What FSG does

FSG, Inc. is a Boston-headquartered mission-driven consulting firm founded in 2000 that advises corporations, foundations, and nonprofits on strategy for social impact. The firm is co-founded by Mark Kramer and Michael E. Porter — the Harvard professors behind the widely adopted 'Shared Value' framework — and pioneered the Collective Impact framework and the Water of Systems Change methodology that anchor much of its advisory work. Its practice areas span Corporate/CSR strategy, Foundation Strategy, Collective Impact, and Inclusive Markets, supported by specialized programs such as the Collective Impact Forum, Growing Livelihood Opportunities for Women, the Program to Improve Private Early Education (PIPE), and Talent Rewire.

FSG's core technology consists of proprietary consulting frameworks, research publications, and evaluation tools rather than software products. The firm's methodology stack includes Collective Impact, Shared Value, the Water of Systems Change, and Strategic Learning and Evaluation Systems (SLES) — most of which FSG helped develop. Its offerings are organized as customized engagements (strategy, foundation-wide planning, program evaluation, equity strategy) delivered by senior consultants, augmented by an extensive content library on fsg.org and active thought-leadership channels (blog, LinkedIn, email newsletter, webinars, and conference speaking at BSR, Net Impact, ACCP). Documented engagements span Fortune 100 corporate clients (via the General Mills Foundation work and others), major U.S. foundations (Kresge, St. David's, Texoma Health), and global-development clients (PSI, the World Bank's We-Fi initiative).

FSG operates a professional-services revenue model: multi-year, scope-based consulting engagements priced per project rather than on standardized tiers. Go-to-market is sales-led and content-driven, combining thought-leadership publishing, networking at social-impact conferences, and referrals within the foundation/corporate/nonprofit ecosystem. The firm operates from a Boston headquarters (867 Boylston Street) and a Mumbai office (FSG Asia), and reports having worked with more than 100 companies and 'hundreds of organizations' cumulatively across 20+ years.

Name

FSG

Legal name

FSG, Inc.

Website

https://fsg.org

Company type

Private

Founded year

2000

Operating status

Operating

Short description

FSG is a Boston-headquartered, mission-driven consulting firm that advises corporations, foundations, and nonprofits on strategy for equitable social impact, with additional operations in Mumbai (FSG Asia).

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Social Impact Consulting Services

NAICS

Management Consulting Services (54161)

SIC

Services-Management Consulting Services (8742)

akta.pro primary industry

Corporate Foundations & CSR Grantmaking (BPAGAKAC)

Keywords

• Social impact consulting
• Collective impact strategy
• Foundation advisory services
• Corporate shared value
• Mission-driven consulting

Headquarters

HQ city

Boston

HQ country

United States

HQ region

North America

Offices2 records

Markets served

GTM type

B2B

Offering type

Services

Cost components

Personnel, Operations, Marketing or Sales, Technology or R&D

Revenue model

1. Strategic Consulting Services: FSG generates revenue through providing customized consulting engagements to corporations, foundations, and nonprofits. Services include strategic planning, corporate social responsibility development, foundation strategy, and program evaluation. Engagements are typically long-term strategic partnerships tailored to client needs.

Pricing tiers

Go-to-market motion1 record

Distribution channels1 record

Marketing channels6 records

Core offering

FSG is a mission-driven consulting firm that advises corporations, foundations, and nonprofits on strategies for creating large-scale and lasting social change. The firm delivers strategic advisory, research, evaluation, and implementation support across three practices — Corporate, Foundation, and Nonprofit — and operates field-building programs such as the Collective Impact Forum. Its work centers on applying proprietary frameworks like Collective Impact, Shared Value, and the Water of Systems Change to help clients embed equity and systemic impact into strategy and operations.

Product overview

FSG is a consulting firm offering strategic advisory services to corporations, foundations, and nonprofits. Rather than a unified software product, FSG operates as a platform of consulting offerings organized around practice areas (Corporate/CSR, Foundation Strategy, Collective Impact, Inclusive Markets) and specialized initiatives (Collective Impact Forum, Growing Livelihood Opportunities for Women, PIPE, Talent Rewire). Their work is supported by an extensive resources library containing research publications and frameworks.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Products and services

• Corporate Social Impact Practice

Named customers6 records

Segments3 records

Ideal customer profiles3 records

Technology focussed No

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Feature4 records

Partnerships

Seven partnerships are on record, tiered minor and core.

