Values Proposition: How and Why We Transformed Our Investment Model to Align Our Capital with Our Mission

Mission-aligned investing presents a compelling opportunity for philanthropic organizations to reimagine how they use their financial resources to affect change. All of the institution's capital is harmonized in service of its mission — a total-enterprise approach to impact. Yet, such an approach is relatively novel and still often met with skepticism or confusion.Our report addresses this skepticism by demonstrating the potential for mission-aligned investing to enhance mission impact while continuing to meet financial goals. We are also candid about where we see gaps and shortcomings in the marketplace. Although our research focused on mission-aligned investing practices among outsourced chief investment officers (OCIOs), we believe these findings will be of interest to any institutional investor — including those who work with nondiscretionary investment advisors and/or in-house investment teams.Our toolkit provides mission-aligned investing advocates with resources that were developed based on our experience of aligning our $450 million endowment with our mission over the past three years. It likely mirrors the experiences of others as well. The toolkit consists of a framework to conduct a situational analysis at your organization and a four-pillar approach to make the case for mission-aligned investing. We provide some working definitions for clarity, but we do not focus on them. We recognize that each institution is unique. We offer a construct that can be adapted to your circumstances