Sorenson Impact Institute is a multidisciplinary impact institute housed at the University of Utah's David Eccles School of Business and, according to both its own site and Sorenson Impact Group, one of the Group's four branches. Its official history traces the organization to a student-run venture fund founded in 2001 and says impact investor Jim Sorenson endowed the work in 2013. The Institute was previously known as Sorenson Impact Center. The 2001 date therefore describes its institutional lineage, not the incorporation date of a freestanding Sorenson Impact Institute legal entity.
The Institute is primarily an institute, applied-research and program operator, education provider, convener, and professional-services provider. Its current practice areas help foundations, investment portfolios, companies, governments, health systems, nonprofits, impact funds, and other clients with impact-investing strategy, impact-finance structures, and impact measurement and management. Published examples include portfolio impact strategy and diligence, community equity funds, opportunity-zone work, outcomes-based finance, research, reporting frameworks, and student experiential learning. A client engagement, research project, or student-managed investment exercise is not necessarily an investment made by the Institute.
In 2026 the Institute also operated the Collaboration Fund, a pooled grant fund supporting strategic consolidation among nonprofit field-building organizations in impact investing, inclusive capitalism, and immediately related fields. The RFP anticipated that most grants would be US$100,000-$400,000 and allowed merger feasibility, due diligence, legal and consulting, integration, staff-transition, change-management, and strategic-communications costs. Those award expectations applied only to that time-limited RFP: letters of intent were due June 11, full proposals were due August 22, and the public page promised lump-sum distribution after selection. As of this profile's September 18 review, both deadlines had passed.
The Institute must not be conflated with other Sorenson entities. Sorenson Impact Foundation is a distinct U.S. private foundation (EIN 45-3203840) whose filings report its own assets and charitable disbursements; an Institute project page describes the Foundation as a client for a program-related-investment measurement framework. Sorenson Impact Funds develops investment products, while Sorenson Impact Advisory identifies itself as an SEC-registered investment adviser. Their portfolios, assets, investments, grants, and returns do not belong to the Institute. Likewise, the University of Utah houses the Institute but is not its interchangeable funder identity, and named initiatives such as University Venture Fund remain program-specific.
The Institute's stated mission is to expand the market for impact investing and equip the next generation of impact leaders. Its operating thesis is that capital can address social and environmental challenges more effectively when investors, philanthropy, government, community organizations, researchers, and service providers share credible evidence, fit-for-purpose financial structures, and common impact goals. It applies research, due diligence, portfolio strategy, outcomes-based finance, measurement systems, convening, and student talent to help partners connect capital with intended impact.
Its 2026 Collaboration Fund translated that field-building thesis into a narrow grant program: support durable mergers and deep collaborations that reduce duplication, strengthen shared infrastructure and leadership coordination, and improve the sustainability of the impact-investing and inclusive-capitalism ecosystem. Selection emphasized strategic relevance, organizational and board readiness, execution feasibility, risk identification, and durable field-level benefit. This does not establish a recurring open grant cycle or a direct venture-investment strategy.
The Institute should be evaluated as a university-housed institute and program administrator with advisory-style professional services, not as an SEC-registered investment adviser, commingled investment manager, or private foundation. Any capital amount must be attributed to the specific named fund or client. The Collaboration Fund's grants, the Foundation's assets and program-related investments, Group fund products, Advisory client assets, University Venture Fund investments, and student-program outputs are separate measures and must not be aggregated.
Photo credit: Sorenson Impact Institute / 2026 Collaboration Fund RFP official page artwork
Funder structure
University-housed multidisciplinary institute at the David Eccles School of Business and a branch of Sorenson Impact Group. It is not presented as a separate private foundation. Its current roles combine applied research, professional services, education, convening, and administration of the time-limited 2026 Collaboration Fund grant program.
Focus geography
The Institute describes worldwide ambitions and projects across multiple jurisdictions, while operating from Salt Lake City, Utah. Its advisory and research work can be global. The 2026 Collaboration Fund page did not publish a definitive country list, so global relevance should not be read as universal applicant eligibility.
Focus sectors
Impact-investing and inclusive-capitalism field infrastructure, catalytic and blended finance, outcomes-based finance, community wealth and underserved communities, impact measurement and management, applied research, and higher-education pathways for future impact leaders. Client projects can span social and environmental themes.
Eligibility requirements
For the 2026 Collaboration Fund, the clearest eligible population was nonprofit field-building organizations in impact investing, inclusive capitalism, or immediately related fields that create shared value for the field and were pursuing a merger, acquisition, shared-services integration, program consolidation, or another durable structural combination. This was not a general grant for individual companies or students.
Decision process
The 2026 RFP used a two-step process: a letter of intent, then a full proposal by invitation. Review considered reduction of fragmentation, leadership and board alignment, structure and execution planning, legal/financial/operational risks, sustainability, coordination, accessibility of shared resources, and durable field benefit. Both published 2026 submission deadlines have passed.
Impact approach
The Institute promotes rigorous evidence, stakeholder engagement, impact strategy, financial innovation, and measurement systems. For the Collaboration Fund, intended impact was stronger field infrastructure through durable consolidation. Client deliverables, capital connected, students trained, grants awarded, and reported outcomes are distinct outputs and should not be combined.
Reporting expectations
The 2026 Collaboration Fund required grantees to submit outcomes reporting and a summary of grant expenditures to the funding committee after lump-sum awards. Professional-services clients and student programs follow separate scopes and requirements. No universal Institute-wide grantee reporting template or continuing annual grant-report calendar was found.
Geographic restrictions
No exhaustive eligible-country rule was posted for the Collaboration Fund, but legal charitable status, the nonprofit field-building mandate, transaction feasibility, sanctions and compliance, and the funding committee's scope still constrain access. The Utah location relation identifies the Institute's base, not a Utah-only service or grant mandate.
Alternatives and limitations
The 2026 Collaboration Fund is closed based on its published deadlines, and the Institute does not advertise a standing general grant or direct-investee pipeline. Organizations can engage the Institute for services or monitor future calls, but should use Sorenson Impact Foundation, Sorenson Impact Funds, Sorenson Impact Advisory, or other open funders only through those entities' own channels and criteria.
Media attribution
Logo: Sorenson Impact Institute / official website logo. Hero: Sorenson Impact Institute / 2026 Collaboration Fund RFP official page artwork. Each file is served from the Institute's official domain and is checked for an image/png response header, safe byte length, and PNG file signature before upload; the verified official URL is retained only if storage upload fails.
Focus areas
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