Small Foundations, Big Impact: The Essential Guide to Impact Investing

Arabella Advisors | Exponent Philanthropy | Mission Investors Exchange
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Small foundations, Big Impact: The Essential Guide Giving Compass

Giving Compass’ Take:

• Arabella Advisors, Exponent Philanthropy, and Mission Investors Exchange provide a guide to impact investing for small foundations. 

• Is your foundation ready to dive into impact investing? Who in your network is already involved in impact investing? 

• Learn how to build an impact investing team. 

Impact investing has the potential to enable every foundation, regardless of size, to pursue its philanthropic mission more effectively. It can help individual donors, families, foundations with few or no staff, and all sorts of giving entities put more and different types of capital to work for social good. Even better, it can deliver philanthropic impact alongside financial returns—which can enable reinvestment of those funds in pursuit of even more social good.

We offer this guide with that opportunity in mind—and specifically to support small-staffed foundations seeking to use impact investing to further their missions. It provides a starting point, a review of key questions to consider and ways to answer them, and a variety of tools and connections to additional resources you may need. It aims to:

  • Increase awareness and use of impact investing tools. We hope this guide will provide philanthropists with knowledge, tools, and resources that will help them increase the use of their capital and create more impact for social or environmental good.
  • Supply technical know-how to foundations and grant makers. The information in this guide is meant to be actionable. While every funder has different capacities, goals, and circumstances, we aim to provide advice, guidelines, and suggestions that small-staffed foundations can apply to their work—today or in the future.
  • Grow the field—and the impact investing community. The more impact investors doing good work, the stronger the field. To foster and build a community of investors, we have included case examples from other small-staffed foundations, so readers can learn from their experiences and connect with others who share your goals and challenges.

Read the full article about impact investing at Arabella Advisors, Exponent Philanthropy, and Mission Investors Exchange.

If you are looking for more articles and resources for Impact Philanthropy, take a look at these Giving Compass selections related to impact giving and Impact Philanthropy.

  • This article is deemed a must-read by one or more of our expert collaborators.
    Click here for more.
    The Roots of Philanthropic Systems Change

    Giving Compass' Take: • Morgan Stanley Philanthropy Management helps define “systems change” and explains how it may be shifting how organizations tackle society’s most complex problems. • Do we have the resources, talent and willpower to commit to systems change work? How can we mobilize partnerships to scale such efforts? • Here's more on what a systems change approach looks like in action. For anyone who doubts the breadth and depth of public generosity, here are a few numbers to consider: The U.S. has more than a million public charities, funded by over 105,000 private foundations, along with millions of businesses and individuals, who together give more than $350 billion a year. Why then do so many social, economic and environmental challenges seem more intractable than ever? The answer may lie in how we look at society’s problems: As isolated issues to tackle, or as a complex, interconnected web of causes and effects. Enter the breakthrough notion of systems change, which is shifting how philanthropic organizations approach problem-solving. Systems change acknowledges that society’s ills are complex. To drive lasting progress, organizations should first analyze the systemic causes of a problem, then scale impact by partnering with complimentary organizations that each bring a specialized focus. “The definition of insanity is to keep doing the same thing and expect a different result. If we continue as individual actors, we will continue to waste our precious assets and not achieve the results we seek,” said Melanie Schnoll Begun, Head of Morgan Stanley Philanthropy Management. Read the full article about the roots of philanthropic systems change by Morgan Stanley Philanthropy Management.

Looking for a way to get involved?

Learning with others and benchmarking are key steps towards becoming an impact giver. If you are interested in giving with impact for Family Philanthropy, take a look at these events, galas, conferences and volunteering opportunities to connect with individuals like you.

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Are you ready to give?

If you are ready to take action and invest in causes for Family Philanthropy, check out these Giving Funds, Charitable Organizations and Projects related to Family Philanthropy.

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