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Global Impact Investing Network (GIIN)

The global industry body for impact investing practice and standards.

Web-based
$1.571 trillion (estimated impact investing market size per GIIN 2024 report)Assets on platform / AUM
01 — Overview

What Global Impact Investing Network (GIIN) does

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.

The GIIN works with hundreds of impact investors to help advance their practices.

On Global Impact Investing Network (GIIN), from a family-office user
02 — Product & capabilities

What it covers

Core tasks
  • Providing market research and benchmarking data on impact investing
  • Setting and maintaining impact measurement standards via IRIS+
  • Helping investors set impact targets and evaluate fund outcomes
  • Connecting impact investors through membership networks and forums
  • Publishing guidance frameworks for climate and thematic investment strategies
Notable features
  • IRIS+ impact measurement and management taxonomy
  • Impact Target Setter software tool
  • Impact Quantifier software tool
  • Annual Impact Investor Survey with 15+ years of longitudinal data
  • State of the Market annual research report
  • GIIN Climate Solutions Investing Framework
  • Members-only events and virtual network access
  • Regional working groups (including Japan Working Group)
  • Case study library highlighting real-world impact investments
  • Climate adaptation and resilience investing resources
Platform & technology
Benchmarking
03 — Company

The firm behind it

Software type
Web-based
Headquarters / markets
Global, United States, Japan
Key people
DDean HandChief Research Officer
BBarbara De BarrosResearcher / Author
SSean GilbertResearcher / Author
CChristian RosenholmResearcher / Author
04 — Clients & fit

Who it’s for

Built for Single Family Office (SFO), Multi Family Office (MFO), Investment Teams, CIO / Investment Office.