Ann B. Alexander, a Socially Responsible Investing (SRI) consultant, offers these tips to help businesses turn their "green" money into "double duty dollars" by aligning their banking and investment decisions with their values:
- Let your banking relationship support your community.
Strengthen your company's connection with your community by putting your cash assets into a local Community Development Financial Institution (CDFI). The mission of a CDFI is to provide low-income individuals with a mechanism to build equity and interrupt the cycle of poverty by providing loans to buy a home or start a small business, while offering competitive returns to its depository customers. Visit the Community Investing Center's website to find a CDFI in your area.
- Make sure your retirement plan offers SRI options.
These options might include SRI mutual funds that 'screen out' companies that have egregious environmental and social records and 'screen in' companies whose records are exemplary. Better yet, you could offer a totally SRI retirement fund to your employees by using a ready made product such as the SocialK or find an investment manager who can devise a custom SRI retirement package for you.
- Align your business's whole portfolio with your values.
There are a variety of socially responsible investing opportunities in today's financial landscape such as SRI mutual funds, index funds, investment managers, venture capital funds, etc. These SRI vehicles will include varying amounts of screening and shareholder advocacy (engagement with corporations via voting proxies, shareholder resolutions and/or direct dialogue) elements. Check out www.socialinvest.org for an overview of the industry and resources that can help you get started, or contact a consultant to guide you through the process.
