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It's that time of year again: time to think about how you'd like to spend your money over the course of your life.
And if you're among the ultra-rich, here's a suggestion from a South African bank: invest some of your money in something that has a "positive social or environmental return" on it.
Specifically, it's called "impact investing," and it involves putting money toward projects that have a "positive social or environmental return" as well as a financial return.
"Most importantly, make each rand work harder for both a financial return and the desired social or environmental impact," writes Silvia Siluma of FNB Philanthropy in a blog post.
She's talking about South Africa, where the unemployment rate in the third quarter of 2018 was 31.9%, and where 55.5% of people live below the poverty line.
"The scale of the problems South Africa faces is significant and overwhelming," she writes.
"One's isolated personal giving may be insufficient unless one works collaboratively and leverages each donated rand for greater impact."
So what is impact investing? It's "a steadily growing field," writes Siluma.
"From affordable housing to quality education to water and road infrastructure, impact investors are investing in
Selected Grant News Headlines
A customized collection of grant news from foundations and the federal government from around the Web.
"We are so used to being almost permanently online that we don't really appreciate what we have and do not really know what to do when we're not," Joni Mitchell wrote in her 1970s song "Big Yellow...more
The concept of "impact investing" has taken off in recent years, with more than $1 trillion in assets under management. But a new study out of Harvard Business School suggests that while impact...more
"All investments are impact investments," says Adam Spence, CEO of SVX, a non-profit financial services firm that has just launched Canada's first index designed to measure the impact of investments...more
Environmental, social, and governance (ESG) investing has gained popularity in recent years as clients seek to align their investments with their values and promote positive change in the...more
Foundation: Silicon Valley Community Foundation, California Endowment
In 2024, Los Angeles will host the Mission Investors Exchange 2024 National Conference, an annual conference that brings together more than 750 philanthropy and impact investing leaders from across...more
Foundation: California Community Foundation, California Endowment
Ava DuVernay financed her latest film with money from the Giving Pledgean initiative of the California Endowment, the largest US foundation to commit its entire $4 billion portfolio to social and...more
In what may be a first for a major US city, Los Angeles has been chosen as the site of the 2024 Mission Investors Exchange National Conference, a conference that will focus on "investing in social...more
Foundation: Marguerite Casey Foundation, Marguerite Casey Foundation, Rockefeller Philanthropy Advisors, Skoll Foundation, Target Foundation, Ford Foundation, Philadelphia Foundation, Rockefeller Foundation
"The US creative economy was most recently valued at over $1 trillion by the National Endowment for the Arts," per a press release, "even before considering film, fashion, video games, beauty, food,...more
"Having a purposeful job actually does transform someone's life," says Edwin Walsh, who runs a social enterprise in Australia called Assembled Threads. "You actually are moving someone from...more
A new scholarship fund in Canada will help high school students who want to further their education, the CBC reports. The Westlock Community Foundation in Alberta received a $26,800 donation from...more
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