Grant recipients are working on projects focused on improving harmonization among impact standards and systems, increasing adoption of these standards, and developing additional data infrastructure and practices
The Tipping Point Fund on Impact Investing (TPF), a donor collaborative committed to creating and supporting public goods that are critical to the continued growth and fidelity of the impact investing market, today announced that it will award approximately $3.2 million in grants to a diverse cohort of 16 organizations. These organizations are working on a range of projects related to improving best practices for impact metrics and measurement and advancing the data infrastructure that is needed to scale the impact investing field with integrity.
“High-quality data and metrics are the foundation of well-functioning, efficient, and transparent capital markets,” said Fran Seegull, Executive Director of the TPF and President of the U.S. Impact Investing Alliance. “As impact investing continues to grow in scope and scale, so too must the tools and frameworks used to assess impacts across a range of environmental, social, and economic factors.”
“These grant recipients bring a range of innovative perspectives on how to address data gaps and advance best practices in the collection and evaluation of impact data,” said Jessie Duncan, Program Officer at the TPF. “Each organization shares the goal of generating more consistent and interpretable impact data that can be used by different market actors to improve decision-making and better address urgent sustainability challenges.”
“Investors need clear, consistent, and comparable information on both the positive and negative impacts of companies to be able to efficiently allocate capital accordingly,“ said Chris Jurgens, Senior Director at Omidyar Network, one of the TPF’s funders. “Robust standards, data, and market infrastructure are essential to the goal of reimagining capitalism, and to orienting our corporations and capital markets towards the common good.”
Each grant proposal was evaluated based on its potential contribution to one of three focus areas that the TPF considers vital to the continued growth and success of the impact investing industry:
Improving impact standards alignment and harmonization among existing standards systems and taxonomies, particularly across asset classes and geographies
Raising the bar on impact and ESG performance, including by improving the adoption and application of those standards
Developing improved data infrastructure and practices to support more robust impact and ESG measurement and disclosure globally and across asset classes
Each grant recipient will use funding from the TPF to work on a specific project or deliverable. The full list of grant recipients and their projects is available below and on the TPF website.
60 Decibels – 60 Decibels will build on its MFI (microfinance institution) Index to expand participation in the index; reach a critical mass of participation in select geographies to improve comparability; and to integrate client feedback, surfaced from the index, into existing MFI industry standards.
Aspen Network of Development Entrepreneurs (ANDE) – ANDE will develop training, educational materials, and a global conference aimed at aligning diverse impact investing stakeholders, particularly those working at a grassroots level across the Global South, around high-quality impact measurement best practices and approaches.
As You Sow – As You Sow will expand the reach of its Racial Justice and DEI (RJ/DEI) Scorecard and double the number of mutual funds and ETFs ranked by its Invest Your Values tool.
Capitals Coalition – Capitals Coalition will further develop its Value Commission, an independent working group working to establish global standards for the creation and usage of “value factors”—the conversions used to understand how a company’s or investment’s outputs impact people and planet.
CDP – CDP will ensure the development of its corporate disclosure questionnaire embodies best practice disclosure principles and recognizes the data requirements of emerging disclosure regimes from the SEC, EFRAG, and ISSB, thereby making ESG data reporting more efficient and streamlined for companies, investors, and other stakeholders globally.
Center for the Advancement of Social Entrepreneurship (CASE) at Duke University – CASE will partner with BlueMark, an impact verification specialist, to develop a guide for asset owners and asset allocators on how to better assess and manage impact-oriented asset managers.
Common Approach – Common Approach will continue its work developing the Common Impact Data Standard, an ontology which will have the flexibility to allow social enterprises to communicate their impacts in ways that are relevant to their missions and communities - while also giving investors, researchers and policymakers the tools to collect information aligning to global standards.
Digitization for Sustainability Data Lab (DSD-Lab) – Hosted by the Capitals Coalition, the Digitization for Sustainability Data Lab (DSD-Lab) initiative will ensure structured, digitized sustainability data is interoperable and decision-useful across diverse stakeholders and jurisdictions.
Icebreaker One – Icebreaker One will develop and improve the data infrastructure and practices for sharing impact investment data. This will build the foundations for robust and measurable ESG data sharing for disclosure globally.
Impact Frontiers – Impact Frontiers will create a guide on emerging best practices in impact portfolio construction and optimization across asset classes; publish a suite of open-access online materials for investors to better utilize the ABC (act to avoid harm, benefit stakeholders, and contribute to solutions) framework; and develop guidance for investors on how to use systems-mapping techniques to integrate systems-level considerations into their decision-making.
Intentional Endowments Network (IEN) – IEN will develop an Endowment Impact Benchmark (EIB), a benchmarking and rating system to drive the adoption of commonly accepted impact standards by endowed institutions, particularly university endowments.
Oxfam America – Oxfam America’s Private Sector department will launch a framework to measure and assess public companies’ contributions to inequality and work with market actors to file shareholder resolutions based on the results.
Social Performance Task Force (SPTF) – SPTF will work with its sister organization, Cerise, to develop an enhanced user experience in social audit on the "SPI online" platform, an integrated suite of assessment tools and resources based on the Universal Standards for Social and Environmental Performance Management, for financial service providers in the Global South and emerging markets.
The Investment Integration Project (TIIP) – TIIP will develop and promote a standardized framework for investors for measuring their impacts and influence on systemic risks, specifically income inequality and racial injustice.
World Benchmarking Alliance (WBA) – WBA will engage in a series of coalition-building activities related to its open-source Financial Systems Benchmark (FSB), which it launched in November 2022, to measure financial institutions’ performance against the SDGs.
XBRL International – XBRL International will explore the feasibility and potential benefits of establishing a global report registry mechanism that would make companies’ sustainability and financial reports more accessible to regulators, investors, and other stakeholders.
About the Tipping Point Fund on Impact Investing
The Tipping Point Fund on Impact Investing (TPF) is a donor collaborative developed with the mission of creating and supporting public goods that are critical to the continued growth and fidelity of the impact investing market. The funding provided by the TPF will build on existing field building efforts by prioritizing the areas that are chronically underfunded, are best suited for collective action and require additional support beyond that provided by individual grantmakers. Learn more at www.tpfii.org.