As noted earlier, mission-based investing recognizes the political and legal realities that impel boards toward a limited social investment policy. A women's foundation may opt for a proxy voting policy that calls for votes against board candidates when there are no women on the board and a portfolio screen eliminating companies with unremediated patterns of discrimination. Proponents must be willing to compromise. The goal may be immediate implementation of a social investment policy. However, a three-year phased implementation program with annual reviews of progress is hardly a failure.
Experience is the proponents' best ally.
After the board has agreed to explore the concept, the money managers should be kept informed of the process. Some major consulting firms now have SRI specialists. If the prospects seem promising for adopting a social investment policy, one should give some thought to bringing in a firm with experience in moving such policies through boards and then implementing them. As noted earlier, social investing is a set of techniques that enable institutions to use their investments to advance their mission in non-financial arenas. No institution should set out to define it in the abstract.