Impact real estate investing uses houses, apartments, land, building and other live/work assets to make cashflow as well as help improve the lives of the people in that community. The investments create a positive return on the money invested as well as a positive return in the lives of others. Our organization uses real estate as the vehicle for social change, helping those in our society to gain quality housing that also heals the wounds they have internally from homelessness, drug or alcohol abuse or abandonment. 

Surprisingly, this is a very common question. Nonprofit organizations are able to purchase, rent and control properties just like a for profit business. This is helpful because now the nonprofit has assets with value therefore increasing the sustainability of the organization outside of donations and grants. There are some nuances that make it more challenging, however. Lenders for nonprofits are hard to find because most lenders do not understand the benefits of working with nonprofits. They are more concerned with foreclosing on the assets in case the nonprofit becomes insolvent. Therefore the nonprofit should try to use a capital raise campaign to acquire the properties and try to find other methods of leveraging the assets through SBA loans or lines of credit. 

This is a cheat sheet and very quick explanation:

• A traditional business is owned and operated by private individuals for profit and is taxed on its earnings. 
• A nonprofit is owned by the public and run by a board of directors that represents the will of the public at large.
• A not for profit is owned by the public but benefits the limited community that established the organization and will use the organization for their own needs. (Like a little league or ski club.)