Social-Impact Investments

PROBLEM STATEMENT

The nonprofit and public sectors alone cannot provide all the ideas, resources, and talented people needed to advance the Foundation's strategic priorities.

VISION

The Foundation's social-impact investing enables mission-driven companies to secure the risk capital, networks, and resources they need to develop products, deploy services and address societal issues at the individual and community level.

Our For-Profit Social-Impact Investments program enables us to work with corporations and capital markets to pursue promising opportunities for charitable purposes that promote social good and address market failures. 

We primarily use Program-Related Investments (PRIs) to provide funding to private sector partners. It is cross-functional and undergirds the Economic Development, Economic Mobility, Health and Well-Being, and Conservation programs.

Through our For-Profit Social-Impact Investment program, the Foundation aims to:

  • Take advantage of regional expertise to support developments that will benefit the region and society

  • Complement existing projects from companies not eligible for traditional grant support

  • Leverage talent and innovation from local institutions to uncover new opportunities

  • Explore collaborations with industry to advance new technologies

  • Improve communications and access to capital for a broad range of companies

  • Attract new companies and talent to the region

  • Help to create and promote employment opportunities

  • Explore new finance mechanisms to attract private for-profit capital

  • Promote collaborations between for-profit and nonprofit partners to adopt new finance strategies

  • Support innovating funding approaches by government

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    Since 1947, the Richard King Mellon Foundation has invested in the future of southwestern Pennsylvania.

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