Local Investing for Social Impact
This week, Community Foundation of Grant County announced that it is committed to building a bold new way to accelerate positive social outcomes through a local impact investing program as an extension of its community leadership efforts. The Foundation recognizes that its assets, over 90% of which are endowed, positions the organization to bring new tools, such as local impact investing, to address the needs and opportunities of Grant County.
The purpose of the Impact Investing program is to make socially impactful loan investments that provide a financial return and measurably advance a prosperous Grant County via the social return on investment. The program will invest in people, projects, businesses, and nonprofit organizations that address economic prosperity, quality of life, and access to opportunity for residents of Grant County.
“We believe that philanthropic capital can further the betterment of Grant County through grants as well as investments,” said Dawn Brown, President and CEO of the Community Foundation. “More than any nonprofit organization, community foundations have the ability to deploy a diverse set of tools to address community needs, including grantmaking, donor engagement, and loan investments. As community foundations seek innovative ways to build community wealth and health, more are adopting impact investing strategies to meet growing needs.”
“Looking ahead, the Foundation aims to expand and leverage impact investing to unlock additional capital in the form of loans and thus, in turn, more opportunity to pursue and achieve large-scale, lasting positive change on critical issues—such as Food Insecurity, Financial Wellness, Early Childhood Education, or Career Readiness and Workforce—and it can aid in growing and strengthening our local small business community,” continued Brown.
The Foundation will seek investments that provide social impact and financial return, and that express the following values: 1) Leadership by growing skills and capacity of local organizations and individuals, 2) Collaboration by working in relationship with, and not in competition with, other local capital partners and providers, 3) Innovation by addressing community needs and opportunities in creative and new ways, and 4) Access to Opportunity by increasing access for systemically marginalized individuals and organizations including, but not limited to, people of color and women.
The Foundation states that social impact investing will not replace or diminish the traditional grantmaking efforts of the Foundation, which last year granted more than $1.1 million to nonprofit organizations and charitable causes. The expansion of the Impact Investing Loan Program will only add to the Foundation’s efforts to strengthen the community.