unique nature of foundations family offices

iCubed helps organizations achieve greater positive societal impact, applying capital markets principles to their philanthropic process.

How your organization chooses to consider and potentially integrate impact into your investment and grant making process requires thoughtful and customized strategy setting, capacity building, measurement, monitoring, reporting and responsible exits.

Through our education and capacity building initiatives, iCubed works to put itself out of work, and render our services obsolete.

We can help you clarify your commitment to impact, and assess opportunities to achieve your goals.

Optimize your philanthropy toolbox

iCubed solves the barriers to entry for foundations and family offices in charitable impact investing

The Center for High Impact Philanthropy at UPenn asked what deters foundations from using PRIs (program related investments) and identified the following barriers:

  1. A lack of basic understanding of PRIs, including how they can help advance a foundation’s strategy;
  2. A lack of the requisite skillset to perform PRIs (e.g. financial and legal analysis);
  3. Difficulty measuring the success of PRI outcomes, due to gaps in data and technical expertise (legal and financial analysis infrastructure).

The foundations leading the way on PRIs and other forms of impact investing have the resources to develop skills, and capacity to support this strategy. For example, The Gates Foundation relies on a team of experts who work to negotiate term sheets and agreements and to address the legal complexities (e.g. drafting term agreements, ensuring compliance) involved in impact investments. Most foundations lack this expertise.

Impact investments require another layer of due diligence and additional capacity that foundations might not possess. iCubed fills the gap for these resources, by providing a team of experts who work to understand the unique needs of each client.

Comprehensive support for impact investing

Strategy

Mission aligned opportunity overview

Landscape & portfolio assessment

Investment policy parameters

Board education

Execution

Due diligence

Financial modeling & analysis

Risk assessment

Impact analysis

Legal expenditure responsibility opinion

Board write-up/investment presentation

Deal structuring

Controls

Legal

Accounting

Monitoring

IRS reporting

Compliance

Capacity Building

Internal capacity assessment

Staff mentoring

Education & training

Process development & implementation