International Non-Governmental Organizations (INGOs) have traditionally played a crucial role in addressing global challenges, providing humanitarian aid and fostering sustainable development. By leveraging their extensive networks, local knowledge and deep-rooted trust within communities, they have delivered critical services and implemented development projects in the world’s most underserved areas. Some of the largest INGOs exemplify this reach: in 2022 alone, Oxfam impacted 15.6 million people, the Red Cross and Red Crescent Movement supported 160.7 million globally and CARE International reached 170 million, illustrating the scale at which they mobilize resources and deliver transformative outcomes. Their mandates and effective use of resources have allowed them to achieve investor additionality — generating outcomes that would not have occurred without their intervention. They have pursued this additional impact through both financial additionality, such as providing grants or running programs with a catalytic mindset, and non-financial additionality, including offering technical assistance.

We seek to explore the motivations behind INGOs' interest in impact investing, showcasing different pathways available to do so, and shedding light on key challenges they might encounter, as well as opportunities to amplify their impact. The insights presented in this report are primarily based on in-depth interviews, conducted by Impact Europe, with ten INGOs, nine of which have their headquarters in Europe; additional desk research complemented these interviews.

As readers engage with this report, it is important to consider three contextual factors: 1) The sample size may not adequately capture the wide range of viewpoints of all INGOs involved in impact investing, even though it serves as a representative sample of those operating in Europe; 2) The available literature on INGOs engaging in impact investing is currently limited, which may restrict the depth of our analysis; 3) The core constituency of INGOs we consulted understands additionality in a way that aligns closely with our definition11 and considers themselves as pursuers of additionality through their activities, both in financial and non-financial ways. While we acknowledge that this concept may be relatively unfamiliar to some INGOs that are newly exploring the impact investing space, we will consistently employ this definition throughout the paper to maintain clarity and coherence in our analysis.

 This initiative reflects Heifer International's ongoing dedication to developing impactful solutions for Nepal's smallholder farmers and women-led agri-enterprises. The study's primary objective was to assess and strengthen the impact of the investment landscape in Nepal, fostering increased financial support and growth opportunities for these vital sectors.

The report highlights several critical insights into the current status of impact investment in Nepal. First, it underscores the challenges that need to be addressed to attract potential and interested impact investors to the region. These challenges include regulatory hurdles, a lack of investor confidence, and limited access to reliable market data. Second, the study identifies strategies to unlock more capital for impact-oriented initiatives. These strategies encompass enhancing financial and investment literacy, improving transparency and governance within agribusinesses and cooperatives, and fostering partnerships between the public and private sectors to create a more conducive investment environment. Furthermore, consulted financial institutions shared several critical challenges hindering Nepal’s agriculture sector investment. The commodity value chains lack clear and distinct opportunities for targeted interventions. There is a significant shortage of bankable projects, as most farmers and agribusinesses—aside from a few large companies—struggle to develop compelling, investment-ready proposals. Existing policies need urgent reform to foster greater private sector participation and unlock the sector's full potential. 

Kenya's waste management and circularity sector offers significant opportunities for investors, driven by economic growth, increasing waste generation, growing regulations and innovations. This introductory guide is the first in a series that also includes investment guides that deep dive into each of the highest opportunity sub-sectors in Kenya’s waste and circularity sector: plastic waste, wastewater, organic waste and integrated waste management. These guides provide further information on trends, opportunities, policies and challenges, as well as further details on the main identified business models and their financing needs and case studies of successful businesses.

This landscape guide is intended to outline India’s current context in recycling and circularity, with a focus on the investment potential, opportunities and business models in the ten most significant waste streams in India. It provides a framework for how investment potential in a waste stream can be determined, which covers five areas that define that potential: market size and growth; investable start-up pipeline; product readiness; policy support; financing needs and gaps. The guide also includes a historical outline of investments and funding in each waste stream and outlines the roles and participation of various types of equity funders, along with the potential and participation of non-dilutive funding options.

