New Guidance
Demystifying Program-Related Investing: Lessons from Recent Adopters
Demystifying Program-Related Investing: Lessons from Recent Adopters was produced through a partnership between the Social Finance Institute, the Impact Investing Research Lab at the Impact, Value, and Sustainable Business Initiative at the Wharton School, and the Center for High Impact Philanthropy at the University of Pennsylvania.
Program-related investments (PRIs) enable foundations to provide loans, equity capital, and other return-generating financing that prioritizes social mission over financial performance. Existing research has thoroughly documented barriers to PRI adoption, including resource constraints and cultural resistance, but the focus on obstacles obscures an important reality: Some foundations have successfully integrated PRIs into their philanthropic practice, and many have done so recently.
What distinguishes these recent adopters? How did they navigate challenges that deter so many of their peers?
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This research distills lessons from 36 U.S. foundations that began making PRIs between 2016 and 2023, translating their experiences into practical guidance for foundations considering this transition. The project documents a more nuanced reality: PRIs are not inherently difficult; rather, foundation experiences vary dramatically based on factors that organizations can deliberately manage. Success depends less on organizational size or sophistication than on deliberately managing complexity, capacity, and congruity.
By demystifying PRI adoption while respecting its genuine challenges, this research helps more foundations find their own path toward successful implementation.
More Guidance
Program-Related Investments (PRI)
In this paper, you will find an explanation of the barriers to mission investing, also known as Program Related Investment (PRI) and Mission Related Investment (MRI), and a concluding hypothesis about what it will take to help remove the barriers.
SeaChange: An Opt-In Approach to Program-Related Investment
In this paper, SeaChange Capital Partners describe how they have put PRI in action through the New York Pooled PRI Fund (NYPRI), a flexible, high-impact loans to New York City nonprofits while also offering attractive program-related investment PRI opportunities to foundations.
The XX Factor: A Framework and Guidebook for Improving the Lives of Women and Girls
The XX Factor explores how philanthropists and investors can align their donations and investments to improve women’s lives through five dimensions.
The Guidebook to Aligning Financial Investments to Improving the Lives of Women & Girls
For the Women’s Index, CHIP in collaboration with Women of the World Endowment conducted research and analysis of social impact indicators available to inform investment with a gender focus within the sovereign debt space.
Blogs
Impact Alpha covers CHIP & partners’ new PRI Paper
A $350 million impact allocation unlocked $1 billion in private investment. A low-interest loan helped a pharmaceutical company get regulatory clearance. An equity investment…
New applied research: Demystifying Program Related Investing: Insights from Recent Adopters
A new research report offers clearer understanding of how foundations are integrating program‑related investments (PRIs) into their philanthropic practice. Demystifying Program‑Related Investing: Lessons from...
CHIP’s Four Philanthropic Plays and High Impact Philanthropy Academy Featured by Devex
"Collective action can advance progress, especially when the world is in what Katherina Rosqueta, founding executive director at the University of Pennsylvania's Center for...