There is no shortage of capital or worthwhile projects, but they must be connected. However, the space between philanthropic grants and donations on one side and traditional investments on the other – commonly known as “impact investing” – suffers from significant barriers including complicated structures, uncommon underwriting, high transaction costs, and a need for technical assistance. Mission Driven Finance (MDF) launched in 2016 specifically to unlock this critical capital.
Our Vision
We envision a future where impact investing is so easy, everyone is doing it. In our world, all investments are optimized for impact.
The Challenge
Bold visions, innovative enterprises, and great community programs deserve the opportunity to succeed. Unfortunately, the needs of today’s businesses and communities are out of sync with traditional funding methods, resulting in too many worthwhile endeavors struggling to achieve scale.
We have three primary objectives:
With the right mechanisms – and the right partners – we CAN accelerate positive social change.
Borrower Services
From initial education and awareness to investment-readiness, our team provides tailored technical assistance for potential borrowers seeking impact-based financing.
Investment Services
The best impact investments aren’t simple. They involve a myriad of legal structures, investors with varying goals and timelines, and often some uncommon cash flows or security. We can help.
Our Values
Transformative
We look for investment opportunities that radically grow the impact of an organization, rather than financing working capital. The most exciting investments are complex, multi-party capital stacks that only come together with an intermediary like Mission Driven Finance connecting the puzzle pieces.
Stubbornly Optimistic
There is a solution to every problem, it just takes getting the right set of partners working together. We develop solutions from a team perspective and include external partners and their strengths in this process.
Social Equity
We believe that an equitable economy is just, morally imperative, and more sustainable than traditional structures. Accordingly, we incentivize equitable business practices and our team invests time in supporting clients with barriers to capital to become investment ready.
Alignment
We strive to avoid the profit-above-all motives that have led to issues in traditional finance. We believe results are better when investors, borrowers, and intermediaries are all aligned and have a mutual understanding of their respective goals.
Humor
In addition to being complex, financial management and program evaluation can be quite dry and uninviting. To the extent possible, we try to make impact investing fun.