Term Loans
Long-Term Finance for Bigger Community Ambitions
A Clann Credo term loan is long-term impact lending for community organisations and social enterprises in Ireland. Borrow up to €800,000 over up to 15 years to build, renovate, expand or complete a community project, with repayments designed around how your organisation earns its income.
Term loan at a glance
- Loan amount: up to €800,000
- Term: up to 15 years
- Interest rate: 6.45% variable
- Repayments: structured around your organisation’s income cycle
- For: community groups, sports clubs, charities, housing bodies and social enterprises
What is a term loan?
Not every community project is fully covered by grant aid. Sometimes the grant doesn’t stretch far enough. Sometimes there’s no grant available at all. And sometimes a community has a bold ambition that needs a longer runway to deliver.
That’s where a Clann Credo term loan comes in. It gives your organisation the financial foundation to complete the project and invest in something that will serve your community for years to come.
What can a term loan fund?
- Building, extending or renovating community facilities
- Closing the gap between a grant award and the full project cost
- Parts of a project that grants don’t cover but that deliver clear community benefit
- Expanding services, capacity or a social enterprise
- Equipment, fit-out and infrastructure
- Energy retrofits and renewable energy upgrades
- Consolidating existing borrowing into one affordable arrangement
Repayments that work with your income
Your repayments are built around how your organisation earns: rents, memberships, facility hire, admission fees, service fees, café and shop sales, and fundraising. A steady, predictable calendar of activity is one of the strongest signs that a project is sustainable, and we structure your loan to fit it.
How we assess your application
We give equal weight to the social impact of your project and your organisation’s capacity to repay. A balance sheet tells only part of the story. Leadership, volunteer commitment, community backing and a proven ability to deliver all matter, and they are part of how we understand a project.
That’s rigorous lending with the full picture in view. It’s why 65% of our term lending goes to communities scoring below average on the Pobal HP Deprivation Index.
All Clann Credo term loan products
*Next Generation Loan: maximum loan-to-value of 80%; excludes investment property.
Information correct at time of publication, July 2026.
Term Loans in Action
Inishowen Maritime Museum, Co. Donegal
Since 1990, Inishowen Maritime Museum has told Ireland’s maritime story from the old Coastguard Station at Greencastle Harbour. Its €358,148 redevelopment will bring new displays, audiovisuals and interactive exhibits, with a goal of nearly doubling annual visitors from 4,200 to 8,200 within three years.
Fáilte Ireland provided the capital grant. Clann Credo structured a term loan alongside bridging finance against the grant and VAT refund, so the museum could manage the timing of its funding and deliver the full programme. It is the fifth project we have supported with the museum since 2021.
“Having a finance partner who already understood how we work — after five years together — meant we could focus on the vision instead of worrying about the money.”
Seamus Carey, Chairperson, Inishowen Maritime Museum
CO:WORX Edgeworthstown Enterprise Hub, Co. Longford
When construction costs moved during the conversion of a former bank into Longford’s first digital hub, a Clann Credo term loan closed the gap and got the doors open. CO:WORX now offers more than 38 desk and office spaces and has added 22 solar panels and a community edible garden.
Term loans and the Dynamic Funding Model
The strongest community projects combine four pillars: grant aid, impact lending, philanthropy and earned income. A term loan is the impact lending that completes the picture when grants and fundraising fall short, while your earned income builds the long-term sustainability that repays it. Your relationship manager will help you get that balance right. View More
Other loans that may suit you
- Waiting on a grant? A Bridging Loan covers costs until your grant is paid. Many organisations combine bridging and term finance in one plan.
- Buying land or a building? The Next Generation Loan offers up to €800,000 at 5.70% variable for established organisations.
- Just getting started? The Acorn Loan offers €5,000 to €15,000 at 5% for new and emerging organisations.
FAQs
A Clann Credo term loan is long-term finance for community organisations and social enterprises in Ireland. You can borrow up to €800,000 over up to 15 years to fund capital projects, services and growth.
Up to €800,000, repaid over up to 15 years. The amount and term depend on your project, your income and your capacity to repay.
Our term loans rate is 6.45% variable, correct as of July 2026.
Yes. This is one of the most common reasons organisations come to us. A term loan can fund the balance of a project that a grant doesn’t cover, or elements that aren’t eligible for grant funding.
Yes. Many organisations use a bridging loan to cover the timing gap until a grant is paid, and a term loan to cover the remaining project cost.
In appropriate circumstances and subject to credit checks and approval, existing borrowing can be consolidated into one affordable arrangement.
No. Clann Credo lends to organisations, and our term loans do not require personal guarantees from committee members or volunteers.
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About Clann Credo
We’re Clann Credo. Leaders in impact lending in Ireland. Driven to accelerate positive impact across every community. Clann Credo provides fair and flexible impact lending and makes it accessible and easy for every community. Since 1996, we have provided over €218 million in loan finance to more than 2,000 community and voluntary organisations across Ireland. Clann Credo – leading a new pathway for community impact in Ireland since 1996.
Clann Credo – Community Loan Finance is a company limited by guarantee. CRO No: 253147 | Registered with the Charities Regulator, No: 20041076 | CHY No: 13308.
