{"id":50378,"date":"2025-01-30T08:00:48","date_gmt":"2025-01-30T13:00:48","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/definityfoundation.org\/?p=50378"},"modified":"2025-10-07T12:51:56","modified_gmt":"2025-10-07T17:51:56","slug":"blog-mobilizing-capital-for-good","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/definityfoundation.org\/fr\/blog-mobilizing-capital-for-good\/","title":{"rendered":"Blog: Mobilizing Capital for Good"},"content":{"rendered":"

[et_pb_section][et_pb_row][et_pb_column type=\u00a0\u00bb4_4″][et_pb_text]It is 2025\u2014the start of a new calendar year brings forth sentiments of new possibilities, resolute action to improve our wellbeing, and hence new beginnings! However, the actual news reels in the first weeks of January have already been dominated with wildfires scorching West Coast neighbourhoods. Hardly new beginnings, it rather feels like haunting and tragic memories from last summer in Alberta. Indeed, the damages due to severe weather in 2024 were historic and far dwarfed all previous recorded years in terms of the $8+ billion in insured losses compared to the previous record of $6.2 billion in 2016, then caused by wildfires in Fort McMurray.[1]<\/a><\/p>\n

\"\"From escalating climate emergencies and deepening economic inequality to geopolitical instability, a worsening housing crisis, and the ongoing need for reconciliation with Indigenous Peoples, the challenges we face demand a radical rethinking of philanthropy. These problems require more than just philanthropic dollars\u2014they call for a transformation in how we mobilize and deploy all forms of capital.<\/p>\n

It has been a decade since the Sustainable Development Goals were adopted and we have only five years to go; yet today, only 17% of the targets are on track. Progress on half of the goals is weak or insufficient, and alarmingly, more than one third have stalled or even reversed.[2]<\/a> Meeting these ambitious goals will require an estimated $6 trillion in annual investments.[3]<\/a><\/p>\n

Globally, the financial system manages a staggering $100 trillion[4]<\/a> in assets under management. Worldwide, 260,000 foundations manage $1.5 trillion in assets. In Canada, approximately 11,000 foundations oversee $135 billion in assets[5]<\/a>.<\/p>\n

\u201cthere\u2019s a plumbing problem in our financial systems\u201d<\/strong><\/p><\/blockquote>\n

The issue isn\u2019t a lack of capital\u2014it\u2019s how that capital is deployed. As someone aptly put it, \u201cthere\u2019s a plumbing problem in our financial systems\u201d. The flow of capital is not being channeled effectively toward creating meaningful impact. This is where catalytic capital plays a crucial role. As a subset of impact investing, catalytic capital addresses gaps left by mainstream finance, enabling outcomes for people and the planet that would otherwise remain out of reach.<\/p>\n

Philanthropy holds a unique position in the capital landscape. It has the power to unlock far greater financial flows by leveraging its assets strategically. Philanthropy can catalyze larger investments, de-risk bold initiatives, and amplify both government funding and private capital. By doing so, it enables the kind of large-scale, systemic change needed to tackle the world\u2019s most pressing challenges.<\/p>\n

If we\u2019re to harness the potential of markets to solve global problems, we must move beyond celebrating incremental progress. We need to think bigger, act faster, and collaborate more effectively. The scale and urgency of the challenges we face demand nothing less than a reimagined financial system. Philanthropy must act as a powerful lever to accelerate impact and drive meaningful systems change.<\/p>\n

We draw inspiration from leading philanthropic organizations in Canada that are paving the way in innovative approaches\u2014from McConnell Foundation’s<\/a>\u00a0initiatives to build intermediary capacity for a thriving social finance ecosystem, to Inspirit Foundation\u2019s<\/a> 100% impact portfolio commitment and use of 0% loans to equity-deserving groups, to Dragonfly Ventures\u2019<\/a> grants for development capital to emerging social finance initiatives. Building on these and other leaders\u2019 efforts, the Definity Foundation is exploring how to strengthen the ecosystem by providing grants to social finance intermediaries, enabling them to develop and scale creative financial solutions, such as the creation of new funds like the Raven Indigenous Outcomes Fund<\/a> (RIOF) and the African Canadian Farmers Fund<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Our thesis is that through innovative approaches to utilizing capital, we can collectively achieve systemic change at scale. Strategies for scaling transformative capital include:<\/p>\n