Impact Investing

Land conservation is vital to climate, biodiversity, economic vitality, and community wellness. However, every 30 seconds, a football field worth of America’s natural areas disappears to development. 

Organizations across the U.S. — ranging from local land trusts to federal agencies — work diligently to ensure that priority landscapes can be protected for the public benefit, but they often struggle to compete against private developers to buy the most-at-risk properties in a timely and efficient manner. As a result, many high conservation-value lands are lost. 

TCF was founded to address this challenge and is the leading “bridge-owner” of land for public agencies and conservation partners, bringing capital and expertise. 

However, the need for TCF’s capital now far exceeds its balance sheet. 

A New Impact Capital Solution

Impact investing — the practice of generating positive social and environmental impact while sustaining financial returns — is becoming an essential tool for accelerating conservation. By partnering with The Conservation Fund, mission-aligned investors can help capitalize and implement conservation projects while recovering their capital and receiving stable returns. 

TCF’s Capital Investment Team is designing new investment vehicles to dramatically scale our capital base and allow investors to maximize the impact of their dollars. These investment pathways will scale our proven business model and enable our partners to directly achieve significant conservation and economic outcomes.

Featured Instrument: Innovative Investing With Green Bonds

In 2019, TCF raised capital by issuing $150 million in taxable Green Bonds underwritten by Goldman Sachs. The 10-year bonds remain an innovative, first-of-its-kind financing instrument dedicated to land conservation and are still helping TCF achieve critical working forest protection goals.  

• Green Bond Impact Report (PDF)
• Offering Memorandum (PDF)
• Bond Framework (PDF)
• Second-Party Assessment
• Updated Disclosures 2020-2024

Impact Management at TCF

The Conservation Fund is actively tracking and quantifying impact across our portfolio of more than 4,000 transactions since 1985. We seek demonstrable benefits across four key themes: carbon, biodiversity, water, and socioeconomic. Our robust impact management and monitoring framework is aligned with leading frameworks such as the UN SDGs and the Global Impact Investing Network’s (GIIN) Impact Reporting and Investment Standards (IRIS+). Upon request, TCF can align our impact reporting with other external frameworks or reporting requirements to meet the specific needs of any investor.