Every business we invest in is part of God’s redemptive work in the world – bringing the reality of the Kingdom into closer focus. Some businesses provide goods and services that obviously make people’s lives better: a longer-lasting mosquito repellant or educational software for inmates. Their primary impact happens through the products and services they provide and it is easy to understand how they’re fit for impact investing.

But what about the Believer making great tables who intentionally lives out a plan for using the very business itself as a force for God’s redeeming work? This type of business makes the world a better place by the way it conducts itself even if its product or service isn’t specifically addressing quality education, poverty alleviation, clean energy, or freedom. While there may not be anything inherently transformational about the widgets a company sells, it nonetheless has a positive impact on employees, vendors, and its community.

We desire to invest in those enterprises and need a way to describe how they further our charitable purpose. Thus, we created a category called “Redemptive Methodology” to describe these unique organizations.

The idea of Redemptive Methodology borrows heavily from Praxis Labs’ concept of a “redemptive entrepreneur”, or one who seeks to embody the gospel in creating and building a venture that leaves a meaningful impact on the world. As David Blanchard has said in describing redemptive entrepreneurs,

“As fallen creatures, we take seriously and humbly our own sin and the brokenness of the world around us. Our endgame is for our venture to be an agent of redemption as we act as the hands and feet of Christ in the world, knowing that He is “making all things new.”

“REDEMPTIVE METHODOLOGY defined
An enterprise whose primary positive impact on the world happens through the way business is conducted. Its leadership, being rooted in Christ, follows the Spirit to intentionally participate in God’s transformational work in the lives of employees, vendors, & customers while creating sustainable value.”

Businesses built by these kinds of entrepreneurs live out the Gospel through great business practices: paying vendors on time or early, paying fair compensation, providing quality service/goods at fair prices, standing against corruption, and practicing good environmental stewardship. They have satisfied, repeat customers and high employee loyalty.

Christian leadership, on its own, is not enough. Scripture is clear that personal faith will result in changed behavior, which Paul calls “the fruit of the Spirit.” A CEO or group of senior leaders shaping a company with their personal faith can expect to display evidence indicative of spiritual health. As a corollary to the idea that “faith without works is dead,” the fruit of the company will provide the data points for measuring its impact. 

Just as it takes roughly 5 years for a new apple tree to bear its first fruit, we cannot wait to look at the fruit of a business to determine whether it is fit for investment. Thus, we are creating a set of best practices to help early-stage ventures understand how to run a “Redemptive Methodology” business. As we vet enterprises, we can likewise use this set of best practices to determine if a potential investment belongs in our portfolio. The goal is to describe a common set of behaviors that if practiced regularly over time could be expected to result in the kind of fruit the business exists to create. Below is a start to that list. Let us know if you think we should add or change anything. 

ADDITIONAL RESOURCES

Our blog is full of stories of companies putting into practice the ideals of Redemptive Methodology. Check out the list of blogs below. 

Also, our friend Henry Kaestner, CEO of Sovereigns Capital and co-founder of Bandwidth.com, started a very helpful site https://www.faithdrivenentrepreneur.org. Lots of great articles, podcasts, etc. Check it out!!

BEST PRACTICES IN REDEMPTIVE METHODOLOGY

The following collection of best practices is not meant to be exhaustive but a starting place for companies desiring to enhance or describe their redemptive practices within their company. Minimum requirements are noted with a star. Please let us know if you have other ideas that we should include.


IMPACT ON EMPLOYEES

• Pays fair compensation*

• Jobs created and/or training for marginalized or underserved populations

• Corporate chaplain service

• CEO or other senior leader(s) regularly participates in spiritual disciplines

• Flu shots, wellness programs

• Marriage enrichment

• Employee Assistance Programs

• Conduct regular performance reviews*

• Exercise hiring and termination practices that honor individuals*

• Profit or equity sharing

IMPACT ON VENDORS

• Pays bills on time*

• Honors contracts*

• Builds relationships that foster opportunities to interact with the Gospel

IMPACT ON CUSTOMERS

• Satisfied, repeat customers*

• Provides value (quality service/goods at fair prices)*

• Truthful advertising/marketing*

• Advertising/marketing built on a redemptive storyline (i.e., not selling to people’s fear or hunger for power, money, fame, sex, etc.)

• Builds relationships that foster opportunities to interact with the Gospel

IMPACT ON COMMUNITY

• Stands against corruption*

• Owners and/or employees volunteer services in the community

• Intentional relationships built with ministry/ church/ community leaders

• Contribution of finances, goods, services to NGO’s, local churches

IMPACT ON ENVIRONMENT

• Basic environmental stewardship practiced*

• Clean water provided

• Waste reduced

• Improvements in natural resource management

This article was originally published here.

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by Robert Netzly

Intel Corporation [ticker: INTC] is the largest semiconductor chip manufacturer in the United States (second largest in the world behind #1 Samsung) and ranks number 46th in the 2018 Fortune 500 ranking of largest companies in the United States by revenue.

