Investors, where are you on your path?
ImpactPHL has developed a framework - Impact Investment Pathways - for individual investors, foundations, family offices, and investor cohorts seeking to align their assets with their values and make local investments that positively impact Greater Philadelphia.
Wherever you are on your path, ImpactPHL is here to provide personalized support and guidance. We start by setting up a conversation, connecting you to aligned resources, people, and opportunities for impact, and then we follow up to ensure we continue to support you.
How can we support you? We’d love to hear from you. Email Cory Donovan at cory@impactphl.org.
First: Be intentional
Have you aligned your financial
assets with your values?
Do you know where your money sleeps at night? Is it being used to finance the kind of change you want to see in the world? Or, maybe to your surprise, it’s invested in companies and industries that run counter to your values.
ImpactPHL supports investors in shifting our region’s collective wealth - however and wherever invested - away from contributing to problems, and toward advancing social and environmental solutions. Investors include foundations, family offices, and high net worth individuals, but also anyone who has a 401k or savings account.
Getting Started:
Define your values
What is most important to you? Is it enough to ensure your investments cause no harm, or would you like to be more proactive in addressing issues you care about?
Know what you currently own
Identify what assets you currently own as part of your retirement accounts, brokerage accounts, etc. For example, want to know what’s in your 401k? The Invest Your Values tool assigns a letter grade for mutual funds across 7 different issues including prisons, gender discrimination, and deforestation. If there is a mismatch between your values and your investments, it’s time to think about what changes you want to make.
Talk to your financial advisor
Make your priorities clear. Work with your advisor to review your current portfolio and make changes. Some advisors are well-versed in values-aligned investing and others are still learning. If your advisor is resistant, it may be time to consider finding a new one. ImpactPHL can connect you to local advisors that have this expertise.
Watch this "Intro to Sustainable Investing” video
Learn the basics and nomenclature of values-aligned investing by watching this session by The Forum for Sustainable and Responsible Investment.
Then: Invest locally
Explore local investments that
also create a better region.
Consider this: What if, in addition to investing with social and environmental purpose, you could also do it right here in your own backyard - keeping your money in the local economy, financing local business growth, rebuilding neighborhoods, improving education, and more.
ImpactPHL supports stakeholders in discovering and making local investments that help to create a more inclusive, more sustainable, and more resilient regional economy that works for all of our citizens. Contact us to learn how ImpactPHL can help you invest locally.
Getting Local:
Discover local investment opportunities
Interested in investing your money locally? The Greater Philadelphia Impact Investing Index catalogs investment opportunities across asset classes including inclusive real estate development, social enterprises, impact-focused funds, crowdfunding campaigns, and CDFI’s. >>>
Dig deeper on $600M+ in local opportunities
ImpactPHL launched OptImpact to empower more values-aligned investing in our region. Filter investments by impact focus and size, connect with co-investors, streamline due diligence to reduce costs, and monitor regional activity. >>>
Meet local impact investors
Local investors, which include individuals and institutions, are making investments right here in their own backyard that not only provide a financial return, but also create positive outcomes for our community. Learn more about how local investors are aligning assets for impact. >>>
Read about impact investments that were made
What does an impact investment look like? Learn about impact deals that have happened in Greater Philadelphia including the problem, opportunity, investment solution, and intended outcomes. >>>
More Learning: Read, Watch, Listen
Stakeholders everywhere are advocating new ways of investing, globally and locally. Continue your learning journey by using industry resources like the Global Impact Investing Network (GIIN) and ImpactAlpha, the leading media resource for impact investing.
For those who are new to impact investing, here are some recommended resources.
Are you an early stage venture or established business seeking impact resources? > Early Stage Venture > Established Business
“It was exciting to meet investors that cared as much about the mission as about the profits.”
Chris Pappo, Investor, Social Venture Circle ”
LOCAL IMPACT INVESTMENT CASE STUDIES
SHIFT NEIGHBORHOOD
FUND
With $70MM raised in debt and equity capital, Shift Capital sees real estate as a tool for equitable neighborhood development in Kensington.
IMPACTPHL VENTURES
With $16MM in committed capital from local institutional investors - like Drexel University and Independence Blue Cross - ImpactPHL Ventures is investing in local impact-driven, technology ventures.
Jeffrey Miller Catering
Jeffrey Miller Catering raised $1MM in debt to retrofit 5 local nonprofits into new event venues. By connecting Greater Philadelphia’s $1.2B wedding market to nonprofit venues, JMC has generated $10MM in revenue to support nonprofit missions. Read the investment case study and the ImpactableX impact projection.
FIRST STEP STAFFING
With $6.33MM in blended capital from a collaborative group of local investors, First Step Staffing replicated their model for connecting individuals experiencing homelessness with jobs in Philadelphia.
SPARK THERAPEUTICS
With a $50MM commitment from Children’s Hospital of Pennsylvania (CHOP), Spark Therapeutics was launched as a biotech startup that created the first FDA-approved gene therapy for genetic diseases.
The PAGE Hurdle Fund
The PAGE Hurdle Fund is a $125k philanthropic fund, capitalized by local impact investors, that provides grants to eliminate barriers standing between local institutions and Black and Brown businesses from starting new or growing existing contracts together. The funds aim to be catalytic capital that supports growth and positioning for future debt or equity investment.