Investing for Change

There is a (wee) bit of a movement afoot in philanthropy – small, but growing. It is the movement toward using endowed assets as part of a foundation’s change strategies – I’ve written about it before as “aligned investing.” (posts here, here, here, here, and here)
Just last week the PRI Makers Network (PRI stands for [...]

On philanthropy and environmental change

(This post started as a response to The Green Skeptic’s comment on this post).
In his comment, the Skeptic notes his shift to ASHOKA and social enterprise after years in nonprofit work – in his words:
“Why? In part because of my frustration (stemming from my previous experience with The Nature Conservancy) with the slow progress [...]

2007 Philanthropy Buzzwords #4 and #5

Continuing my annual accumulation of philanthropy buzzwords…here are the latest two nominees. Drum roll, please…..
#4 – Open Philanthropy #5 – Aligned Investing
Now, a little hubris is in order. Like “aligned investing,” I can lay a pretty good claim to having coined the term open philanthropy (though William Safire [...]

When nonprofits provide risk capital

This story in DealBook highlights the role that charitable endowments can play as risk-taking investors.
The Cystic Fibrosis Foundation has invested $22 mm in new drug research led by commercial outfit FoldRx.
The CF Foundation is particularly fond of these approaches, notes the Boston Globe:
“In 2007 alone, the Cystic Fibrosis Foundation — whose primary mission, through an [...]

More money for your mission

Most discussions about socially responsible investments focus on whether or not the returns can equal those of value-neutral portfolios. But these comparisons miss the boat when it comes to philanthropic foundations.
Endowed foundations exist to support selected social goals. Their missions range across the spectrum. But regardless of their values, most philanthropists agree on this: more [...]

Bernholz in Business Week on Aligned Investing

My opinions on social investing for endowments are well known to readers of this blog. Business Week picked up on them, and had me redirect my thinking to be relevant to individual donors and investors. You can find the article here.
I’ll be debating this some more come September 18 at the Council on Foundations Community [...]

Structural incentives for aligned investing

There really isn’t a free market in the U.S., or anywhere. Government regulations, global trade agreements, and tax structures shape what gets made where, who can buy it, at what cost, and how things travel around the globe.
So, when you think about entrepreneurship, new markets, new fuels, new tools, and capitalism you have to think [...]

Think bigger – Phil Angelides

Phil Angelides, former State Treasurer of California who would have preferred an introduction as “the Governor of California” and who is now back in the private sector, as he put it, “by popular demand” addressed the Investors Circle conference. He congratulated the assembled for being on the vanguard of “tearing down the walls” between financial [...]

How to cause a ruckus – IC2007 Phil Angelides

In the philanthropy world the way to get attention it to suggest changing how foundations are taxed. For proof, see the comments on my earlier post, which decry my lack of understanding of endowments (I beg to differ) and others ignore my point about aligning investing policies and damn it for being a call for [...]

Investors Circle – plenary session

I just got a seat at the plenary session of the Investors Circle Conference. Speakers include Peter Kinder (KLD), John Fullerton (Alerian Capital), Joel Solomon (Renewal Partners Company) and Leslie Christian (Progressive Investment Management).
They’ve just answered the question “what is the purpose of capital?” Sustaining life is the shared answer.
Having taken on that easy [...]