Gave A Non-profit A Bridge Loan Via A Friend And Now They're Ghosting Me

Location: Illinois

A friend of mine who I've known (admittedly distantly) for 10+ years reached out to me this past May 2026. We've been on a "occasional text a couple times a year" level of friendship.

Anyway, for as long as I've known him, he's been running a non-profit (501c3) in Washington that does good work. In May, he reached out saying he was contacting several people about a bridge loan for the organization for 45 days. He said the organization had gotten a grant (which I saw online) and he just needed the money for some business expenses until the grant money came in.

I asked him the exact amount he needed to cover, and we signed a promissory note for $21k USD, and that the org pay me back 1.2x in exchange ($25.2k USD) at the end of the 45 days. There was a late payment interest percentage as well.

Well... those 45 days came and went. My friend kept giving excuses with bank problems and saying there's restructuring issues until as recently as about 3 weeks ago.

But, in August, as I was trying to scramble to get paid back, I reached out to some former employees who told me that the board put the org on "life support" in June and was removing my friend as CEO. I contacted the board with my claim, and they gave me a formal acknowledgement.

My friend (it feels weird calling him a friend now) still posts on social media and stuff, but fully ignores anything I send him. None of our mutuals still keep in touch with him either.

I figure he's just going to get away with it, and because my note is signed with the organization, I rely on the board figuring things out.

All this being said, I tried contacting a lawyer and they said that their hourly fees are not worth this (that I would just be paying more money for no guarantees), and that maybe I could sell my loan to someone more willing to chase it down. Is that a good idea? Is there anything else I might be able to do to get paid back?