Impact Investments

Since 1983, we have committed more than $800 million through program-related investments (PRIs) and mission-related investments (MRIs), directly supporting nearly 300 intermediaries, special-purpose funds, nonprofits, social enterprises, and for-profit firms in the United States and globally. This catalytic capital has taken the form of loans, equity, guarantees, and other financial instruments.

We currently manage $500 million allocated for active impact investments. We prioritize the following attributes in our impact investments:

Additionality

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

Capital Mobilization

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

Systemic Impact

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We invest in enterprises and funds that pioneer new products or services that address social and environmental challenges, serve overlooked communities, attract new investors, build market infrastructure, and spur useful policy change.

Inclusion

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

Our approach to impact investing seeks to seed, scale, and sustain impact that otherwise would not be possible. For more on how we believe the fields of philanthropy and impact investing should think about scale, read Keys to Impact at Scale.

MacArthur's longstanding and substantial commitment to impact investing is one of several ways that we seek to invest across a continuum of capital and to align our investments with our mission, values, and programs.

In addition to our impact investments, our team makes grants totaling approximately $5 million annually to support and strengthen the field of impact investing globally and advance equity, inclusion, and sustainability throughout the investment field.

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 shortfall in capital dedicated to addressing social needs, according to the United Nations, dampening progress on poverty, global health, climate change, inequality, and other problems outlined in the United Nation's Sustainable Development Goals.

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 other investors to advance institutional priorities, initiatives, and programs.

Our grants and impact investments support traditional nonprofits, for-profit enterprises, special-purpose funds, public agencies, and quasi-governmental entities. Our impact investments often are long-term by design, allowing the recipients of our catalytic capital the opportunity to grow, innovate, evolve, and build lasting sustainability, agility, and resilience. These investments may take the form of debt, equity, or a guarantee and may be structured as a PRI or MRI 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 employ two distinct and related tools: impact measurement and management (IMM), and strategic evaluations.

Impact Measurement and Management

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Our approach to impact measurement and management centers the investee by minimizing data collection and reporting burden; supports the field of impact investing by using industry standards where feasible; and prioritizes learning.

Guided by these principles, we have developed three IMM practices that are foundational to ongoing assessment of progress across our full portfolio: set measurable impact targets, track capital mobilized, and evaluate financial return relative to expectations (rather than maximizing risk-adjusted financial returns).

We have shared our approach to measuring the impact of our catalytic capital in more depth, and progress related to our investments made to advance the Catalytic Capital Consortium initiative is available in our C3 IMM report.

Strategic Evaluations

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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, and it incorporates the data and results of our IMM processes and reporting.

MacArthur has engaged New Philanthropy Capital as an evaluation and learning partner for our C3 work, and they produced an interim evaluation of the initiative in 2024. Additionally, we are engaged with the Urban Institute on a strategic evaluation of Benefit Chicago, a collaborative initiative with Calvert Impact and the Chicago Community Trust.

MacArthur has undertaken evaluations for several other aspects of our impact investing work through the years, including the Window of Opportunity Housing Initiative and a recently completed evaluation of the Arts and Culture Loan Fund.

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

VIEW ALL IMPACT INVESTMENTS EVALUATIONS