First Things First
There is good news underway for all of us who admire the important work done by NGOs. Many of them are now actively pursuing financial innovation to achieve their goals.
The NGOs are generally seeking additional and lower-cost funding through initiatives like debt swaps, blended capital, impact funds, tech accelerators, insurance deals, carbon market collaborations, and so on. And it’s not limited to conservation organizations — it’s starting to happen in all sectors.
Further, these NGOs — wisely, in our view — are reaching out for help, recognizing that for most of them, financial engineering is outside their traditional expertise.
I’ve had several constructive conversations with NGOs along these lines recently. This has inspired us to launch a new series here: Financial Innovation for Good. We’ll share practical lessons about these opportunities in the hopes of smoothing the path forward.