• BorealisminorStrategic or Co-development PartnerFSG Returnables partnered with Borealis to supply polypropylene feedstock for a reusable cup system at Northamptonshire Healthcare NHS Foundation Trust hospitals. The initiative enables staff and visitors to borrow, return, and reuse cups via the trust's café network, reducing single-use disposables and lowering EPR compliance costs.
• Northamptonshire Healthcare NHS Foundation Trust (NHFT)minorStrategic or Co-development PartnerNHFT partnered with Borealis and FSG Returnables to introduce reusable polypropylene cups across seven hospital cafés, replacing single-use compostable cups. The initiative projects that 898 reusable cups will replace approximately 175,500 disposable ones over three years, saving an estimated £27,582 in costs.
• PSI (Population Services International)coreStrategic or Co-development PartnerFSG worked with PSI to conduct a landscape study on the family planning market in India, identifying key market failures preventing women and girls from adopting family planning products and services, and developing action plans for strengthening the market through private sector engagement.
• General Mills FoundationcoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerFSG partnered with General Mills Foundation to develop new signature initiatives addressing social and environmental issues related to its business, and to evolve its existing philanthropic portfolio to better reflect the organization's global footprint.
• The Kresge FoundationcoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerFSG worked collaboratively with The Kresge Foundation's Program and Social Investment Practice departments to develop strategic learning and evaluation systems and provide insight into how the foundation could enhance its support for learning and evaluation.
• PolicyLinkcoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerFSG established a partnership with PolicyLink and Just Capital, leading to the Corporate Racial Equity Alliance, focusing on helping companies advance racial equity through research and strategy development.
• Just CapitalcoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerFSG partnered with PolicyLink and Just Capital to form the Corporate Racial Equity Alliance, releasing the 2021 CEO Blueprint for Racial Equity.

Scale indicators3 records

Recent moves6 records

Expansion highlights4 records

Direct peers

• BSR: BSR is a global nonprofit business network that advises companies on sustainability, ESG, and social impact strategy. It is the closest direct peer to FSG, serving the same corporate and foundation clients with overlapping methodologies and a similar nonprofit mission orientation.
• The Bridgespan Group: Bridgespan is a nonprofit social-sector consultancy that advises philanthropies, nonprofits, and social enterprises on strategy, talent, and impact. It directly overlaps with FSG's foundation strategy and nonprofit/NGO practice areas and shares the nonprofit consulting-firm model.
• TCC Group: TCC Group is a nonprofit consulting firm focused on strategy, evaluation, and capacity-building for foundations and nonprofits. It is directly comparable to FSG's foundation strategy and nonprofit/NGO client segments and shares a similar operating model and client base.
• La Piana Consulting: La Piana Consulting is a nonprofit-focused strategy consultancy that supports mission-driven organizations with strategic planning, mergers, and organizational development. It is directly comparable to FSG's nonprofit strategy and foundation services practice areas.

Broad incumbents

• McKinsey & Company (Social Sector Practice): McKinsey is a global management consulting giant with a dedicated Social Sector Practice serving foundations, nonprofits, and social enterprises. As a broad incumbent, it competes for the same corporate-impact and foundation engagements as FSG, with greater global scale and broader service offerings.
• Bain & Company (Social Impact practice): Bain & Company is a global management consulting firm with a Social Impact practice serving corporations, foundations, and NGOs on shared value and ESG strategy. As a broad incumbent, it overlaps with FSG's corporate and foundation advisory work while offering broader transformation services.
• Deloitte (Sustainability & ESG practice): Deloitte is a Big Four professional services firm with a large Sustainability and ESG practice serving multinational corporations and major foundations. It competes with FSG on corporate social-impact strategy engagements, with materially greater global delivery capacity.

Emerging players

• Arabesque: Arabesque combines ESG data, research, and advisory to help investors and corporates integrate sustainability into strategy. It is an emerging player with partial overlap to FSG's corporate impact strategy work, differentiated by a quantitative ESG data backbone.
• Catalyst: Catalyst is a global nonprofit that works with corporations to advance gender and racial equity in the workplace through research and advisory. It overlaps with FSG's racial equity and inclusive markets practices and shares a nonprofit mission orientation.

Others

• Just Capital: Just Capital is a nonprofit research and advocacy organization that ranks companies on stakeholder practices and works with corporates on equity strategy. It is a thematic peer and active partner (co-founder of the Corporate Racial Equity Alliance with FSG), addressing overlapping corporate-equity audiences.

Market position

Strengths5 records

Weaknesses5 records

Competitive moat4 records

Key risks6 records

Key highlights6 records

Customer concentration

• YouTubeyoutube.com/user/FSGImpact
• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/34742
• Xx.com/FSGtweets
• Facebookfacebook.com/FSGImpact

Compliance2 records

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles9 records

Funding overview

Funding rounds

Investors

Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

M&A

Investments

M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

Frequently asked questions about FSG