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> Posted by Lauren Burnhill, Managing Director, One Planet Ventures

If social change is hard to achieve, raising funds for innovative programs that target social change is twice as difficult, but things are looking up! Recently, the White House Office of Social Innovation announced a proposed change in the rules governing program related investments (PRIs) made by foundations.

Every microfinance, social impact or environmental group that has tried to mobilize foundation resources for innovative concepts, pilots or ventures knows how difficult it is to access PRI funding. For fear of endangering their tax status, most foundations have exclusively focused on making grants to non-profit organizations.

In other words, under existing regulations, foundations believe themselves limited to making grants or supporting studies and research related to social enterprise and the impact investment industry. Yet when we look at obstacles to catalyzing private investment, there is a strong need to find actors that can change the risk profile associated with funding these activities, in order to facilitate the entry of new private investors. Foundations seem like a logical candidate to play this role, but until now, they have not felt empowered to do so. Read the rest of this entry »