Impact investing is the rapidly expanding approach to financial markets that seeks to do well and to do good. It attempts to generate positive financial and social returns.

Important information about trends in individual and family philanthropy is revealed by two recent studies.

Impact investing allows philanthropists to make more progress toward their charitable missions by using the engine of their philanthropically committed capital, rather than only the fumes. The IRS has just made that easier.

Impact First Investments (IFI) announced today an investment in Intendu, an Israeli startup developing a novel technology to improve cognitive rehabilitation of people with brain dysfunction.

Catalyst AgTech is an Israeli company whose solution solves the conflict between the growing demand for pesticide use and the impact those chemicals have on the environment.

Increasingly, charitable donors are interested in "impact investing" with their philanthropically committed capital.

More than $40 trillion will be inherited over the next few decades — the largest transfer of wealth in history. Forty-five percent of spouses who inherit will seek and find a different financial adviser to manage those funds.

Recently, philanthropic and investment leaders have come to recognize that grants and investments can have both financial returns and social impact.

More than ever, investors are pondering, "Am I destroying with my left hand what my right hand is trying to save?"