PLATINUM2023

The Lotus Campaign Inc

HOME = HOPE

aka Lotus Campaign   |   Charlotte, NC   |  https://www.lotuscampaign.org/

Mission

Increasing the availability of housing for people experiencing homelessness by engaging the for-profit sector as partners in the solution.

Ruling year info

2018

Co-Founder + Executive Director

Beth Silverman

Main address

200 South College Street Suite 200

Charlotte, NC 28202 USA

Show more contact info

EIN

82-4662347

NTEE code info

Other Housing Support Services (L80)

Homeless Services/Centers (P85)

Housing Search Assistance (L30)

IRS filing requirement

This organization is required to file an IRS Form 990 or 990-EZ.

Sign in or create an account to view Form(s) 990 for 2020, 2019 and 2018.
Register now

Communication

Blog

Programs and results

What we aim to solve

SOURCE: Self-reported by organization

The Lotus Campaign was founded to reimagine how our country might be better enabled and empowered to respond to homelessness. Despite countless hours and millions spent, this crisis continues to be severe and intractable. And the rate at which current solutions are deployed leaves more than half a million individuals and families in this country without homes every night. This organization was born out of turning attention toward the intricacies of how people are currently housed, and the steps and players that are a part of a person’s journey to having a safe, stable place to call home. During that process, we recognized two things were missing: the private sector and critical connectivity between the players involved. These elements have unlocked unprecedented scale and led to massive gains for other challenges in business and throughout our society. Could they for homelessness? We brought them to the table to create scalable, lasting impact. HOME = HOPE

Our programs

SOURCE: Self-reported by organization

What are the organization's current programs, how do they measure success, and who do the programs serve?

Landlord Participation Program

At the core of the Lotus Campaign’s vision is the understanding that the scope of homelessness in America is beyond the capacity of public and nonprofits sectors to address alone. The Lotus Campaign is building a new model that brings together the private and non-profit sectors to create sustainable, scalable solutions to produce lasting impact.

Analyzing the intricacies of how people are currently housed, and the steps and players that are a part of a person’s journey to having a safe, stable place to call home we recognized two things were missing: the private for-profit sector and critical connectivity between the players involved. Then, we built a program to break down those barriers.

Our Landlord Participation Program incentivizes landlords by providing an upfront participation payment and economic guarantees. In addition, we ensure the tenants receive social services from our partner nonprofits while they are being housed. The Lotus Campaign bridges the gaps between those that know the most about real estate and investment and those that know the most about ongoing support and social services.

Another problem identified was the short supply of residential units available to people experiencing homelessness. To address this challenge, we work to increase the number of units available by investing in existing properties with a combination of Lotus Campaign funds and private debt and equity. Soon, we will be investing in to-be-built properties.

Our best hope for building lasting solutions is to break down barriers, test new ideas, and create strong alliances.

Population(s) Served
Homeless people
Families

Where we work

Our results

SOURCE: Self-reported by organization

How does this organization measure their results? It's a hard question but an important one.

Number of homeless participants engaged in housing services

This metric is no longer tracked.
Totals By Year
Related Program

Landlord Participation Program

Type of Metric

Output - describing our activities and reach

Direction of Success

Increasing

Context Notes

In 4.5 years, we have facilitated housing for 379 individuals (including 140 children), supported 186 lease renewals, and celebrated 274 Lotus residents who have moved on to independent housing.

Number of Partnership Participants

This metric is no longer tracked.
Totals By Year
Related Program

Landlord Participation Program

Type of Metric

Input - describing resources we use

Direction of Success

Increasing

Context Notes

This includes our Participating Landlord Partners and our Social Service Organization Partners

Average cost per person per year to be placed and stay in permanent housing

This metric is no longer tracked.
Totals By Year
Related Program

Landlord Participation Program

Type of Metric

Outcome - describing the effects on people or issues

Direction of Success

Holding steady

Our Sustainable Development Goals

SOURCE: Self-reported by organization

Learn more about Sustainable Development Goals.

Goals & Strategy

SOURCE: Self-reported by organization

Learn about the organization's key goals, strategies, capabilities, and progress.

Charting impact

Four powerful questions that require reflection about what really matters - results.

Our partnerships with landlords and property management professionals and diverse nonprofit homeless support organizations help unlikely allies learn each other’s languages and work towards a common goal: opening up housing for people experiencing homelessness. Because of these partnerships together we can provide housing, training and ongoing support to formerly homeless people allowing them to redirect their lives and achieve self-sufficiency. But most of all, these partnerships help us deliver hope to those who need it most.

We believe any solution to homelessness requires that we leverage the power of the private, for-profit real estate community. Our approach has three components:

First, our Landlord Participation Program is designed to incentivize landlords to lease to people experiencing homelessness by providing an upfront participation payment. We also guarantee against loss of rent and damages, and ensure that the residents receive social services.

