Fostering impact: An investor guide for engaging communities in place-based impact investing

Published on
27th September 2023

Are you an investor or developer who wants to enhance their impact and financial performance by forging partnerships with local communities through meaningful engagement?

This guide empowers investors to identify and pursue community engagement opportunities within a place-based impact investment approach, and it lays out different ways and methods of incorporating community engagement into investment decision-making.

You will find information, practical steps, and additional resources on the following topics:

What is community engagement?

  • Place-Based Impact Investing (PBII): Gain insights into how investors can deepen their impact and meet performance objectives by directing capital towards underinvested areas for improved living standards and
    inclusive communities.
  • Spectrum of public participation: Learn the levels of engagement, ranging from information sharing, consulting, and involving, to collaboration and empowerment.
  • Illustrative examples: Draw insights from real-life cases of emerging practice, showcasing different methods of integrating community engagement in the investment process.

Why do community engagement?

  • The significance of community engagement: Understand the pivotal role of community engagement in shaping investment decisions and outcomes.
  • Motivations for meaningful engagement: Explore the key drivers for investors to engage with communities in a meaningful and sustainable manner

How to do community engagement well

  • Effective engagement strategies: Discover how to initiate, plan, deliver, and sustain community engagement efforts through diverse engagement methods that require different levels of resourcing.
  • Leveraging partnerships: Understand how to engage communities through intermediaries for mutually beneficial outcomes.
  • Avoiding common pitfalls: Learn about common pitfalls and how to steer clear of them, such as seeking input after decisions are made or lacking clarity on how to utilise
    engagement outcomes.

By putting people and communities at the heart of investment decisions, investors can play a critical and much needed role in creating thriving, inclusive, and sustainable communities. Our step-by-step guide will help those who either want to deepen their place-based impact investing approach or those who want to get started on their journey.

Related files

Fostering impact: An investor guide for engaging communities in place-based impact investing

File published on 27th September 2023