Measuring Community Needs, Capital Flows, and Capital Gaps
The Urban Institute, a nonprofit dedicated to developing evidence-based insights that improve people’s lives and strengthen communities, has released a new report, "Measuring Community Needs, Capital Flows, and Capital Gaps." This report is intended as a practical tool for those seeking to understand how capital does and does not flow to communities, businesses, and households. This can inform effective place-based impact iniatives as well as broader efforts by community developers to identify projects in need of financing, raise capital, and design and market new financial products and services. The authors provide a concise how-to guide across five approaches to assessing community need, a four-step process to study capital flows, and eleven approaches to determining capital gaps.
Click here to view a recording of a webinar which shared lessons from this report and offered insights for communities seeking to measure their capital gaps and flows. This webinar also included a presentation on community development ecosystems and how local stakeholders can help increase capacity to attract community investment.
This report is part of a set of resources and activities being developed through a collaboration between the Urban Institute and Mission Investors Exchange, supported by the John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation. Among the goals of this collaboration is the advancement and exchange of knowledge about place-based impact investing. Read more about this effort in the project fact sheet linked below.