Next, we plan to increase the supply of units available to those experiencing homelessness by investing in both existing and to-be-built properties using a combination of Lotus Campaign funds and private debt and equity.

Finally, we intend to provide advice and education to cities, counties, government agencies, and non-government organizations on how they can work with private, for-profit developers, owners, and investors to better address the issue of homelessness.

The challenge of homelessness is too pervasive for the government and nonprofit housing providers to solve on their own. To have a chance, we must engage the private, for-profit real estate and investment communities, with their vast resources and expertise, in the solution. We believe our pragmatic, economic approach will accomplish just that.

We select innovative organizations that provide services to people experiencing homelessness to become Sponsoring Organizations. It is the Sponsoring Organizations that both identify individuals (“Sponsored Residents”) who are ready for placement in a rental home and provide the social services necessary to make the placement a success. The Lotus Campaign provides the funding required to facilitate the placement.

Meanwhile, our team identifies landlords (“Participating Landlords”) who want to work with us. In exchange for accepting a Sponsored Resident into their community, the Participating Landlord generally receives a participation payment and guarantees against loss of rent or damages to the residential unit.

In simple terms, the Lotus Campaign brings together the Participating Landlords and the Sponsoring Organizations to do what they do best. The landlords provide housing, the organizations provide social services, and the Lotus Campaign provides the economic support to make it happen. Best of all, the Sponsored Resident gets a home.

The Lotus Campaign is an innovative nonprofit organization dedicated to increasing the availability of homes for people experiencing homelessness by engaging the private, for-profit real estate and investment communities.

Who – We are a multidisciplinary team that believes there is a better way to address homelessness and housing affordability.

Why – Residential units available to people experiencing homelessness are in short supply. Not only is there a shortage of affordable rental units in virtually every market in the country, but many private, for-profit landlords have been reluctant to accept residents who are homeless because of real and perceived costs and risks. The challenge of homelessness is too pervasive for the government and nonprofit housing providers to solve on their own. We believe the needed innovation is simple: Engage the private, for-profit real estate and investment communities as part of the solution


How – Our approach has three components – Connect, Create, and Educate.

Connect - The Landlord Participation program is designed to encourage landlords to lease to people experiencing homelessness by providing an upfront participation payment as well as other measures designed to eliminate economic risk. By defraying economic risk, the program creates a straightforward path to matching interested landlords with homeless advocacy and support organizations in need of housing for eligible tenants.

Create – Our development arm finds investment partners to purchase, rehabilitate, and build properties to house people experiencing homelessness and to create affordable workforce housing. We also plan to research and pilot new construction techniques and materials to help test and champion innovative ways to build more cost effectively.

Educate - We provide advice and educational resource to cities, counties, public agencies, non- government organizations and the private development community to help debunk myths about people experiencing homelessness, housing affordability, and the economics of housing development.


Primary Strategies are:

1. Unlock private capital to address homelessness and housing affordability

2. Reduce economic risk by incorporating perspective of the landlord + owner/operator

3. Remain nimble, scalable and replicable

4. Manage an efficient use of capital and leverage equity

5. Realize housing as part of foundation to achieve greater economic mobility and racial equity

6. Utilize an approach independent of public subsidy

7. Maintain a Cost-to-Benefit ratio – approx. $1,000 houses one person/year

8. Promote the social impact investment and development model -- “You can do good and still do well”

The Lotus campaigns strengths are found in the cooperative partnerships that we have been able to secure and in the strength and professional acumen of our Board of Advisors.

A few of our partner organizations are as follows:

Charlotte Family Housing – Charlotte Family Housing (CFH) is a shelter-to-housing program working to empower families to achieve life-long self-sufficiency through shelter, housing, supportive services, and advocacy. CFH has partnered with the Lotus Campaign’s Landlord Participation program since November 2018. To date, they have housed 27 families as part of Lotus’s Landlord Participation Program.

Ginkgo Residential - Their mission is to provide reasonably priced, high-quality housing that is energy efficient and environmentally sensitive. Ginkgo has been a Participating Landlord with the Lotus Campaign since July 2018.

Running Works - is a values-led, mentorship-based organization which seeks to assist individuals and families experiencing homelessness and poverty with their needs for physical, emotional, and social well-being.

The Urban Ministry Center - is unyielding in helping Charlotte’s most vulnerable homeless neighbors. With the dedication of our volunteers and gifts from throughout the community, we’ve pursued this passionate mission since 1994.


The Lotus Campaign Board of Advisors include the following:

An Executive Vice President for the Urban Land Institute (ULI), a nonprofit education and research institute that focuses on issues of land use, real estate and urban development. A Senior Managing Consultant for federal, state and local municipalities and public authorities on traditional and alternative financing initiatives.

