Impact Investment

This free course, which covers the basic legal rules for program-related investments, takes about forty-five minutes to complete. The course is part of Learn Foundation Law,  a free resource devloped by legal staff at the David and Lucile Packard Foundation, Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, The William and Flora Hewlett Foundation and Gordon and Betty Moore Foundation that provides training on legal issues in grantmaking for private foundations.

BWB Solutions is a consulting firm that helps foundations and corporations make social investments and program-related investments in the form of loans, equity investments and recoverable grants to nonprofits or businesses committed to social change. The website contains a number of publications on these themes.

Investing in a professionally managed portfolio of loans to more than 240 nonprofits and social enterprises working in over 100 countries to alleviate poverty, the Calvert Foundation provides a searchable database of these different organizations. These investments are clustered in four principle impact sectors: housing, microlending, small business, and community development. The site also provides a tool for individuals to calculate the impact their investment will have based on the amount, duration, and sector of the investment.

Ethical Markets is an independent media company that strives to promote a global economy that is sustainable and just.  Providing a perspective on the Green Transition, Reforming Global Finance, SRI and more, Ethical Markets provides a useful research resource for information relating to this global shift.

This website contains a number of reports on trends in the field, including different means of leveraging more effectively, such as through the use of social investment tools like PRIs.

Based in St. Augustine, Florida, Dr. Hazel Henderson is a syndicated columnist, producer of the television series, Ethical Marketplace (broadcast on PBS, see: www.ethicalmarkets.com), and a consultant on sustainable development. The website includes a wide range of her writings on socially responsible investment and related issues.

The Neighborhood Funders Group is a national network of foundations and philanthropic groups that support community-based efforts that improve economic and social conditions in low-income communities. NFG maintains a number of working groups, including the PRI Makers Network.

SocialFunds.com features over 10,000 pages of information on SRI mutual funds, community investments, corporate research, shareowner actions, and daily social investment news.