Impact Investments

Since 1983, we have made impact investments totaling more than $750 million to support more than 200 nonprofits, social enterprises, and funds in the United States and globally. This catalytic capital has taken the form of loans, equity, guarantees, and other financial instruments.

We prioritize the following attributes in our impact investments:

Additionality

We focus on investment opportunities that more conventional investors consider too risky, unprofitable, or novel, and we work to bridge financing gaps and enable social and environmental impact that would not otherwise be possible.

Mobilization

We use our capital to achieve impact and unlock investment beyond what we could achieve on our own.

Innovation

We invest in enterprises and funds that pioneer new products or services that address social and environmental challenges, serve historically marginalized people or disinvested places, attract new investors, build market infrastructure, and/or spur useful policy change.

Inclusion

We extend the reach of conventional investing to expand opportunity, drive economic progress, and empower historically marginalized and underserved communities.

To learn about recent initiatives for which our investing activity is largely complete, read about the Catalytic Capital Consortium (C3) and Benefit Chicago.

For more on how we have been inspired by the growing importance of impact-first, catalytic capital within impact investing, read Finding Hope in Catalytic Capital and its Champions.

MacArthur's longstanding and substantial commitment to impact investing is one of several ways that the Foundation seeks to align its investments with our mission, values, and programs. In addition to managing a $500 million capital pool allocated for active impact investments, our team makes grants totaling approximately $5 million annually to support and strengthen the field of impact investing globally and advance diversity, inclusion, and sustainability throughout the investment field.

REPRESENTATIVE IMPACT INVESTMENTS & GRANTS

Impact investing is a powerful catalyst for global progress. Rising engagement among a diverse set of asset owners, managers, and advisors is fueling rapid growth, but access to capital remains a major challenge for enterprises, non-governmental organizations, and funds that are working to build a more just, inclusive, and sustainable world. Worldwide, there is a multi-trillion-dollar global capital shortfall, according to the United Nations, dampening progress on poverty, global health, climate change, inequality, and other problems outlined in the UN’s Sustainable Development Goals.

Through our impact investments and grants we aim to:

• Fuel the innovation, growth, and impact of mission-driven enterprises and funds that help build a more just, inclusive, and sustainable world;
• Demonstrate how and when catalytic capital can have the greatest impact across different sectors and communities; and
• Help foundations, institutions, and individuals increase their engagement and effectiveness as impact investors and assist individuals from historically underrepresented groups to increase their engagement and success in the fields of investment and finance more broadly.

We invest catalytic capital to fill significant gaps left by the conventional marketplace and unlock additional capital from other sources for mission-driven intermediaries and enterprises. New impact investments are developed in collaboration with MacArthur program teams and investor partners to advance key institutional priorities, initiatives, and programs.

Priorities for Impact Investments in support of Foundation Strategies and Programs

• Chicago Commitment: Expand access to flexible, risk-tolerant capital for developers engaged in community-centered real estate projects and creative placemaking efforts.
• Climate Solutions: Accelerate innovation and the deployment of climate solutions in India and the United States, especially within communities of color and historically marginalized communities.
• Indigenous Autonomy: Invest in financial intermediaries that build the economic power and cultural independence of Indigenous people.
• Just Home Project: Invest in new housing models that help break the link between housing instability and jail incarceration.

Priorities for Field Support Grants

• Strengthen the Catalytic Capital Ecosystem: Increase knowledge, awareness, and use of catalytic capital globally through C3.
• Build Field Infrastructure: Support investor engagement, learning, connection, and collaboration, primarily through multiple networks in the United States and globally.
• Impact Integrity and Policy: Strengthen standards, transparency, and accountability, including the practice of impact measurement and management, and inform public policy.
• Equity and Inclusion: Support the advancement of historically underrepresented and marginalized groups within the fields of investing and finance.

Recipients of our grants and impact investments include traditional nonprofits, for-profit enterprises, special-purpose funds, public agencies, or quasi-governmental entities. Impact investments may take the form of debt, equity, or a guarantee and may be structured as a Program-Related Investment or Mission-Related Investment depending on specific investment characteristics and purpose.

Evaluation of our work is a critical tool for informing our decision making, leading to better results and more effective stewardship of resources. We develop customized evaluation designs for each of our programs based on the context, problem, opportunity, and approach to the work. Evaluation is not a one-time event. It is an ongoing process of collecting feedback and using that information to support our grantees and adjust our strategy.

We use external consultants and resources to track the financial, organizational, and programmatic progress of impact investment recipients. We have engaged New Philanthropy Capital as an evaluation and learning partner to build and execute an evaluation framework for our C3 work. In addition, our recent and upcoming initiatives are aligned with industry norms. MacArthur has undertaken evaluations for several other aspects of our impact investing work through the years, including the Window of Opportunity Housing Initiative and the Arts and Culture Loan Fund.

Findings and analyses from evaluation activities are posted publicly as they become available.

VIEW ALL IMPACT INVESTMENTS EVALUATIONS