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Creative Finance

13 July 2012

Do organisations want to know more about social investment? Judging by the turnout to our seminar on social investment in the arts on 10 July 2012, the answer is yes.  

We operate a £21 million Finance Fund which invests in organisations that aim to deliver both a financial return and a social benefit. With the advent of Big Society Capital in 2011, the emergence of a range of intermediary funds offering social investments and advisory services, as well as increased interest in social investment from our fellow trusts and foundations, social investment is here to stay.

We know that many organisations in our sectors want to know more about social investment, and that some are already considering it as part of their funding model. To explore this, we asked some of our grantees working in the arts to a seminar where we shared our thinking and experience on:

  • What types of investment are available?
  • Who are the players?
  • What would an arts organisation have to do to be ready for a social investment?

We heard from one of our investees, Vanessa Swann from Cockpit Arts, with the story of their social investment - you can find out more in their report on the impact of incubation, put together by Pro-Bono Economics. Participants then spoke directly to social investors from organisations such as Big Issue Invest, Big Society Capital, Charity Bank, Social Finance and Venturesome.

Given the demand for this meeting, we will hold more in the future.