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The Impact Law Practice at Grant Thornton Netherlands, in collaboration with Roots of Impact, is launching a freely available SAFI model contract as an open resource to help philanthropies and investors deploy their capital more effectively across the impact economy.
Legal models must evolve alongside these developments. The SAFI model contract is designed as a guiding template to help investors expand their capital deployment tools and to support companies in accessing non-dilutive, impact-aligned financing. Without suitable legal frameworks, innovative financing risks being misclassified for legal or regulatory purposes, or losing its impact logic during negotiation or enforcement.
By partnering with Roots of Impact to create this template and sharing it openly, we aim to provide guidance on the core structural terms of a SAFI, support its broader use in the market, and encourage the adoption of impact-aligned capital.
In this article, we explain what a SAFI is, why it matters, how it has been used in practice, and how the new model contract supports impact-driven transactions. The model contract is based on the SAFI Playbook developed by the Innovative Finance Initiative (IFI) and Roots of Impact.
The Simple Agreement for Future Impact (SAFI) is a registered trademark of Roots of Impact.
A Simple Agreement for Future Impact (SAFI) is a non-dilutive financing instrument in which capital is repaid from future revenues, with the final repayment amount adjusted according to verified impact performance. It is called “simple” because it is designed to be easy to understand and practical to use. It focuses on a small number of core elements: revenue-based repayment, impact-linked incentives, and clear caps. It is an agreement for future impact because it recognises that impact develops over time. Rather than fixing all outcomes upfront, the SAFI creates space for learning, adaptation, and growth, while linking financial terms to verified impact as it is created.
In practical terms, this means:
If impact performance is strong, the company repays less. If impact underperforms, repayment increases within a pre-agreed cap. Impact and financial outcomes are therefore structurally linked rather than treated as separate or purely reputational considerations.
Purefresh is a social enterprise providing safe drinking water through automated water outlets in underserved areas of Kenya. To support its expansion, Purefresh raised USD 200,000 through a SAFI under the Impact-Linked Finance for WASH programme. The structure links repayment directly to impact:
Purefresh’s model has already demonstrated measurable impact: the company currently dispenses 1.4 million litres of drinking water weekly and serves about 70,000 households each week at an affordable price (below USD 0.02 per litre).
SAFIs can also support organisations that strengthen the impact ecosystem.
In 2024, Roots of Impact raised its first seven-figure impact-linked financing round from mission-aligned investors including the Delta Fund, the European Social Innovation and Impact Fund (ESIIF), and BMH (the public investment arm of Hesse), with catalytic support from the Swiss Agency for Development and Cooperation (SDC). The financing links repayment terms to outcome performance, allowing Roots of Impact to scale its work, tools, and market infrastructure for Impact-Linked Finance.
This demonstrates the versatility of SAFIs across different use cases, giving both funders and investees the flexibility they need while maintaining clear incentives to deliver social outcomes alongside financial growth.
SAFIs are part of a growing family of revenue-linked financing models. These offer a practical alternative to traditional impact investments based on fixed debt or equity ownership. Instead of relying on fixed interest payments or uncertain exits, revenue-linked instruments adapt to actual business performance. They allow companies to grow without immediate dilution, give investors clearer downside protection than equity, and create opportunities to embed impact incentives directly into financial terms.
SAFIs are relevant for:
The template brings together core financing terms (including investment amount, revenue share, repayment caps, and term), Impact Measurement and Management (IMM) commitments, transparent impact-linked repayment mechanics, mission alignment elements, relational contracting principles, and optional mission-protection mechanisms. It also includes two annexes: the Guiding Principles of Interaction and the Impact Side Letter, which outlines impact targets, baselines, and the incentive scheme.
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As impact investing evolves, many transactions no longer fit neatly into existing legal categories. Instruments like SAFIs sit between debt, quasi-equity, and results-based finance, and rely on concepts such as impact-linked incentives, mission alignment, and adaptive targets that are rarely included in standard financing contracts.
We see this template as a contribution to the wider impact ecosystem: a practical tool that is jurisdiction-agnostic and intended for inspiration only. It does not constitute legal, tax, or other advice and should be tailored to the context of each transaction.
For specific legal and tax questions related to adapting the model to particular jurisdictions or transactions, Grant Thornton’s international legal network is available to assist.
Please contact one of our specialists. They are happy to help you out.
