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Context on other materials and resources that were used to build the case for Vartana might be helpful for other initiatives that might seek to undertake similar work. As well as some of the high level summary documents for the project.

Organizational research

One of the elements that made pursuing the Vartana vision compelling was that there seemed to be examples of social banks - using different models - in other countries that in some cases had already been up and running for many years. These institutions included:

• Charity Bank (UK) - set up after a lending experiment in the nineties, this is an institution that largely takes deposits from individuals and uses that money to lend specifically for charities. They were initially set up as a lender of last resort for the sector (i.e. when all other banks had turned a charity down). The institution was very helpful to the Vartana initiative including sharing many of their materials such as their credit models.
• Community Sector Banking (Australia) - a model that was set up using a branded operation that was effectively a branch of a major Australian bank. The community partners involved were very helpful in explaining their negotiation as well as the opportunity that they saw.
• Banca Etica (Italy) - started relatively recently but has seen incredible success especially with regard to deposit taking.

Other models that were of interest were the Nonprofit Finance Fund (US), the Charities Aid Foundation (UK), the Triodos Bank (NL), the First Nations Bank (CDA), Caisse d'Economie (CDA), ShoreBank (US), and Vancity (CDA).

Useful materials

The following are a set of materials from the Vartana project that may be helpful in the future:

• Initiative summary
• Draft credit policies & description of the charity review committee

Other documents may be added in the future.