The Tipping Point Fund on Impact Investing (“TPF”) is a donor collaborative with a mission of creating and supporting public goods that are critical to the continued growth and fidelity of the impact investing market. The TPF is designed to build on existing field building efforts and specifically prioritizes the areas that are chronically under-funded, are best suited for collective action, and require additional support beyond individual grantmaking.
The two grantmaking areas of the TPF are:
Public Policy (e.g., policy development, advocacy, and implementation)
Data, Metrics, and Measurement (e.g., impact measurement and management standardization, data interoperability)
Please see below for additional information and contact us with any additional questions.
About the Tipping point fund on Impact investing (“TPF”)
Q: What is the TPF?
The TPF is a donor collaborative vehicle that was officially launched on December 5, 2019 with an initial raise of $14.2 million in pooled philanthropic grants. The TPF continues to raise additional funding.
The mission of the TPF is to help fortify and scale the impact investing field through the use of collaborative grantmaking with the goal of creating and supporting public goods that are critical to the continued growth and fidelity of the impact investing market.
Q: Why was the TPF launched?
The TPF was established to build on existing field building efforts in the impact investing sector by 1) better coordinating donor funding and 2) prioritizing funding areas in impact investing which are best addressed by grant capital, have been historically underfunded, are unlikely to emerge naturally through market activity alone, and are best suited for collective action.
Q: How was the TPF created?
The U.S. Impact Investing Alliance, in collaboration with a working group of impact investing grantmakers and practitioners, conducted a rigorous market landscape assessment of the impact investing field that included consultation with industry leaders and an extensive review of existing research.
Q: What are the TPF’s grantmaking areas?
Through the co-design process, we identified two funding priorities that would strongly contribute to driving the growth of the impact investing market with integrity.
Public Policy (e.g., policy development, advocacy, and implementation)
Data, Metrics, and Measurement (e.g., impact measurement and management standardization, data interoperability)
These two areas collectively represent critical field building functions that have received limited support to-date and would benefit from a collaborative approach.
The TPF’s first RFP on Public Policy was released in December 2019, with a particular focus on the implications of the 2020 election cycle for the impact investing field. In July 2020, the TPF announced $752,000 in grants to eight organizations to help raise the voice of impact investors and encourage leaders in Washington, D.C. to consider how U.S. federal policy can catalyze the flow of private capital towards urgent social, economic and environmental challenges. (See announcement)
Future RFPs will focus on Data, Metrics, and Measurement (DMM).
Each year, the TPF also disburses a small number of grants outside the auspices of a full RFP process in both public policy and DMM. These grants are made to work which we believe is particularly catalytic and time-sensitive to the field.
Q: Who are the funders for the TPF?
Please see the Funders page. The TPF remains open to additional funders who wish to contribute to the collaborative’s work of building the impact investing field. For more information on how to get involved, please contact us at info@tpfii.org.
Q: How will TPF grant decisions be made and monitored?
Grantmaking decisions are made through a collaborative process between funders and TPF staff. Proposals will generally be solicited through competitive RFPs aligned with the grant making priorities of the TPF.
Projects will be selected based on criteria defined in the RFPs, with a priority placed on projects that show clear commitment to expanding impact investment market infrastructure.
Q: Will the TPF accept unsolicited grant applications?
TPF does not accept unsolicited grant applications.
Q: How are Diversity, Equity and Inclusion (DEI) considerations incorporated into the grantmaking process?
We review all applications with an eye towards advancing DEI among our grantees, their programmatic work and the larger impact investing field.
To ensure that the impact investing industry is informed by a diverse range of perspectives, we ask all potential grantees to provide detailed information on the breakdown of their teams by both gender and race.