Blue Ribbon Flies founder Craig Mathews has been a founder of Patagonia since Yvon Chouinard, founder of Patagonia, and Blue Ribbon Flies founder Craig Mathews began. 1% for PlanetThe organization has certified over $350 million in donations by committed companies to nonprofits that work to protect the environment and combat global warming since 2002. But as it hits its 20th anniversary, CEO Kate Williams wasn’t interested in resting on laurels.
“We’ve done really well with our existing model, with strong record growth in membership over the last two years, so it would be very easy to say, ‘Cool, we’ve got the model, the flywheel is turning, and just keep keepin’ on,’” says Williams. “But that’s not enough, and it’s not how we want to roll and show up for the planet.”
The organization is now expanding its ability to raise additional funding by launching a new fund for philanthropic investments. This fund will invest in companies that fight climate change and also grant more money to non-profits.
With partners, the Planet Impact Fund was created CapShift National Philanthropic TrustThe portfolio of public investments chosen to drive climate change will be launched by the company. The public allocation will include mutual funds as well as exchange-traded funds. It will target the best-in-class managers who invest in climate leaders and solutions. The private allocation will be focused on high-impact, non-public investment opportunities that can support climate change resilience and drive meaningful climate mitigation. It will annually distribute approximately 10% of all funds for vetted environmental non-profits.
Williams says that the idea for the impact fund came as they reflected on the group’s work over the past two decades, and wanted to find a way to dramatically boost its impact. “This fund tool enables us to tap the power of philanthropy to drive the additional power of impact investing,” says Williams. “Both members and nonmembers can donate, so there’s a real opportunity here to significantly expand and accelerate our goals by adding exponential growth to our incremental growth model.”
National Philanthropic Trust is the largest national, independent public charity that manages donor-advised funds, and is the Planet Impact Fund’s sponsor and fiduciary. CapShift provides investment advisory services to this fund through its expertise in impact investing. 1% for Planet is responsible for vetting the organizations that will be benefitting from the fund.
1% for the Planet is currently creating a portfolio that includes nonprofits that offer a variety of ways to combat climate change and protect the environment. Williams said that the fund will make it clear where the money is going and which groups are receiving the 10% annual grants. “This makes it super simple for donors, seeing these investments organized by CapShift, an expert in the field, and amazing annual donations to nonprofits identified by us, so they can clearly see their dollars doing amazing things.”