Maximise your impact

Maximise the impact of your philanthropic money to achieve a social as well as financial return.  You can support the causes you’re passionate about by lending your charitable funds to social enterprises and charities through the Development Fund.  When they repay the loan to us, we lend that money to other social organisations so that your money and social impact are multiplied again and again.

WHY MAKE A SOCIAL INVESTMENT THROUGH THE DEVELOPMENT FUND?

Social enterprises and charities have a greater need for affordable, flexible capital than ever before.  The challenging economic climate, combined with strained public sector funding, means that they need to diversity income to ensure they can continue to deliver their social activities.  A social investment is not a grant or donation; it’s a loan to be repaid with interest.  It’s not suitable for every charitable organisation, but our experienced team help applicants make the right decision.

The Development Fund provides social investment to build the capacity of high-impact social organisations working both in the UK and internationally, as long as they are based in the UK*

We provide unsecured, but in some cases secured, loans and standby facilities from £25,000 to £400,00 plus, repayable up to six years at one of the lowest interest rates in the social investment market.

We do not charge a management fee on your social investment in the Development Fund; the interest we charge on the loan contributes to our operating costs.

* you can choose whether to support UK & Intl projects or UK only.

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HOW IT WORKS

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Decide if social investment is right for you

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Choose a minimum of seven charitable themes

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Decide whether to support UK only or UK based organisations who work internationally

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Make a loan from your CAF Charitable Trust Account to the Development Fund of between £20,000 - £2,000,000 for six years with and early repayment option

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At the end of the six years, transfer remaining funds back to your CAF Charitable Trust or recycle them into a new social investment loan

* you can also choose to support the Development Fund with a grant.

We support high-impact social organisations that are unable to access traditional loan finance and therefore we sometimes have to write-off or grant off the loan.   We actively monitor the risks and take reasonable steps to mitigate them.  We therefore estimate we will return 85 – 90% back to your charitable trust account.

OVER 500 SOCIAL INVESTMENTS TO HELP CHARITABLE ORGANISATIONS

Local Food Links

Local Food Links

  • Children and Young People
  • £425,000 (three unsecured loans)

Local Food Links used social investment to expand their kitchens and now produce 3,700 school meals daily across Dorset, using local produce and employing people in the community.

Find out more about Local Food Links

Chelmund's Fish & Chips

Chelmund's Fish & Chips

  • Community
  • £60,000 (part loan/part standby facility)

Working capital to open Britain's first community chippy and put the heart into a new village hub.

Read more about Chelmund's

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