As the world braces for a deep and lengthy economic downturn, of a scale we may have not seen since the 1930s Great Depression, impact investors are working out how best to respond and play a role in recovery.

Like traditional companies, many social purpose businesses are struggling for cash, seeing their revenues drop through the floor, and having to make very tough decisions about cutting costs and laying off staff.

We’re seeing business leaders being forced to make decisions, trade off things like the health of their staff and impact on society with what’s right for their business.

But before this crisis, recent years have seen an increasing number of these companies set up to both make a profit and to have a positive social or environmental impact. An impact investment community has grown around them: in Canada, social finance assets under manageme