Surdna, one of the oldest operating foundations in the US and among who funnels impacting investments to CDFI’s, and PRI’s recently announced it will contribute $100 million share of its endowment to impact investing to advance its social justice mission.
$100M for 100
One-hundred years ago in 1917, businessman John Andrus decided to donate half of his Pepto-Bismol fortune, naming his new foundation after himself — except he reversed the spelling of his last name.
“I think the important starting point is to understand that we drive the money that we have to spend for grants by investing a lot of capital,” Mr Andrus once said. “You should try to find ways to marry the goals that you have with your grantmaking with the goals that you have with your investing.”
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“As one of the oldest and largest family-governed foundations in the U.S., Surdna is not just investing to further its mission, but also to build up the field of impact investing. In 2014 when the Foundation made the decision to allocate the $100 million, there was not a wide breadth of funds and tools available.
As part of its investment, Surdna seeks to share its experience with others thinking about impact investing through its “Mapping the Journey to Impact Investing” publication and to support funds like the Business Outreach Center (BOC) Network, which helps build up women and minority-owned contracting businesses. Surdna’s 2014 investment in BOC leveraged an additional $2.8 million in capital from Goldman Sachs’s 10,000 Small Businesses program.
The “Mapping the Journey to Impact Investing,” report charts the journey from the time the Board of Directors and staff began exploring impact investing in 2014 to the decision-making process and experience of implementing impact investing policies.
“The Surdna Foundation’s founder, John E. Andrus was committed to inclusion, social justice and sustainability,” said Peter Benedict II, Surdna Foundation’s Board Chair.
“By sharing our experience and some of the lessons we learned in this report this centennial year, we will contribute to collective learning in the fields of mission-related investing and family philanthropy and celebrate these core values.”
A few examples of recent impact investments the Surdna Foundation has made to explore impact investing include the following.
- A $5 million commitment in DBL Partners III, a venture capital fund in Silicon Valley, which invests in companies that deliver strong financial returns while promoting social, environmental, and economic improvements in the regions in which they operate.
- A four-year, $700,000 loan to the Business Outreach Center (BOC) Network, a small business development organization and CDFI in New York City. The investment began in 2014 and allows BOC to provide loans to minority and women owned contractors working on public and private sector construction contracts.
Surdna will continue with impact investing to reach the full commitment of $100 million through 2017 and into the future.”
