Here's a way that an investment advisor looking to build her client base might reach out to charities and get their portfolios to manage.

Offer to provide an independent review of their investments to identify any companies whose activities create the very problems they are trying to alleviate. You might think it highly unlikely that a charity would invest in ways that run counter to their goals, but it's not unusual at all, according to a recent article by Ron Robins, founder of a firm that helps advisors create portfolios based on personal values.

That's because many charities don't have strong ethical investing policies, Robins says, and their investment advisors are cautious about raising environmental, social and governance (ESG) concerns. Their advisors stress the importance of having a "balanced" portfolio, without bringing up that it's possible to construct an ethical portfolio that achieves strong returns.

The problem is that a charity loses credibility with donors, its own workers and others when it invests in companies that, say, pollute drinking water in a poor nation that the charity is trying to help.

Therefore, it's in charities' best interest to invest ethically. You could be an investment advisor who helps them do that.