Social Finance, Inc.

Our Mission

Social Finance is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit dedicated to mobilizing capital to drive social progress. We bring together uncommon partners—governments, investors, and nonprofits—around a common purpose: to measurably improve the lives of those most in need. Our intention is to strengthen the link between performance and payment—driving more funding toward programs that work – via Pay for Success applications.

What is Pay for Success?

Pay for Success (PFS) is a unique innovation in impact investing. It generates returns by creating efficiency in the way government deploys taxpayer funds—by investing in prevention and focusing on outcomes. In any PFS financing, every dollar of return directly represents a tangibly measured unit of human impact. At the same time, it’s a methodology for agreeing on the outcomes policymakers and communities choose to prioritize, and a reimagining of the social sector that focuses on results and rewards performance.

Our Services

Social Finance partners with governments, nonprofits, foundations, impact investors, and financial institutions to create innovative financing solutions to improve social outcomes. In the Pay for Success and Social Impact Bond market, our Advisory Services, Social Investment, and Active Performance Management teams support all phases of work, tailored to the needs of our partners. We are focused on developing a strong Pay for Success field through market education, publications, events, research and analysis. Most recently, Social Finance launched our Public Impact Initiative, which uses the full range of Pay for Success tools – like active performance management and innovative funding mechanisms such as outcomes rate cards – to help governments design, fund and manage effective social services.