The Annie E. Casey Foundation, a private foundation dedicated to improving the lives of America’s children and families, engaged Pacific Community Ventures to conduct the first comprehensive third-party evaluation of its Social Investment Program, a $125 million allocation from its endowment dedicated to mission investing. Through the Social Investment Program, the Foundation invests in Community Development Financial Institutions (CDFIs), impact funds, and nonprofit organizations supporting low-income and vulnerable communities across the United States.
In an effort to support the broader mission investing field, we published Aligning Capital with Mission in 2016, which offers for the first time publicly, findings that highlight the strong alignment of the Social Investment Program’s impact with the Foundation’s mission and programmatic goals. Through its investments, the Foundation has funded almost 700 housing developments, providing over 8,500 families with access to affordable housing. Its small business investments have supported the creation of over 10,000 new jobs, which provide economic opportunity for families in underserved communities. The report also offered lessons and insights during the course of the evaluation that informed foundations and other impact investors in more effectively measuring the impact of their investments.
By incorporating more rigorous impact measurement practices, investors like the Annie E. Casey Foundation are now better equipped to understand their impact, make data-driven decisions, and maximize their support of communities in need.