Place-based Investing Toolkit

Creating Sustainable Returns and Strong Communities

Part of the Democracy Collaborative’s Hospitals Aligned for Healthy Communities toolkit series.

This toolkit outlines place-based investing strategies that allow health systems to earn a financial return on their investments while producing a positive social, economic, or environmental impact within their geographical service areas.

Produced by The Democracy Collaborative/Healthcare Anchor Network and Softbox

Toolkit Contents:

Hospitals and health systems are recognizing that they have significant, untapped assets at their disposal to help address these challenges: their investment portfolios. Redirecting even a small portion of these resources to place-based investments would shift billions of dollars toward addressing economic and environmental disparities in local communities. It would allow institutions to more effectively improve community health and well-being, even as they continue to earn a healthy rate of return. Through place-based investing, institutions can leverage these resources to improve their communities’ overall health and well-being. This toolkit will help you get started.

In the toolkit you will find:

Overview: The overview section of the toolkit explores the overarching framework of the place-based investment strategy. This section includes a list of defined key terms used throughout the toolkit.

Case Studies: This section includes case studies from 2017 and highlights six institutions to provide an in-depth look at how hospitals and health systems have implemented this work on the ground and the key strategies they employed.

Strategies: The strategies section outlines a range of high-impact opportunities across asset classes, themes, sectors, and risk/return profiles that institutions have for place-based investing.

Laying the Foundations: The laying the foundations section focuses on institutionalizing these practices, providing worksheets to begin and guide the conversation at your institution. This section guides you through 1) TRACKING DOLLARS, 2) DECIDING YOUR APPROACH, 3) MANAGING YOUR PLACE-BASED INVESTMENT PORTFOLIO, 4) ALLOCATING ASSETS, 5) CREATING FORMS AND TEMPLATES, and 6) MOVING TO IMPACT.

Return on Investment: The return on investment section provides language and metrics to assess the financial, social, economic, and environmental impact of a place-based investment strategy.

Tools for Getting Started: This section includes four tools to help you get started: 1) DIVING IN: Ideas for where to get started, 2) READINESS CHECKLIST: Do a basic
assessment of where your institution is at, 3) BIG QUESTIONS: Getting clarity on what
matters for your mission, and 4) OVERCOMING BARRIERS: Promising
solutions to common challenges.