In October of 2007, the Rockefeller Foundation convened investors who were seeking financial as well as social and environmental returns on their investments, to determine how to effectively bring more capital into sector. The group, later named the Rockefeller Impact Investing Collaborative (RIIC), identified a lack of clear, consistent, ‘credible impact information as the strongest impediment to achieving greater scale in this sector.’ RIIC commissioned Social Venture Technology Group (SVT) to conduct a study of the top existing methods to measure impact and advise the group on how to move forward.

SVT’s thorough analysis culminated in the recent release of Catalog of Approaches to Impact Measurement. 24 methodologies were chosen after investors, practitioners, social entrepreneurs were interviewed in some 16 countries across 5 continents. The result: HIP was identified as the “best hope” in terms of a methodology that can systematically surface the interrelationship between impact and profitability, which investors identified as a top priority.

“All the Rockefeller impact investors and other investors we consulted said that impact information would be most valuable if it illuminated the relationship of financial return to impact. However, our analysis identified only one approach that explicitly intends to address this need: the HIP (Human Impact + Profit) Framework.”

READ MORE (see the bottom of page 11!)

“The HIP™ (Human Impact + Profit) Scorecard and Framework quantifies human, social and environmental impacts, how those impacts drive financial results, and what management systems are required to sustain success over time. The HIP approach is founded on the premise that boosting net positive human impact drives higher profits for business, and increased economic sustainability for organizations…For investors, the HIP Scorecard and Framework can be applied to investment strategy, asset allocation, due diligence, portfolio review and reporting to social investors (including philanthropic donors and, for governmental entities, taxpayers). HIP Investor plans to implement the Framework as a management system in 2008.”

To view or download the full publications CLICK HERE. See HIP on page 38!

NOTE: SVT Group has been a collaborator with HIP on several projects.  This SVT report was completed independently of this relationship.

Muhammad Yunus won the 2006 Nobel Peace Prize laureate for “creating the conditions under which peace can occur: economic independence and self-sufficiency.”

Professor Yunus is famous for his work at Grameen Bank and several other Grameen ventures, most famously in microcredit (small loans to low-income citizens around the world) and is aptly known as the “banker to the poor.”  Author David Bornstein wrote an award-winning book about Yunus, before penning “How To Change the World.”

In Yunus’s recently published book entitled “Creating a World Without Poverty: Social Business and the Future of Capitalism”, Yunus highlights HIP Investor Inc. and its HIP Scorecard in Fast Company magazine as a leader in measuring social impact.

Check out HIP Investor on page 177!

** NOTE: You may need to search the term “HIP Investor” in the left-hand column of Amazon’s search-inside-the-book feature to view the reference. **

Prachachart Thurakit, Thailand’s second largest business newspaper interviewed R. Paul Herman (CEO, HIP Investor) and Sara Olsen (Founding Partner, SVT Group) in January 2008. CLICK HERE to read the February article on the innovative HIP methodology and how businesses are maximizing Human Impact AND Profit.

**Please note the coverage is in the native Thai language**

Paul Herman (www.HIPinvestor.com) and Sara Olsen (www.SVTgroup.net) presented at the Thailand Stock Exchange in Bangkok on January 24, 2008, on how corporations can capture the full value of its human, social and environmental value - as well as its financial returns.

Thammasat University, the leading business school in Thailand, organized the first formal regional competition for the Global Social Venture Competition (GSVC) in Southeast Asia (www.gsvc-sea.org)  Kaos Capital, a group focused on early stage social venture capital & investment brokerage, recorded and broadcast this presentation which was also organized by the TRN Institute.

Check out the latest approach on capturing an organization’s blended value in terms of social and environmental impact, enabling business to express their impact in such a way that can be clearly understood by the investment community.

WATCH THE PODCAST (video is approx. 90 minutes in duration)

Check out HIP + SVT on CNBC (link below: original run date, Monday, January 28th at 10:50AM EST).

Squawk on the Street interviewed Amy Feldman (contributing writer, Fast Company magazine) and Brett Galimidi, SVT Partner, about the HIP analysis of global energy firms — focused on integrated oil companies — and how investors can maximize their portfolio’s Human Impact + Profit.

Watch it on CNBC.com!