Traditionally, investing and philanthropy have been two distinct activities that never overlapped. Over the past few decades, the landscape of available instruments for achieving financial and social returns has evolved. Foundations now have at their disposal an expanded set of tools to attain their missions, with impact investing being one of the key ones.

The growing interest on the part of private foundations to the field of impact investing is hard to miss. Commonly referred to as investments intended to create a measurable positive impact as well as financial return, impact investments fund ventures that have both a social mission and that address current global challenges through market-driven mechanisms. These ventures operate in different parts of the world and in a variety of sectors.

Read the full article about impact investing by Julia Balandina Jaquier at the National Center for Family Philanthropy.