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A New Resource Helps Philanthropists Explore Impact-First Investing with Their Charitable Capital
Institute
(Washington, D.C. and Chicago, IL) — The Social Finance Institute and the Rustandy Center for Social Sector Innovation at the University of Chicago Booth School of Business today announced the debut of the Impact-First Investing (IFI) Tool, a free, interactive resource designed to help users explore how impact-first investments could fit within a broader charitable capital strategy. Created for foundations, donor-advised fund account holders, family offices, and other mission-driven stakeholders, the IFI Tool allows users to model how different allocations of grants, market-rate investments, and impact-first investments may affect projected social impact and financial returns over time.
For many philanthropists, their charitable capital sits in traditional market-rate accounts and flows out as one-time grants. Both traditional investments and traditional giving have their place, but many high-potential solutions fall between those categories. Impact-first investing offers one answer, providing patient, flexible capital that prioritizes impact over return, with the possibility of repayment over time. The IFI Tool offers a concrete way to model trade-offs that are often abstract, making that exploration more accessible.
“We want everyone looking to make an impact with their capital to have what they need to apply the right tool to the right problem,” said Karen Anderson, Managing Director of the Social Finance Institute. “Impact-first investing has enormous potential to extend the reach of charitable dollars, but it requires philanthropists to think differently about trade-offs, risk, and time. The IFI Tool makes that thinking visible and those conversations far more accessible.”
The IFI Tool, developed under the leadership of Chicago Booth’s Robert Gertner, Frank P. and Marianne R. Diassi Distinguished Service Professor of Economics and Strategy and John Edwardson Faculty Director at the Rustandy Center for Social Sector Innovation, allows users to compare two scenarios side by side. On one side, a pool of capital is allocated only to traditional grants and market-rate investments; on the other, that same pool of capital includes impact-first investments. Users set their own assumptions around risk, expected return, and time horizon, and see in real time how those choices affect projected social outcomes and financial returns.
The IFI Tool also includes plain-language explanations of key concepts, real-world examples, and an integrated glossary designed for non-specialist audiences. As an educational tool, it helps users explore how a range of assumptions play out over time, rather than prescribing a single recommended answer.
“If there are impact-first investment opportunities, then what is the effect of moving capital into those opportunities? The model allows the user to test their own assumptions about risk, return, and impact over time,” said Gertner.
The IFI Tool was developed with support from Builders Vision, an investment and philanthropy platform that scales and accelerates innovative solutions in food & agriculture, energy and oceans.
The IFI Tool is free and available to the public at ifitool.org.
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About the Social Finance Institute
The Social Finance Institute, launched in 2023 by the national nonprofit Social Finance, advances the understanding and use of outcomes-driven financing and impact-first investing to measurably drive economic mobility. We develop and share actionable research and tools that show how capital can be put to work toward lasting social change. Learn more at socialfinance.org/institute.
About the Rustandy Center for Social Sector Innovation
The Rustandy Center for Social Sector Innovation is the destination at the University of Chicago Booth School of Business for people committed to helping solve complex social and environmental problems. As Chicago Booth’s social impact hub, the Rustandy Center offers hands-on learning opportunities, supports innovative courses, and pursues research—all with the goal of developing people and practices with the potential to solve the world’s biggest challenges. Learn more at chicagobooth.edu/research/rustandy.