A senior executive who is focused on developing strategies to bring capital markets to disinvested communities to invest in the development of “sustainable restorative” human settlements.

An activist and award winning author who led the city-wide effort to build Moore Place, Charlotte’s first permanent supportive housing for chronically homeless men and women. recipient of the Bank of America Neighborhood Hero Award, the NC Housing Volunteer of the Year Award and recognized as a William J. Clinton Distinguished Guest Lecturer.

A Charles E. Fraser Chair on Sustainable Development at the Urban Land Institute where he is a leading authority on economic development and land use polices and trends.

Chairman of the Multi-Family Green Council of the Urban Land Institute (ULI), an active member of the National Multi-Family Housing Council (NMHC), a past chairman and current member of the Board of Directors of the not-for-profit, Over the Rainbow Association and an advisor to several property-tech firms and funds.

Old ways won’t open new doors.

The Lotus Campaign launched nearly 2 years ago to boldly reimagine how to solve homelessness. We wanted to figure out why - with all the time and money thrown at homelessness -- it remains such a devastating challenge? Why were there were so few partnerships with the private sector? And why weren’t existing solutions solving the challenge? The answer is simple: that homelessness is just far too large a challenge for government and traditional nonprofits to solve alone. The private sector needs to play a sizeable role. But how? We created the Lotus Campaign with the idea that private real estate and investment communities could be partners in the solution.
We worked backwards from what does not work in existing solutions, problem-solved how to use private capital as a tool for good and most importantly, how to bridge the gaps between those that know the most about real estate and investment and those that know the most about ongoing support and social services. But Lotus is so much more than housing. It’s about connecting unlikely allies as partners in new solutions, opening up housing in neighborhoods of opportunity and strengthening the fabric of our communities.

Since launching in July 2018, we have helped over 241 people move into housing at a cost of less than $1,000 per person per year through our Landlord Participation Program, invested in our first real estate project reserving 20% of the units for Lotus Campaign clients, and traveled across the country advising others of what we do and why it matters.


The winners of Fast "Company’s 2020 World Changing Ideas Awards" were announced last week (May 4, 2020), honoring the businesses, policies, projects, and concepts that are actively engaged and deeply committed to addressing climate crisis, social injustice, or economic inequality. The Lotus Campaign received an honorable mention in the general excellence category!!! According to Fast Company, the general excellence category includes "The broadest ideas, be they new government policies, new business models or entire new consumer categories. Anything that has the potential to effect true systems change or solve wicked problems." You can see us in the fine print right here and in Fast Company’s May/June print edition.



How we listen

SOURCE: Self-reported by organization

Seeking feedback from people served makes programs more responsive and effective. Here’s how this organization is listening.

done We demonstrated a willingness to learn more by reviewing resources about feedback practice.
done We shared information about our current feedback practices.
  • Who are the people you serve with your mission?

    We serve individuals and families who experiencing homelessness or are in danger of experiencing homelessness. We partner with for-profit real estate investors and landlords as well as local social services nonprofits.

  • How is your organization collecting feedback from the people you serve?

    Electronic surveys (by email, tablet, etc.), Paper surveys, Focus groups or interviews (by phone or in person), Case management notes, Community meetings/Town halls, Constituent (client or resident, etc.) advisory committees,

  • How is your organization using feedback from the people you serve?

    To identify and remedy poor client service experiences, To identify bright spots and enhance positive service experiences, To inform the development of new programs/projects, To identify where we are less inclusive or equitable across demographic groups, To strengthen relationships with the people we serve, To understand people's needs and how we can help them achieve their goals,

  • What significant change resulted from feedback?

    After focusing exclusively on partnering with landlords of "Class-B" properties in neighborhoods of strong opportunity structures, we recently launched a pilot program with our first "Class-A" property landlord. This is based on the expressed readiness from out nonprofit partners that their clients are adequately set up for success to thrive in that type of living environment. Additionally, we've expanded our annual Candid Community Conversation event to occur in both Charlotte and Raleigh instead of just Charlotte. This is in response to feedback from our partners and expressed interest from greater Raleigh community to scale our program to the Triangle region of Central North Carolina.

  • With whom is the organization sharing feedback?

    The people we serve, Our staff, Our board, Our funders, Our community partners,

  • How has asking for feedback from the people you serve changed your relationship?

    It has encouraged us to continue to innovate our program and expand to our second market.

  • Which of the following feedback practices does your organization routinely carry out?

    We collect feedback from the people we serve at least annually, We take steps to get feedback from marginalized or under-represented people, We aim to collect feedback from as many people we serve as possible, We take steps to ensure people feel comfortable being honest with us, We look for patterns in feedback based on demographics (e.g., race, age, gender, etc.), We look for patterns in feedback based on people’s interactions with us (e.g., site, frequency of service, etc.), We engage the people who provide feedback in looking for ways we can improve in response, We act on the feedback we receive, We tell the people who gave us feedback how we acted on their feedback, We ask the people who gave us feedback how well they think we responded,

  • What challenges does the organization face when collecting feedback?

