The Equity Trust Loan Fund
The Equity Trust Loan Fund makes loans to:
- CSA Farmers and Farmer Cooperatives
- Community Land Trusts (Urban and Rural CLTs)
- Conservation Land Trusts
- Nonprofit organizations that protect community access to land or affordable housing
The Equity Trust Loan Fund is capitalized by socially motivated lenders and donors. It uses its capital to make low-interest loans, typically between $5,000 and $150,000, to community supported agriculture farmers, cooperatives, community land trusts, conservation land trusts, and other nonprofit organizations for projects that protect the affordability and use of housing or farms, or the viability of CSA farms.
The loan fund makes loans that: Support the economic vitality of CSA farms or the economic success of projects protecting the affordability and use of land and/or buildings for agriculture or for affordable housing; directly assist nonprofit organizations to purchase and protect land, or to purchase agricultural conservation easements to protect land for community use; or directly or indirectly enable land reform and promote alternative ownership models. Within those three purposes, applications for equipment, capital improvements, construction, acquisition of land, acquisition of conservation easements, predevelopment, refinancing, and working capital are all eligible. Collateral is required.
The Equity Trust Fund is able to offer below-market interest rates – currently a fixed interest rate of between 5% and 7.5%, depending on how many of the loan fund’s goals an applicant’s project meets. Loan terms can be for up to five years, and we can offer a lower monthly payment with a balloon upon borrower’s request. Once the loan fund has received a complete borrower application, the staff and loan committee is typically able to approve and issue a loan within four weeks. The Equity Trust Loan Fund charges a fee of $200 or 1% of the value of the loan, whichever is larger, to issue a loan that has been approved. When a project requires more than $200,000, the Equity Trust Fund commonly makes loans in conjunction with other lenders.
If you are interested in applying for a loan from the Equity Trust Loan Fund, you can download:
Loan Application and Procedures
If you are interested making a loan to the Fund, you can download:
Terms for Lenders
Loan Offer
To make a gift to the Equity Trust Loan Fund, please contact our office at 413-863-9038 or by email info@equitytrust.org
Please feel free to call our office if you have questions or would like to know more about Equity Trust Fund loans. Our staff really enjoys sharing the work of the Equity Trust Fund, and will be happy to help you.