Craft3 is a left-of-center nonprofit community development financial institution that provides loans to individuals and organizations for a variety of individuals, organizations, and businesses with an emphasis on providing loans to homeowners and small businesses to buy property or make improvements. Craft3 promotes a variety of left-of-center ideologies and funding areas including encouraging diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) practices by committing to prioritizing loan applications from racial minority and LGBT applicants, as well as funding related to environmental, economic, and racial advocacy topics. 1 2 3
Background
Craft3 is a community development financial institution, or CDFI, a certification given by the U.S. Treasury to financial institutions that serve economically disadvantaged communities. 4 The group was formed during the “timber wars” in Washington state that pitted environmentalists against the timber industry. The group states that “[t]he founders of Craft3 saw the potential for community development finance to meet unmet community needs in a rural community making a difficult transition from an economy based on natural resource extraction.” 1
Craft3 employs 84 people, and has made more than 2,000 commercial loans and nearly 10,000 consumer loans to homeowners, including repairing septic systems and improving energy efficiency. 4
Activity
Craft3, while not a bank, provides loans to businesses, nonprofits, and individuals. The group provides bridge loans, commercial real estate loans, construction loans, and “Shari’a-Compliant Financing” designed for “Muslims who seek to live in accordance with Shari’a principles [who are] unable to access conventional debt capital because of Islam’s prohibition against charging or paying interest.” The group further explains that “To better serve the growing Muslim community in the Pacific Northwest, Craft3 has worked with key partners to develop two types of Shari’a-compliant financing.” 5
The group states an emphasis on rural and tribal communities with a goal of “Building relationships and collaborations with minority communities based on trust, accountability, power-sharing, and meaningful action” while “striving to be an anti-racist organization.” 1
The group has also employed far-left language concerning climate change and systemic racism. The group’s website states that, “Black, brown, and indigenous people have, on average, less wealth, less educational attainment, lower life expectancies, and lower rates of home ownership. Craft3 works to change this.” 1
On climate, the group states that “Our region is threatened by a climate crisis that disproportionately impacts minorities and decreases quality of life and economic growth. This crisis is already causing droughts, heat waves, floods, and forest fires across the Pacific Northwest.” 1
In 2022, the group made more than 600 consumer loans totaling more than $15 million. 6
Funding from Mackenzie Scott
In 2024, MacKenzie Scott, the ex-wife of Amazon founder Jeff Bezos, gave $15 million to Craft3, the largest unrestricted gift it had ever received. The gift was made through Yield Giving, Scott’s charitable organization. Scott previously gave the nonprofit $10 million in 2020, which it states it used “alongside other philanthropic gifts, grants and bank funds to make $200 million in loans.” 4
References
- “About.” Craft3. Accessed December 9, 2024. https://www.craft3.org/about
- “Home.” Craft3. Accessed December 9, 2024. https://www.craft3.org/
- “Home Energy.” Craft3. Accessed December 9, 2024. https://www.craft3.org/homeowner-loans/home-energy
- Kish, Matthew. “MacKenzie Scott gives $15 million to Northwest business nonprofit Craft3.” The Oregonian. November 15, 2024. Accessed December 9, 2024. https://www.oregonlive.com/business/2024/11/mackenzie-scott-gives-15-million-to-northwest-business-nonprofit-craft3.html
- “Business Loans.” Craft3. Accessed December 9, 2024. https://www.craft3.org/business-loans
- “Homeowner Loans.” Craft3. Accessed December 9, 2024. https://www.craft3.org/homeowner-loans