Communty Foundation Field Guide to Impact Investing

Community foundations serve people who share a common interest—improving the quality of life in their local areas. Given their place-based focus and commitment to activate resources to meet their missions, more and more community foundations are adding impact investments to their toolbox. Unlike grants, impact investments intend to generate both targeted social or environmental benefit and a financial return. To date, much of the impact investing literature geared towards foundations has focused exclusively on private foundations. As a public charity, a community foundation both raises money from and makes grants to the community it serves through discretionary and donor advised assets. This comprehensive guide for the field is designed to assist community foundations with their impact investing efforts.