Case Study

Make Your Capital Work for the World You Believe In

For many of today’s most forward-thinking families, wealth is more than a balance sheet — it’s a lever for legacy. Whether it’s targeting lasting climate impact or tackling systemic challenges like generational poverty, families are putting their capital to work for good.

But accessing truly transformative, mission-aligned private investments often requires expertise beyond what most traditional advisors can offer. With CapShift, we can fill that gap — so you can stay with your trusted financial advisor while expanding what your capital can achieve.

How One Family Office Used Their DAF to Build a Custom, Mission-Aligned Investment Portfolio

The Family’s Vision

A family office already deeply engaged in philanthropy, wanted to go further — leveraging their charitable assets to catalyze deep, targeted impact. They were eager to build highly targeted, custom thematic portfolios of innovative private market opportunities.

The Challenge

Executing the family’s complex, highly custom mandate required:

  • Sourcing and vetting custom private investments beyond the scope of their traditional advisor, including direct investments into neglected climate opportunities and impact-first loans targeting outsized impact in emerging markets
  • Finding a DAF provider flexible enough to support direct co-investments
  • Ongoing portfolio management, as well as both financial and impact reporting

Together with their trusted advisor, the family turned to CapShift to bring the strategy to life without adding operational burden or risk.

DO MORE WITH YOUR CAPITAL — WITHOUT DOING MORE

CapShift coordinated across key stakeholders — the family office, their financial advisor, and the DAF provider — to build a seamless, high-impact investment strategy tailored to the family’s mission and giving structures.

  • Identifying the Right DAF Provider:
    • CapShift led the search for a DAF provider with the flexibility to support private market co-investments.
  • Building a Custom Impact Portfolio
    • CapShift serves as the advisor on the family’s two thematic DAFs, working in lockstep with their primary financial advisor. We liaise directly with the advisor, who delivers CapShift’s impact reporting and portfolio updates, so the family experiences no disruption to the trusted process they already have in place.
  • Access to Exclusive Deal Flow
    • CapShift’s due diligence and impact expertise gives the family office access to impact that matters to them, with differentiated deal flow of neglected climate opportunities and emerging market opportunities sourced through CapShift’s domain partners.

An Integrated Impact Solution with No New Headaches

The family’s capital is now actively invested in a powerful portfolio without needing to stand up new infrastructure or change their relationships. Together, we’ve built a platform designed for long-term impact — shaped entirely around their values, legacy goals, and operating structures.

$140 million total committed across two DAFs:

  • $100 million Climate-Focused DAF – $50 million deployed into 26+ transformative climate companies
    • Supports innovative climate tech companies with the potential to provide gigaton-scale transformation in areas like carbon capture, hydrogen, green chemistry, or lithium extraction
  • $40 million emerging markets-focused DAF – $35 million deployed into 10+ impact-first funds
    • Invests in essential services such as healthcare, affordable housing, and financial inclusion to benefit the livelihoods of underserved and marginalized communities globally

What This Means for You and Your Family

If you’re looking to put your capital to work — without overhauling your financial relationships or navigating unfamiliar investments alone — CapShift can help.

With CapShift, you can access:

  • A pipeline of institutional quality, values-aligned private investment opportunities
  • Deep expertise in impact-focused due diligence, structuring, and oversight
  • The flexibility to work with your advisors and across your philanthropic and investment entities

Whether you’re using a DAF, foundation, or family office, CapShift helps turn your capital into a platform for change — tailored to you.