Impact Investing for Sustainable Community Development

There is a new emerging market that redirects capital to organizations that have positive social and/or environmental objectives; it has been termed “impact investing”. This marketplace provides an avenue to address social and environmental issues while still making a financial return. This research contributes to a greater understanding of this marketplace and how impact investing contributes to sustainable community development. This research also takes an organizational lens to highlight the organizational structures and processes that are needed to implement an impact investing program. The methods used for this research include a case study and key informant interviews. The findings reveal that there is a connection between impact investing and sustainable community development as these investments provide an opportunity to address community level issues, increase the flow of dollars within a community, and help build community capital.