WHAT IS SOCIAL INVESTMENT?

Social investment is the use of money to achieve both a social and a financial return and is an increasingly popular funding option for donors. It enables donors to support their chosen causes and recycle their capital again and again. By doing this, their philanthropy becomes more than a one-off gift. Social investment can be as simple as an affordable loan to charity, to enable them to build on their work to a more complex ‘payment by results’ structure, in the form of a social impact bond. However it is structured, social investment is increasingly becoming a way for donors to use some of their philanthropic capital, as well as donating funds in the form of grants, enabling donors to give in perpetuity.

Through CAF Venturesome, the donor lends or invests in a charity to support them in a variety of ways for a period of time. Depending on how the charity performs, the loan is repaid allowing the funds to be reinvested into a number of other charities and social enterprises – multiplying its original impact

CAF VENTURESOME

When CAF Venturesome was founded in 2002, we recognised that charities needed access to affordable, repayable finance which wasn’t readily available from major high street banks and traditional lenders. 

Social investment met that need and we have made it our mission to help charities become more sustainable and to make a greater difference to the causes they support. Over the last 15 years, CAF Venturesome has provided over 500 social investment loans, helping numerous charities do just that. 

CAF Venturesome still believes that by providing charities access to affordable capital, we can help them deliver their mission. Thanks to the support and generosity of our funders, we have provided over £40m in social investment loans to enable charitable organisations to thrive and grow. Here is a great example of a charity that received our social investment back in 2014 and just how far they have come.