Impact Investing Report | Nathan Cummings Foundation

The Nathan Cummings Foundation approached us to help them creatively structure their insights and data into a digital and print report for the philanthropic investment community. Thinking of the value of the information within the impact investing report and its potential to be a major catalyst for other foundations, the NCF chose to partner with Creative Repute to ensure a culturally-relevant report experience that would activate fellow foundation leaders. See our case study to learn more.

About The Nathan Cummings Foundation 

It was endowed by Nathan Cummings (1896–1985), founder of Consolidated Foods, later renamed Sara Lee. Cummings was also a prominent art collector and supporter of Jewish causes.

In his lifetime, Cummings made contributions to hospitals, universities, and the arts. His endowment created the Nathan Cummings Arts Center at Stanford University and the Joanne and Nathan Cummings Art Center at Connecticut College in New London. He made major contributions to the National Gallery of Art in Washington DC, to the Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, and to the Art Institute of Chicago. The foundation received most of his estate (then estimated at $200 million) upon his death in 1985.

About Our Case Study

In 2018, the Nathan Cummings Foundation made the decision to align 100% of its nearly half-billion dollar endowment with its mission and values. In 2020, the foundation partnered with Frontline Solutions, a Black-owned national consulting firm, to conduct field research of the mission-aligned investing capacity and practices among Outsourced Chief Investment Officers (OCIOs). This research, combined with nearly two decades of impact investing experience, mistakes, and takeaways, was then synthesized into a report featuring tangible insights, information, and suggestions to help foundation leaders align their own organization’s investments with their values. This is where Creative Repute, an award-winning social justice design and strategy agency, stepped in to turn the 40+ pages of copy and data into a visually engaging and impactful digital and print experience. Detailed market research and incorporation of design theory resulted in a visual style that incorporates powerful photography centering on themes of public protest, community, and social justice along with conceptual illustrations to represent the foundation’s values of social and environmental justice. Complex information was divided into color-coded sections with infographics to condense information.