    We don't have any major challenges to collecting feedback,

Financials

The Lotus Campaign Inc
lock

Unlock financial insights by subscribing to our monthly plan.

Subscribe

Unlock nonprofit financial insights that will help you make more informed decisions. Try our monthly plan today.

  • Analyze a variety of pre-calculated financial metrics
  • Access beautifully interactive analysis and comparison tools
  • Compare nonprofit financials to similar organizations

Want to see how you can enhance your nonprofit research and unlock more insights?
Learn more about GuideStar Pro.

Operations

The people, governance practices, and partners that make the organization tick.

lock

Connect with nonprofit leaders

Subscribe

Build relationships with key people who manage and lead nonprofit organizations with GuideStar Pro. Try a low commitment monthly plan today.

  • Analyze a variety of pre-calculated financial metrics
  • Access beautifully interactive analysis and comparison tools
  • Compare nonprofit financials to similar organizations

Want to see how you can enhance your nonprofit research and unlock more insights? Learn More about GuideStar Pro.

lock

Connect with nonprofit leaders

Subscribe

Build relationships with key people who manage and lead nonprofit organizations with GuideStar Pro. Try a low commitment monthly plan today.

  • Analyze a variety of pre-calculated financial metrics
  • Access beautifully interactive analysis and comparison tools
  • Compare nonprofit financials to similar organizations

Want to see how you can enhance your nonprofit research and unlock more insights? Learn More about GuideStar Pro.

The Lotus Campaign Inc

Board of directors
as of 03/14/2023
SOURCE: Self-reported by organization
Board chair

Philip Payne

Philip Payne

The Lotus Campaign

Molly McCabe

HaydenTanner

Stephen Blank

Independent Director

Paul Bernard

AHC

Sylvia Kwan

Ellevest

Jeralyn Gerba

Fathom

Board leadership practices

SOURCE: Self-reported by organization

GuideStar worked with BoardSource, the national leader in nonprofit board leadership and governance, to create this section.

  • Board orientation and education
    Does the board conduct a formal orientation for new board members and require all board members to sign a written agreement regarding their roles, responsibilities, and expectations? Yes
  • CEO oversight
    Has the board conducted a formal, written assessment of the chief executive within the past year ? Yes
  • Ethics and transparency
    Have the board and senior staff reviewed the conflict-of-interest policy and completed and signed disclosure statements in the past year? Yes
  • Board composition
    Does the board ensure an inclusive board member recruitment process that results in diversity of thought and leadership? Yes
  • Board performance
    Has the board conducted a formal, written self-assessment of its performance within the past three years? Yes

Organizational demographics

SOURCE: Self-reported; last updated 3/14/2023

Who works and leads organizations that serve our diverse communities? Candid partnered with CHANGE Philanthropy on this demographic section.

Leadership

The organization's leader identifies as:

Race & ethnicity
Decline to state
Gender identity
Female

Race & ethnicity

Gender identity

 

Sexual orientation

Disability

Equity strategies

Last updated: 03/14/2023

GuideStar partnered with Equity in the Center - an organization that works to shift mindsets, practices, and systems to increase racial equity - to create this section. Learn more

Data
  • We review compensation data across the organization (and by staff levels) to identify disparities by race.
  • We ask team members to identify racial disparities in their programs and / or portfolios.
  • We analyze disaggregated data and root causes of race disparities that impact the organization's programs, portfolios, and the populations served.
  • We disaggregate data to adjust programming goals to keep pace with changing needs of the communities we support.
  • We employ non-traditional ways of gathering feedback on programs and trainings, which may include interviews, roundtables, and external reviews with/by community stakeholders.
  • We disaggregate data by demographics, including race, in every policy and program measured.
  • We have long-term strategic plans and measurable goals for creating a culture such that one’s race identity has no influence on how they fare within the organization.
Policies and processes
  • We use a vetting process to identify vendors and partners that share our commitment to race equity.
  • We have a promotion process that anticipates and mitigates implicit and explicit biases about people of color serving in leadership positions.
  • We seek individuals from various race backgrounds for board and executive director/CEO positions within our organization.
  • We have community representation at the board level, either on the board itself or through a community advisory board.
  • We help senior leadership understand how to be inclusive leaders with learning approaches that emphasize reflection, iteration, and adaptability.
  • We measure and then disaggregate job satisfaction and retention data by race, function, level, and/or team.
  • We engage everyone, from the board to staff levels of the organization, in race equity work and ensure that individuals understand their roles in creating culture such that one’s race identity has no influence on how they fare within the organization.