¿Cómo pueden los donantes ayudar y no obstaculizar a las organizaciones que ejecutan sus programas e iniciativas? Esta es una gran pregunta, y una que muchas organizaciones en ambos lados de la relación donante-beneficiario están explorando. Sin embargo, enfocarse en el crecimiento de las organizaciones que brindan el servicio desafía muchas prácticas arraigadas en el proceso de subvenciones. Este reporte, aquí resumido, responde a este tema mirando a una instancia específica de esta dinámica más amplia - cómo los donantes trabajan con las Organizaciones de Apoyo Empresarial (ESOs, por sus siglas en inglés). En los países de bajo y mediano ingreso, esta relación donante-ESO tiene significancia para el desarrollo de las PYMEs y el crecimiento económico.

The Impact Investors Council (IIC) aims to drive private capital towards market-based models for social impact in India. This report, "Year in Retrospect: India Impact Investing Trends," provides insights into 2023's investment landscape across key sectors such as agriculture, climate tech, healthcare, education, financial inclusion, and technology for development. In 2023, equity investments in Indian impact enterprises totaled $2.90 billion, down from $6 billion in 2022, reflecting a global venture capital slowdown rather than India's potential as an impact investment destination. With over 1.4 billion people, there is vast scope for innovative solutions in underserved sectors, especially with rising digital penetration in rural areas. This report highlights the opportunities for scaling impactful solutions that address critical development challenges in India and aims to guide asset owners, managers, and policymakers in understanding and engaging with India's impact investing market.

This report by This is Africa surveyed European and US limited partners, such as pension funds and insurance companies, to explore their views on emerging markets and socially responsible investing (SRI). While 65% of investors allocate to emerging markets, less than 30% target Africa-focused funds, with many deterred by concerns over governance, transparency, and political risk. Opinions on investing in Africa are split. The report reveals a limited understanding of SRI. Only 39% of investors monitor social impact, and 60% see SRI as merely excluding unethical investments rather than actively driving change. Impact investing is poorly understood, with just 32% familiar with the concept. Though 25% would accept lower returns for proven social benefits, most investors remain skeptical due to insufficient data. This report aims to highlight these gaps in knowledge and encourage further discussion.

In Extrapolations, Mumbai in 2059 is depicted as a dystopian city where climate change forces all commerce to take place at night, with people relying on oxygen stations to survive the extreme heat. This grim vision highlights the severe consequences of unchecked climate change, underscoring the importance of climate adaptation. Effective adaptation should focus on maintaining quality of life, which requires urgent investment in adaptation strategies today. The report shifts focus towards adaptation finance, challenging the idea that it is solely a public good with little role for private sector investment. While continuing to emphasize climate mitigation, the report identifies areas where adaptation investments can yield both positive impacts and financial returns. It stresses that addressing climate change is not only crucial for the planet but also presents significant business opportunities. The choices made in the next decade will be critical, requiring unprecedented capital to scale effective solutions.

The Thomson Reuters Foundation champions economies that are equitable, participatory, and sustainable, with a focus on environmental respect. Impact investing is crucial for addressing social and environmental inequities but remains underutilized in Southeast Asia. To bridge this gap, the Aspen Network of Development Entrepreneurs (ANDE) partnered with TrustLaw, the TRF's global pro bono service, to enhance understanding of local impact investing regulations in 7 different countries in Southeast Asia: Thailand, Vietnam, Singapore, Indonesia, Myanmar, and the Philippines. Special thanks go to A&O Shearman, DFDL, Mayer Brown, MahWengKwai & Associates, and SyCip Salazar Hernandez & Gatmaitan for their pro-bono support. This guide aims to assist social enterprises, incubators, and investors in navigating local regulations and fostering greater investment in regional startups and their social missions.

"In this paper, we argue that business models need to be inclusive and adaptive to generate climate-smart value equitably for all stakeholders involved and sustainably over time. Inclusivity involves not only providing the poor at the Bottom-of-the-Pyramid (BoP) with access to resources (e.g. finance, technology, access to markets) in business models but also, according to some scholars, with guaranteeing their representation in decision-making over the use of these resources. Adaptability entails the capacity to smoohtly adjust structures and processes of enterprise-BoP partnerships that underlie business models. We suggest that building inclusive and adaptive climate-smart business models is non-trivial work which, in the future, will require rapid cycles of collective experimentation and reflection between decision-makers in climate-smart business models and researchers studying them."