Press Release

Guide to Community Investment by US Colleges, Universities Launched by Responsible Endowments Coalition

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The first-ever step-by-step guide to encourage colleges and universities to make market-rate community investments is being released today by the Responsible Endowments Coalition. The guide is aimed at higher education trustees and administrators and students who want to implement community investment programs on their campuses. The Social Investment Forum is partnering with REC to distribute the handbook electronically to its members.

Available online at no cost (http://www.endowmentethics.org/downloads/Community_Investment_Handbook.pdf), Maximizing Returns to Colleges and Communities: A Handbook on Community Investment is a comprehensive guide with real-world examples and best practices from leading institutions, including a sample community investment policy and investment portfolios.

Morgan Simon, executive director of the Responsible Endowments Coalition, said: “Community investments offer market-rate opportunities across asset classes, appropriate for colleges and universities rightfully concerned with protecting their assets. Such investment is a critical component of economic development and can greatly improve town-gown relations. Finally, it shows alumni and other donors that their gifts are being managed in line with their values. Given the numerous benefits for endowments, institutions and communities, we hope that colleges and universities across the country will use the handbook to take advantage of the many opportunities available to them.”    

The handbook was written by Michael Swack, professor at the University of New Hampshire, with support from an expert advisory committee including Kevin Stephensen, managing director of Cambridge Associates; Paul Aslanian, retired CFO of Swarthmore and Macalester College; and Jack McGourty, chair of the Advisory Committee for Socially Responsible Investing at Columbia University. Lisa Woll, CEO of the Social Investment Forum, also served on the advisory committee. 

SIF CEO Lisa Woll said: “Maximizing Returns to Colleges and Communities will be an excellent tool to drive new dollars to community investing financial institutions, one of the key goals of the Social Investment Forum.  Community investing is a key strategy and the fastest growing part of the socially responsible investing field. We welcome a new generation of community investors from the education sector, and  look forward to tracking the increase in community investing assets channeled by colleges and universities.  This handbook contains step-by step tools and lessons for colleges and universities that will also be highly applicable to other endowed institutions such as foundations.”

More than $2.71 trillion in assets are currently managed using one or more strategies that consider environmental, social and governance (ESG) issues. This means that nearly one out of nine dollars under professional management in the United States today is involved in some form of ESG investing. Additionally, 16 of the top 20-ranked colleges and universities (2008 U.S. News and World Report rankings) have adopted some practices that incorporate social, environmental and governance concerns in investment decisions.

The Responsible Endowments Coalition works to build and unify the college and university-based responsible investment movement, both by educating and empowering a diverse network of individuals to act on their campuses, and by fostering a national network for collective action. www.endowmentethics.org.

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