Community Investing Impact Metric Set: Guidance Paper for CDFIs

To better connect impact investors and CDFIs, Aeris collaborated with the Global Impact Investing Network (the GIIN) through the IRIS Initiative to standardize impact metrics commonly reported by CDFIs, with a goal of better supporting investor analysis and investment decision-making. IRIS is the catalog of generally accepted performance metrics that many impact investors use to measure and manage the social, financial, and environmental performance of their investments. This paper provides background on Aeris’ approach to selecting and defining those metrics, and guidance on the use of those metrics by CDFIs and other institutions that make community investments in underserved markets.