Intel also holds another dubious claim to fame: they make more large donations to Planned Parenthood than any other company in the S&P 500.

Intel’s Planned Parenthood Donations

According to data sourced by Inspire Insight, Intel has made 72 large donations of $1,000 or more to Planned Parenthood in recent years. These donations were made to regional Planned Parenthood affiliates all over the nation, as well as directly to the “parent” organization, Planned Parenthood Federation of America. And for the record, Intel also made one large donation to Population Connection, a population control advocacy group founded in 1968 as “Zero Population Growth“.

This begs the question. Why?

I reached out to Intel to find out exactly why they decided to financially support an organization that has been the subject of a congressional investigation for the illegal sale of aborted baby parts, been routinely in hot water for questionable medical and business practices, and whose massive abortion cartel business is a flaming touch-point of controversy across the nation and around the world.

Intel’s investor relations department response was… no comment.

Investor Responsibility

There is a growing movement of faith-based investors who are taking their ownership responsibility seriously when they consider whether it is ethically and morally responsible to invest in a company like Intel, who is using their corporate clout to support the abortion industry through donations to organizations like Planned Parenthood. This biblically responsible investing (BRI) movement has gone global and is growing at an exponential rate.

Investors are owners, and owners are responsible for the actions of their companies. Even if those owners are not actively involved in the day-to-day operations of their company, they are still responsible for what it does, how it makes money and how it spends that money. There is a direct ethical and moral connection between an owner and their company that cannot be ignored.

Biblically responsible investors have woken up to this truth and are taking advantage of modern investment tools, products and biblically responsible financial advisors that allow them to precision align their investments to support their values—like protecting the unborn—while working toward their financial goals at the same time.

Do You Own Intel Stock?

Some readers might feel relieved after reading this article to look at their investment account statement and see that Intel’s ticker symbol, INTC, is nowhere to be found. However, what these investors may not realize is that if they own any number of the most widely held mutual funds or ETFs in the country (such as those from Vanguard, American Funds and Fidelity), there is a good chance that they do, in fact, own shares of Intel and are partnering with their aggressive funding of Planned Parenthood and the abortion industry.

Government regulations require mutual funds to disclose their holdings on a regular basis, and a quick review of the top ten funds that own Intel stock reveals the following list:

1. Vanguard Total Stock Market Index ($5.9B owned)

2. Vanguard 500 Index Fund ($4.2B owned)

3. American Funds Washington Mutual Fund ($3.4B owned)

4. SPDR S&P 500 ETF ($2.4B owned)

5. American Funds Fundamental Investor Fund ($2.1B owned)

6. Vanguard Institutional Index Fund ($2.02B owned)

7. Invesco QQQ Trust ETF ($1.94B owned)

8. American Funds American Balanced Fund ($1.78B owned)

9. Fidelity 500 Index Fund ($1.69B owned)

10. iShares Core S&P 500 ETF ($1.54B owned)

(Data as of 6/30/2019. Source: morningstar.com)

Invest Pro-Life

While it can be disheartening to realize that through your IRA, 401(k), mutual funds or other investments, you might actually be partnering with Intel and other large corporations as they enthusiastically support the abortion industry, the good news is that you do not have to be a cog in the wheel of the abortion cartel. You can change the way you invest.

Thanks to new technology that empowers investors with complete transparency in the moral and ethical issues present in their investments, and a growing number of financial professionals specialized in providing biblically responsible investing services, pro-life investors have many options when it comes to aligning their investments in support of the pro-life movement and the protection of pre-born children everywhere.

It all starts with learning about what you own, then making a concerted decision to make a change — both in your portfolio and the world at large.

Will you join us?

Learn more at inspireinvesting.com/impact

This video was originally published here.
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The purpose of the study was to better understand what widows experience and thus build a service model that engages, educates, and equips them to make wise financial decisions for their lives.

In October 2013, Ronald Blue & Co. asked selected widowed clients who are served out of their Atlanta office to participate in a small, intimate focus group. With this study, Ronald Blue & Co. sought a deeper understanding of their needs, concerns, and desires. Ronald Blue & Co. wanted to hear their unique stories and understand how they wanted to be served, from how often they felt it was necessary to be contacted by their Ronald Blue & Co. advisor, to how much detail and information they needed to make informed decisions, to priorities relating to their wealth and families.

It was Ronald Blue & Co.’s hope that this research would be read and used broadly within their company by everyone who interacts with their clients and that it would provide new and better service insights, paving the way for an enhanced model specifically addressing the needs of widows.

Ronald Blue & Co. was thankful to their Atlanta office for expressing the need to improve and validate how widows are served and for overseeing this project. Ronald Blue & Co. was also thankful to Women Doing Well for facilitating the focus group and conversations, for gathering their findings, and developing a comprehensive and instructional white paper. Ronald Blue Trust supports the Women Doing Well mission of inspiring a movement of women living and giving generously.

CONTINUE READING THE FULL STUDY HERE