To help unlock endowment assets for greater impact, grantmakers must address barriers to the use of mission-related investments (MRIs) and reimagine their organizational structures and align their endowment assets with their mission, a report from  Builders Initiative and Social Finance finds.

According to the report, Breaking Barriers: A Practical Guide to Unlocking Foundation Endowments for Mission and Returns (8 pages, PDF), there is no uniform definition for MRIs across the sector, and the usefulness of the term remains a topic of debate. Within the report, which includes interviews with 30 philanthropic and impact investing leaders who collectively help manage more than $300 billion in assets, MRIs are described as impact-oriented, often market-rate investments made from a foundation’s endowment to advance its mission.

At the same time, foundation leaders interviewed might offer contrasting views of the MRI field and the opportunities it presents. For example, one respondent said there was a dearth of compelling investment opportunities in the market, while another said there were more investment opportunities than the funder could consider.

“Often, the challenge for foundations in pursuing MRIs isn’t regulatory in nature—it’s the entrenched philosophical and operational hurdles of traditional investing that are hardest to overcome,” said U.S. Impact Investing Alliance president Fran Seegull. “The bright side, though, is that there are winning strategies being pursued by foundations every day to overcome these barriers.”

(Photo credit: Getty Images/fizkes)