Investors and founders tracking Calvert Impact are looking at one of the oldest impact-investing institutions in the world: founded in 1988 as the Calvert Foundation, it is a global nonprofit investment firm that "helps investors and financial professionals invest in solutions that people and the planet need." It lends through intermediary organisations — microfinance institutions, affordable-housing developers, small-business lenders — in the US and 100+ countries, with an emphasis on additionality: funding projects that may not have been funded otherwise. Retail investors can participate through fixed-income Community Investment Notes starting at $20. It has mobilised more than $4.0 billion since founding (about $5 billion over 28 years).
Thesis and focus areas
Sectors: affordable housing, environmental sustainability, microfinance, renewable energy, small business, community development, education, health and sustainable agriculture. The instrument is fixed-income debt: Notes with 1–10 year terms; no investor has ever lost principal or interest over 30 years, and 99%+ of underlying portfolio loans have been repaid. 2025 impact stats: 163.4M clients served (78% women), 6.4M metric tons of CO2 reduced, 96 borrowers in 100+ countries.
Borrowers and track record
Named borrowers from its own impact stories — all intermediaries that on-lend: Fahe (Eastern Kentucky affordable housing; "Housing Can't Wait" — 88 new homes built, 305 rehabilitated after the 2022 floods); VITAS Romania (small-business lender; financed AGROSERV's bakery expansion); Lumbee Regional Development Association + Sunwealth + Eagle Solar and Light (first solar installation on a state-recognised tribe's building, North Carolina; 1,826 tons of CO2 avoided); and Central City Concern (Portland) (opened the 74-bed "16 x Burnside" residential recovery centre in May 2025).
People behind the firm
Jennifer "Jenn" Pryce has been President and CEO for over a decade (ex-Peace Corps Gabon, Neuberger Berman, Morgan Stanley London, Nonprofit Finance Fund); Beth Bafford is VP of Syndications and Strategy.
Programs
Products: the flagship Community Investment Note (first launched 1995); the Cut Carbon Note (funds energy efficiency and carbon reductions in US commercial buildings); and the Mission Driven Bank Fund — US-focused, anchored by Microsoft and Truist, supporting banks serving underserved communities. Calvert also participates in the Climate United coalition for the EPA's $14B National Clean Investment Fund.
How to apply for funding from Calvert Impact
Products: the flagship Community Investment Note (first launched 1995); the Cut Carbon Note (funds energy efficiency and carbon reductions in US commercial buildings); and the Mission Driven Bank Fund — US-focused, anchored by Microsoft and Truist, supporting banks serving underserved communities. Calvert also participates in the Climate United coalition for the EPA's $14B National Clean Investment Fund. Three routes to invest: online from $20 at calvertimpact.org/CINote; mail application with check/wire ($20 minimum); or a brokerage account ($1,000 minimum) via your fixed-income desk using the note CUSIPs. Contact: [email protected], 800-248-0337.
Why it matters for founders
Calvert Impact's $4B+ mobilised and a 30-year record with zero investor losses make the Community Investment Note the proof that retail impact fixed-income works. For founders, the relevance is indirect but real: Calvert funds the intermediaries — the MFIs, housing developers and small-business lenders — that then fund you. If your enterprise borrows from community lenders, there is a good chance Calvert's capital is somewhere upstream.