‘Social-impact’ bonds headed to U.S.

In an effort to increase private funding to address social problems, a fledgling philanthropic concept that involves investing in programs that produce results is being studied in the U.S.

With a $400,000 grant from the Rockefeller Foundation, the Nonprofit Finance Fund will study the feasibility of bringing "social-impact bonds" to the United States.

With social-impact bonds, first used in Britain, goals for desires social outcomes are set for proposed programs, which are funded by private investors who bear the risk for the effort's success or failure.