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New Profit grantee-partners Jeff Wetzler, Transcend and Todd Dickson, Valor Collegiate Academies

Find and Select

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To do a good job in investing in social entrepreneurs, you have to do solid due diligence. I need someone to figure out who are the right entrepreneurs and what are the right ideas to invest in, and I think New Profit does an excellent job at that.

— Josh Bekenstein, Member, New Profit Board of Directors and Co-Chair, Bain Capital

New Profit’s robust pipeline building and investment selection process is built on three priorities that are overlapping and mutually reinforcing. First, we invest in social entrepreneurs equipped to create bold and equitable change. As a part of this, we invest in social entrepreneurs who are proximate to the communities we seek to serve, especially leaders of color who see the multi-dimensional root causes of issues and develop innovative solutions to address them. Second, we seek a diversity of models and approaches in solving social challenges, including approaches aimed at disrupting and reshaping systems to achieve equitable and sustainable outcomes. And third, we invest in a range of issue areas that shape what opportunity looks like in America. We do these three things with the goal of investing in organizations that are collectively equipped to meet the systemic challenges our country faces at the scale and complexity they exist. 

Portfolio Investing: How We Find and Select Social Entrepreneurs

We pride ourselves on being collaborators in the field and our investment selection process reflects that priority. In addition to independent research and open calls for proposals, we reach out to field experts and network partners for referrals. Our Eligibility Guidelines and Investment Selection Criteria are also important guideposts in our process. To learn more about our investment selection process and selection criteria or to connect with our investment selection team, please click here

Having an equity agenda of some sort as an organization is really important for New Profit. Being open-minded and having a sense of urgency around creating change and becoming sustainable as an organization is also key.

— Desmond Blackburn, CEO, New Teachers Center (NTC)

New Profit Investment Selection Criteria

Social Entrepreneur
Social entrepreneur has a deep commitment to and experience with the communities the organization serves
Social entrepreneur demonstrates an intrinsic drive to pursue a bold vision
Social entrepreneur makes courageous, data-driven choices
Impact Model
Organization's entrepreneurial insight and work is rooted in an understanding of the historical and current systemic barriers to opportunity
Organization's work is informed by and continuously improved based on the experiences and inputs of its clients and ultimate beneficiaries
Organization's work demonstrates promising outputs and outcomes
Organization demonstrates a commitment to evidence-based learning and improvement
Organization's work has potential for outsized impact through significant scale and/or national influence
Organizational Capacity for Growth
Organization has a track record of healthy financial management
Leadership team, staff, and board are aligned on growth and goals
Potential for New Profit Value-Add
New Profit support has potential to accelerate the organization’s impact and sustainability
Social entrepreneur desires a candid, collaborative relationship with New Profit

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