Investment Resources: Foundation Leaders

The foundations highlighted here as taking the lead are as diverse in their approaches to Mission Related Investments and Program Related Investments as they are in their foundation focus.

Abell Foundation
Located in Baltimore, the Abell Foundation has sharpened its focus to address complex challenges in order to break through the cycles of urban poverty. Today, the Foundation places the highest priority on creating solutions that are both innovative and accountable. The Foundation investments include companies that create jobs in Baltimore and promote various social objectives, such as increasing energy efficiency and producing alternative energy.

Annie E. Casey Foundation
The Annie E. Casey Foundation will invest $60MM in Mission Related Investments over the next 5 years, representing 2% of their corpus. They are also leading the '2% for Mission Campaign', which challenges other large foundations to invest 2% of their corpus dollars in Mission Related Investments with a potential to mission align over $10 billion sitting in foundation endowments. The Foundation has been a leader in Program Related Investments.

F.B. Heron
FB Heron's practice confronts the disconnect between program goals and investment functions by calling into question the assumed tradeoff between competitive financial returns and social impact. The goal of mission-related investing at the F.B. Heron Foundation is to put the assets of the Foundation to work to increase wealth-creation opportunities for low-income people and communities in the United States. F.B. Heron has deployed almost 25% of their endowment into mission-related investments.

Ford Foundation
Ford Foundation's economic development unit oversees a diverse $160 million portfolio of program related investments, including investments in low-income housing, community development finance, independent media, microfinance in developing countries, education, and a variety of social enterprises.

Gaylord and Dorothy Donnelley Foundation
This foundation supports efforts to conserve land and foster artistic vitality in Chicago and the Low Country of South Carolina. About 5 percent ($10 million) of the foundation's $200 million in assets is invested in program related investments.

George Gund Foundation
The George Fund Foundation is one of Ohio's largest family foundations. It has over $8 million invested in 13 active program related investment transactions, including a "green" office building that serves as an anchor for neighborhood revitalization and houses many of the foundation's environmental grantees.

Jessie Smith Noyes Foundation
Jessie Smith Noyes Foundation's investment policy states that "we recognize our fiduciary responsibility does not end with maximizing return and minimizing risk. We believe that in light of the social, environmental and economic challenges of our time, fiduciary responsibility in the coming decades will dictate the integration of prudent financial management practices with principles of environmental stewardship, concern for community, and corporate accountability to shareholders and stakeholders alike."

Kellogg Foundation
Kellogg Foundation plans to invest $100 million – just over one percent of its assets – in mission-driven investments. Of the $100 million, $25 million has been earmarked for social investing in Africa and $75 million will be used for mission-driven investments in the United States.

Meyer Memorial Trust
The Meyer Memorial Trust is a general purpose foundation that undertakes strategic initiatives, is regionally focused, has over $700 million in assets, and has invested almost $20 million in Program Related Investments, mostly since 2005. MMT currently invests over 5% of corpus assets, or $37 million, in mission related investments.

New Hampshire Community Loan Fund
The New Hampshire Community Loan Fund, a private nonprofit organization, provided loans of almost $18 million to low and moderate income families in 2006. The Fund provides financial, human and civic resources to enable traditionally underserved people to fully participate in New Hampshire's economy.

Pearl M. & Julia J. Harmon Foundation
The Harmon Foundation's objective is to be the lender-of-first choice to Northeastern Oklahoma charitable organizations. The Foundation funds loans to buy, build, expand, or renovate real property or tangible assets. The Foundation does not make grants, but only Program Related Investments as low-interest loans to charitable organizations. In the last 25+ years the Foundation has made 103 Program Loans, about $20 million.

The Educational Foundation of America
The Educational Foundation of America supports programs in education and the environment. Its mission is to leverage social change through grants as well as through positive and negative screening of its investments, shareholder campaigns, proxy voting, and program-related investments.

The John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation
The Foundation currently has $140 million in outstanding program related investments, half of which supports 34 US based community development financial institutions.

The Kalamazoo Community Foundation
The Kalamazoo Community Foundation, with approximately $260 million in assets, actively supports local economic development. In 2000, the foundation's board authorized $13 million for program-related investments and $5 million for locally-targeted venture capital.

The Russell Family Foundation
In 2004, The Russell Family Foundation began a $1 million pilot program funded from its endowment for mission related investment opportunities and allocated the necessary staff and board time to explore mission related investment policies. In 2005, the mission related investment program was expanded to $7 million and has since made additional investments in screened funds and created an allocation for Cleantech venture capital.