IMPACT INVESTMENTS STRATEGY

Impact Investment and Grant Guidelines

 

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 partners to advance key institutional priorities, initiatives, and programs.

In addition to our impact investments, we award about $5 million in grants each year. Our grantmaking goals are to strengthen and grow the field of impact investing globally and to advance diversity, inclusion, and sustainability throughout the fields of investment and finance.


The Foundation is not accepting unsolicited proposals at this time. However, please contact us to share new and emerging impact investing perspectives and insights.


 

Current priorities for new impact investments

  • Chicago Commitment: expanding access to capital for community-centered developers, intermediaries, and arts organizations.
  • Climate Solutions: accelerating innovation and the deployment of clean energy and technology in India and the United States, especially within communities of color and historically marginalized communities.
  • Indigenous Autonomy: in collaboration with Nia Tero, investing in financial intermediaries that build the economic power and cultural independence of Indigenous people.
  • Housing Solutions to Reduce Jail Incarceration: invest in new housing models that help break the link between housing instability and jail incarceration.
  • Just Imperative: advancing greater equity and inclusion in the U.S. and globally through entrepreneurship, innovation, and development.

 

Current priorities for Field Support grants

  • Catalytic Capital: increase knowledge, awareness and use of catalytic capital globally through the Catalytic Capital Consortium (C3). MacArthur, The Rockefeller Foundation, and Omidyar Network jointly funded a three-year grant program, C3 Grantmaking, through the New Venture Fund, which will make its final grants in 2022.
  • Investor Engagement: support investor learning, connection, and collaboration through multiple networks in the United States and globally.
  • Impact Standards, Transparency, and Accountability: strengthen the practice of impact measurement and management and inform public policy.
  • Diversity 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 Investments (PRI) or Mission-Related Investments (MRI) depending on specific investment characteristics and purpose. 

  

 


Updated May 2022

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