January 30, 2025 | Sydney England
On January 28, 2025, GSIC hosted an educational webinar, “Local Impact Investing, the Next Frontier of Community Foundation Leadership,” to help Georgia’s community foundations to understand how peers across the country are embracing local impact investing as a powerful new tool to drive impact. I want to thank Marsha Pope, President of the Topeka Community Foundation, and Katrina Rolle, President of the Community Foundation of North Florida, for bringing their insights to Georgia. This webinar would not have been possible without their contributions. Sydney Hulebak, from the Community Foundation for Greater Atlanta (CFGA), provided an important call-to-action for community foundation peers across the state. CFGA’s leadership in the local investing space cannot be overstated, and their staff continue to be incredible resources for peer community foundations in Georgia. Finally, I would be remiss if I didn’t take a moment to acknowledge the work of my friends and former colleagues Deb Markley, Travis Green, and Lisa O’Mara. The basis of this webinar as well as my understanding of community foundations and local impact investing was formed by the work that we did together at Locus. This is the product of our collective thinking and efforts, and I share attribution with you all.
Impact investing is a broad and growing field, with over $1.5 trillion in assets under management globally (Global Impact Investing Network, 2024). Impact investing is an umbrella term that encompasses different approaches and strategies, but not all impact investing looks the same. This vocabulary matters. When foundation leaders, boards, and investment committees lack shared language, they end up talking past each other entirely or choosing an impact investing path that doesn’t align with their intentions or impact goals.
It might be easy to write off the growth of local impact investing by community foundations as the “new shining object” – philanthropy’s current flavor of the month. However, this is not a passing fad, and those steeped in the history of community philanthropy can see local investing for what it is – an organic outgrowth of important movements and inflection points in the field. Community foundations have been practicing local impact investing for decades, dating back to the 1970s, but in recent years, we’ve seen a more rapid adoption across the country. Today, the United States is home to ~900 community foundations, but while there isn’t a single, comprehensive database, there are ongoing efforts by the Community Investment Project, FEG Investment Advisors, and others to accurately account for the number of community foundation local investors. Based on these surveying efforts, we can comfortably say that at least 1 in 10 community foundations has established local impact investing commitments.
This historical backdrop has influenced many community foundations to adopt the tool of local impact investing, but there are other, more current factors accelerating this practice.
These factors and more are driving community foundations across the country to act. Importantly, community foundation local impact investors are as diverse as the communities they serve. This is true regardless of asset size, rural/urban geography, availability of discretionary assets, and service area/footprint. Local impact investing is possible within every community foundation’s financial structure. Community foundations use one or a combination of three mechanisms to designate assets for local investing.
These mechanisms are not mutually exclusive, and many community foundations develop multiple approaches to harness more capital for local investing – allowing for maximum impact and driving more sustainable community development.
As community foundations continue to evolve, local impact investing presents an opportunity to deepen their role as community leaders. By aligning financial resources with mission-driven objectives, they can unlock new pathways to economic and social prosperity. In practice, community foundations face challenges in adopting local impact investing, including concerns about financial risk, regulatory compliance, and aligning investment strategies with mission-driven goals. However, leading practitioners emphasize that the long-term benefits – economic growth, community resilience, and expanded philanthropic influence – far outweigh the initial hurdles. Marsha Pope, President of the Topeka Community Foundation, and Katrina Rolle, President of the Community Foundation of North Florida, shared insights on overcoming these challenges. Marsha and Katrina underscored the importance of board education, strategic partnerships, and incremental implementation. They offered practical advice for Georgia’s community foundations.
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