When Heron declared its intention to invest 100% of its assets for mission, we needed to find new ways to track and visualize the portfolio as it changed over time. Six years later, we want to share where we stumbled in the process, what we have learned from our attempts, and where we are today.

In an effort to be as transparent as possible, Heron has been posting the performance of its financial portfolio dating all the way back to 1992. And lately, observant readers have been sending us questions about the way in which Heron’s portfolio performed during the 2008 financial crisis.

Capital and revenue are as different, and important, in the nonprofit space as in the for-profit space, but these differences are often overlooked—endangering the health and sustainability of nonprofit enterprises and the missions they serve.

A recent announcement by Blackrock CEO Larry Fink that corporations need to pay more attention to their effects on society echoes Heron Chair Buzz Schmidt’s call for accountability for enterprises’ positive or negative effect on society’s wherewithal.

The first of a series of retrospective deep dives into a broad selection of Heron's early fixed income impact investments, featuring the financing of a wind turbine factory in Jonesboro, Arkansas.

As Heron continues to optimize our portfolio for mission, some types of impact look great in isolation—but less so in context.