Neighborly is repairing the connective tissue of society by empowering communities to directly engage in shaping the future of their cities.

The City Manager’s office of Cambridge, Massachusetts worked with Neighborly to raise $2 million in resident-bought municipal bonds through an issuance that sold out in less than three business days.

$2 million resident-bought municipal bond issuance sold out in less than three business days.

Neighborly is a public finance technology company making it easier for people to invest in the places they care about, and easier for cities to raise the money they need to build vital public projects like schools, parks, community solar and municipal broadband.

Neighborly’s platform enabled a wide range of community members to invest in its bond issuance and engage directly in shaping the future of the city. The city Manager’s office leveraged Neighborly’s multi-channel marketing expertise to reach the community – sending 5,000 postcards, launching a social media campaign, utilizing search marketing and much more.

In the first two weeks of the issuance process, more than 500 Cambridge residents applied for Neighborly brokerage accounts. Over a third of the 231 final investors were investing in municipal bonds for the first time. Order sizes were limited to $20K and restricted to the five zip codes of Cambridge. More than half of the bond orders were less than $5k each, a distinction unique to Neighborly’s modern approach to public finance.

More than half of the bond orders were less than $5k each, a distinction unique to Neighborly’s modern approach to public finance.

Cambridge plans to use the funds for updating city parking, school renovations and infrastructure development projects.

More can be found about the issuance and results here.