More for Mission

Mission investing leaders and other foundations gather in Atlanta

Lisa Hagerman, Tuesday, May 5th, 2009

The More for Mission Campaign Reception was held in Atlanta on May 5th at the Council on Foundations Annual Meeting. We were pleased with the turnout from our Leadership Committee members and other interested foundations wanting to learn more about the practice of mission investing and network with leaders in the field. Doug Stamm, CEO, Meyer Memorial Trust gave opening remarks and talked about the momentum being built for the More for Mission Campaign and encouraged foundations to join the Campaign and learn from tools available such as quarterly conference calls with thought leaders on trends in the industry.

Anne Mosle, VP Programs, at the W.K. Kellogg Foundation talked about their mission-driven investing (MDI) pilot investment program in which it has earmarked $100 million of its endowment assets for a pilot program in mission-driven investing. Of the $100 million, $25 million has been designated to mission-driven investments in southern Africa, while the balance – $75 million – will be used for investments in the United States. The Kellogg Foundation’s MDI criteria includes: how investments fit with the foundation’s mission objectives, leverage of the Kellogg Foundation’s programming investments – particular focus will be given to innovative, scalable new approaches to deploying capital for impact vs. more traditional mission investments (e.g. low interest loans), magnitude of potential impact, minority/gender partnership opportunity. The W.K. Kellogg Foundation is aggressively committing capital and will soon issue a press release on new commitments. Their website has several learning tools for other foundations.

A working group gathered around rural investing opportunities that included representatives from the Annie E. Casey Foundation, the Mary Babcock Reynolds, and the Winthrop Rockefeller Foundation.
 

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