building community. Unleash the possibilities. If you are pursuing a growth strategy that requires access to/leveraging of capital, then contact me. | 
