Global Impact Investing Network (GIIN)

The Global Impact Investing Network (GIIN) is the primary industry body for impact investing, established to build market infrastructure, set standards, and connect practitioners across the globe. For family offices and foundations integrating impact objectives into their investment programs, the GIIN functions less as a vendor and more as a field-building institution that provides the research, tools, and peer networks needed to operate with rigor in this space.

The GIIN’s practical value to investment teams centers on several concrete resources:

• IRIS+, a free taxonomy system for measuring, managing, and reporting impact outcomes across asset classes
• The Impact Target Setter and Impact Quantifier, two software tools within the GIIN Impact Lab designed to help asset allocators set fund-level impact targets and evaluate outcomes
• Annual market intelligence, including the State of the Market report and the longitudinal Impact Investor Survey, now drawing on over 15 years of data
• The GIIN Climate Solutions Investing Framework, providing structured guidance for climate-oriented capital allocation
• Working groups and forums, including regional initiatives in Japan and the Americas, offering direct peer engagement with institutional and private investors

Membership provides access to a global community of impact investors, members-only events, and proprietary research. The GIIN’s supporter base includes major foundations, sovereign wealth funds, and institutional asset managers, which gives its standards and benchmarks credibility across the institutional market.

Family offices evaluating this resource should note that the GIIN does not manage capital, provide investment advice, or offer custody or reporting software in the traditional sense. Its tools are free and publicly accessible, but direct operational support is limited. Membership fees are not publicly disclosed. Organizations already active in impact investing will extract the most value; those at the earliest stages of inquiry may find the breadth of resources more informational than operational.