It has long been accepted that financial capital is critical to social change efforts. Yet, it is only recently that social finance has been viewed as a defined and important marketplace.

Today, a myriad of financial instruments, ranging from the traditional grant to complex debt/equity hybrids, are available to nonprofits and social enterprises. These instruments come from a variety of sources, from the traditional grantmakers to new social investors.

At the start of a new decade and after a turbulent economic stress period, social finance offers unprecedented opportunities to innovate within capital markets for impactful investment and sustainable change.