The Philanthropic Initiative launched Invest for Better to make it easier for women to take action and invest with purpose by addressing their need for information, inspiration, community, and support. 

Impact investing requires taking a thoughtful look at your money and being intentional about what you want it to do in the world.  Here’s how to get started:

Know What You Own
Take a critical look at your existing capital: your retirement fund, mutual funds, stocks, bonds,  and any other investments you may own. Start asking questions about the companies and funds you’re invested in. Do you agree with their missions and the impact their products or services create in the world? Do they have strong environmental records and labor practices?

Define Your Values and Goals
Decide what you want your investments to accomplish. Is it enough to ensure your investments cause no harm, or would you like them to support specific causes and places that you’re passionate about?

Understand Your Risk Tolerance and Appetite for Engagement
Do you want to be highly involved in investment research and decisions, or would you prefer that an advisor take the lead?

Create an Impact Investment Policy
This can be a formal policy or merely a set of guidelines and guard rails. Investment Policy Statements are standard practice in traditional investing and provide a formal framework for planning, managing and assessing a successful diversified portfolio.

Talk to Your Financial Advisor
While some financial advisors understand and can easily support an impact investing strategy, others are still learning how.

Talk to Your Partner
Impact investing can be a rewarding project for couples to undertake together, but it requires open, honest, and sometimes messy conversations about money.

Think About What Other Money You Can Influence
Impact investing doesn’t just have to be done with personal investments—it can be done using institutional investments too.

Join an Impact Investing Community
Finding a community of like-minded investors who share your values can be helpful as you weigh your investment decisions.

Read the full article about impact investing at Invest for Better.