Below is a map of the current impact investing activity in Minneapolis and Saint Paul as of June 2016. For the purpose of this map, an impact investment is defined as an investment that seeks to create both positive financial return as well as positive social or environmental impact that is actively measured. This map has allowed our local impact investing community to understand the breadth and complexity of the impact investing activity in the twin cities as well as provide context to each organization how they fit within the ecosystem.
Download a printable version of the map (PDF)
This map sorts impact investing activity by three questions: what kind of capital moves, who receives it, and what the recipient does with it. Those three choices combine into the twelve investment types you see in the green nodes
Debt. The investor lends money, and the recipient repays it over a set term, usually with interest. The investor holds no ownership stake and takes on less risk than an equity investor. A loan to a community development financial institution is a common example.
Equity. The investor buys an ownership stake and shares in the gains and losses that follow. Returns depend on how the organization performs, and the investor often holds that position for years.
End user of capital. The organization that puts the money directly to work and converts it into social or environmental impact, such as a nonprofit or a social enterprise.
Intermediary of capital. An organization that channels capital from investors to end users, such as a CDFI, a fund, or a bank. Intermediaries both receive investments and make them.
Not-for-profit. Mission-driven organizations that reinvest any surplus rather than distribute it to owners.
For profit. Conventional businesses that raise both debt and equity and distribute profits to owners.
Public benefit corporation. For-profit companies that write a public benefit into their charter and require their directors to weigh that benefit alongside shareholder return.
Government. Public agencies and units that borrow, typically through bonds or notes, to finance community infrastructure and services.
Nonprofits and government units cannot sell ownership stakes, so they appear only in the debt categories. That is why the map shows eight debt types and four equity types.
Each green node represents one of the twelve types of impact investment. The yellow, orange, and red nodes represent end users of capital, intermediaries of capital, and sources of capital respectively. An arrow pointing from an organization into a green node shows that organization making that type of impact investment. An arrow pointing from a green node to an organization shows that organization receiving that kind of investment. The green nodes scale by the number of organizations they connect to.