This research paper explores a fast-growing area of intervention among philanthropic foundations operating in Quebec and Canada: social finance. Leveraging the institutional investor status of these organizations, this alternative financial market offers a variety of investment strategies that pursue positive social and environmental objectives in addition to strictly financial ones. Social finance thus opens up the possibility of internalizing the benefits of one’s financial portfolio, so that it is no longer exclusively donations, but also investments, that work to advance the social mission of foundations. However, although social finance is radically shifting the boundaries of philanthropic action, its developments remain little studied by the research community to date. By addressing this knowledge gap, this research paper contributes to documenting and understanding these new fields of intervention for foundations, as well as serving as a tool of reflection for any foundation seeking to allocate its capital in response to various societal challenges. To this end, it is divided into three complementary sections, which can be read independently of one another. The first section sets the scene by explaining the historical context in which social finance emerged, and by outlining the main trends and variants that coexist within it today. A second section traces the history of social finance within the Quebec philanthropic ecosystem, from the 1990s to the present day. Finally, the third section presents case studies of six of Canada’s most committed and innovative foundations in the field of social finance.
Read the research paper: L’essor de la finance sociale dans le champ de la philanthropie subventionnaire
Research paper by David Grant-Poitras & Audrey Maria Popa
