ICCR Membership for Faith-Based Organizations
The case for aligning money and mission is made easiest at faith-based institutions where advancing social justice and advocating for those most vulnerable is the unstated “business plan”. It is no wonder then, that many religious organizations are drawn to the ICCR coalition as a vehicle to help faith communities further their institutional goals through their investments and, specifically, through their direct corporate engagements.
Nearly every faith tradition underscores the need to “walk the talk” in all aspects of one’s life, including in matters financial. While our faith-based members come from a variety of faith traditions, our objectives are aligned; we strive to transform corporations so that justice, equality and the promotion of sustainable communities becomes their unstated business plan.
We invite all faith-based organizations that share our goals to join us as members. We’d be happy to answer any questions you may have about our work.
Case Study: Everence Financial
Everence has been involved in some form of socially responsible investing for 70 years. This emerged less as a strategy than as simply “our way of doing things.” Over the years there was an increasing formalization of our SRI policies leading to, in 2000, the adoption of our Stewardship Investing Philosophy. This philosophy, rooted in an understanding of Christian stewardship from our 500-year old Anabaptist faith tradition, seeks to hold in tension our responsibility for social and financial productively through company selection, corporate engagement, and community development investing. We’re deeply committed to all three of these SRI strategies, however we think that engagement and community development investing allow us to most fully reflect our care and concern for the planet and its people.
“We value our membership in ICCR for many reasons. Membership helps us increase both the breadth and depth of our advocacy work. ICCR staff provide expert input on a number of issues, publish materials that highlight the work of members, and help us keep up with the latest developments in the faith-based and social investment industry. ICCR also provides a forum in which we can convene with other like-minded investors. We can seek support for our advocacy initiatives within this network, and we also have the opportunity to join in initiatives led by other members.”
Mark Regier and Chris Meyer
Everence Financial
See our list of faith-based members here.
To begin a conversation today about how your organization can join ICCR, please contact Associate for Development & Membership Kyle Cheseborough at kcheseborough@iccr.org or (212) 870-2936.