Community Foundations Initiative
Learn with the Foremost Innovators in Place-Based Investing
Join us this spring for a Primer in Impact Investing and Financial Innovation for Community Foundations
Three sessions (online): Wednesday, May 27, Monday, June 1, and Monday, June 8, 2026. 10:00 am – 11:30 am MT.
Course Description
Impact Finance Center’s (IFC) Primer in Impact Investing and Financial Innovation for Community Foundations unlocks new ways to deepen your community impact while extending the reach of your philanthropic dollars.
Learn alongside foundation peers to fundamentally rethink place-based investing and broaden your perspective on the financial possibilities within your own community. Participants will learn to create “win-win” scenarios by applying IFC’s Full Spectrum Capital framework, optimizing your foundation’s entire balance sheet. Master our “community up, capital down” philosophy to design effective capital stacks that address what your community truly needs while confidently moving past the belief that investors must sacrifice financial returns to achieve meaningful social impact.
This short course will equip you with the tools to execute an innovative financial strategy structured directly around your local funding priorities.
What You Will Learn
Through five practical modules, this course equips community foundations with the mindset, tools, and strategies to turn impact investing ideas into action.
- Learn how your community has the capital to solve its most critical issues and how every dollar—from grants to market-rate investments—can be used to drive impact.
- Discover how grants, loans, and equity can work together to create deeper, more flexible impact, helping foundations better support grantees, strengthen organizations, and fuel local economic growth.
- Source investable opportunities within your community. Learn how to identify promising opportunities across grantee and partner networks, engage donors in new ways, and shift from passive giving to active investing.
The Development of IFC’s Community Foundation Work
The First Step: Identify
National Community Foundation Impact Investing Landscape Scan: Gilson Family Foundation funded Essex County Community Foundation to partner with IFC to identify the top 10 community foundations engaging in impact investing. As part of this work, we interviewed and developed case studies for each of the following community foundations:
- Ann Arbor Area Community Foundation
- Community Foundation of St. Clair County
- Community Foundation of Utah
- Marin Community Foundation
- New Hampshire Charitable Foundation
- Tahoe Truckee Community Foundation
- Topeka Community Foundation
- Van Wert County Foundation
- Women’s Foundation of Colorado
The Second Step: Educate
One-Day Workshop + Five Sessions: IFC offers in-person workshops for community foundations to gather and explore financial innovation, full spectrum capital and impact investing in a small group format.
Webinar Series: IFC also offers online education for community foundations to learn from each other. In 2023, IFC is hosting 3 public webinars to showcase the community foundations that participated in the National Community Impact Investing Landscape Scan (above).
Impact Investing Institute: Beyond live events and webinars, IFC offers access to recorded educational content on the Impact Investing Institute that community foundation leaders can engage with at their own pace.
Courageous Capital Stewards Podcast: Dr. Steph and IFC Senior Advisors interview those community foundation leaders taking brave steps to align and leverage the assets they steward for their communities.
Learning Circles: IFC develops cohorts of community foundations wanting to go on a journey to learn about full spectrum capital and the IFC toolbox, which contains over 100+ tools and examples of community infrastructure.
The Third Step: Activate
The Philanthropic Opportunity Scan: Ready to put your newfound financial innovation, full spectrum capital and financial innovation knowledge into practice. IFC offers advisory services to support community foundations to facilitate their own Philanthropic Opportunity Scan to source impact investments within their own philanthropic portfolio.
Design a Community Foundation Impact Investing Strategy in 5 Steps
- Map Nonprofit Grantee Investments: Philanthropic Opportunity Scan
- Map Intermediaries: National Intermediary Landscape Scan
- Map Community Foundation Impact Investing Leaders: National Community Foundation Impact Investing Landscape Scan
- Map Individuals, Foundations, Family Offices, and Corporations who want to invest
- Develop the strategy