The Australian Conservation Foundation (ACF) is Australia's national environmental organisation, launched in 1965 in response to a proposal by the World Wide Fund for Nature for a more co-ordinated approach to sustainability.
The National Lottery Community Fund, legally named the Big Lottery Fund, is a non-departmental public body responsible for distributing funds raised by the National Lottery for "good causes".
A social enterprise is an organization that applies commercial strategies to maximize improvements in financial, social and environmental well-being. This may include maximizing social impact alongside profits for co-owners.
Social venture capital is a form of investment funding that is usually funded by a group of social venture capitalists or an impact investor to provide seed-funding investment, usually in a for-profit social enterprise, in return to achieve an outsized gain in financial return while delivering social impact to the world. There are various organizations, such as Venture Philanthropy (VP) companies and nonprofit organizations, that deploy a simple venture capital strategy model to fund nonprofit events, social enterprises, or activities that deliver a high social impact or a strong social causes for their existence. There are also regionally focused organizations that target a specific region of the world, to help build and support the local community in a social cause.
Man Group plc is an active investment management business listed on the London Stock Exchange. It provides investment funds in liquid and private markets for institutional and private investors. It is the world's largest publicly traded hedge fund company, reporting $161.2 billion in funds under management as of September 2023. The firm is headquartered at Riverbank House in London and employs over 1,600 people in various locations. The company was a sponsor of the Man Booker Prize from 2002 to 2019.
Sir Ronald Mourad Cohen is an Egyptian-born British businessman and political figure. He is the chairman of The Portland Trust and Bridges Ventures. He has been described as "the father of British venture capital" and "the father of social investment".
Shared Interest Society Limited is a fair trade financial co-operative based in the United Kingdom formed in 1990. Today it provides credit and financial services to fair trade producers, retailers, importers and exporters throughout the world. Shared Interest works with both Fairtrade International and the World Fair Trade Organization (WFTO). In 2004, the Shared Interest Foundation was formed as a charitable subsidiary, providing training and support services to producers, complementing the financial services offered by the Society. Shared Interest received the Queen's Award for Enterprise in 2008.
Social finance is a category of financial services that aims to leverage private capital to address challenges in areas of social and environmental need. Having gained popularity in the aftermath of the 2008 global financial crisis, it is notable for its public benefit focus. Mechanisms of creating shared social value are not new; however, social finance is conceptually unique as an approach to solving social problems while simultaneously creating economic value. Unlike philanthropy, which has a similar mission-motive, social finance secures its own sustainability by being profitable for investors. Capital providers lend to social enterprises, who in turn, by investing borrowed funds in socially beneficial initiatives, deliver investors measurable social returns in addition to traditional financial returns on their investment.
Social Finance is a not for profit consultancy organisation that partners with governments, service providers, the voluntary sector and the financial community to find better ways of tackling social problems in the UK and globally. Founded in 2007, they have helped pioneer a series of programmes to improve outcomes for individuals with complex needs. Their innovations include the Social Impact Bonds (SIB) model which has mobilised more than £500 million globally in areas such as offender rehabilitation, children and family, homelessness and housing, young people at risk of becoming NEET, mental health and employment, loneliness and social isolation, and domestic violence.
Futurebuilders England was a social investment fund in the UK. The fund was invested in third sector organisations delivering public services to improve their financial and strategic capability.
UnLtd - The Foundation for Social Entrepreneurs is a charitable organisation in the United Kingdom.
Avenue Capital Group is an American multinational investment firm focusing on distressed securities and private equity with regional teams focusing on opportunities in the United States, Europe and Asia. The firm operates as both a private equity firm and as a hedge fund. Avenue's core strategy is focused on distressed debt and equity securities although the firm also manages investment funds that focus on long-short opportunities, real estate, and collateralized debt obligations. The firm manages assets valued at approximately $9.5 billion. The firm was founded by former professionals of Amroc Investments, an affiliate of the Robert M. Bass Group.
Impact investing refers to investments "made into companies, organizations, and funds with the intention to generate a measurable, beneficial social or environmental impact alongside a financial return". At its core, impact investing is about an alignment of an investor's beliefs and values with the allocation of capital to address social and/or environmental issues.
Social enterprise lending is a form of social finance which refers to the practice of offering loans and other financing vehicles below current market rates to social enterprises and other organisations pursuing social goals. This is often referred to as "patient lending," or financing with "soft" terms. Patient lending recognises that projects with social outcomes often reach profitability later than commercial projects. Softening the terms of a loan means that a social lender may offer provisions such as longer loan terms, lower interest rates and repayment "holidays" where capital and interest repayments are not due until the project is profitable. Social lenders might also offer small grants as part of an investment package.
A social impact bond (SIB), also known as pay-for-success financing, pay-for-success bond (US), social benefit bond (Australia), pay-for-benefit bond (Australia), social outcomes contract (UK), social impact partnership (Europe), social impact contract (Europe), or simply a social bond, is a form of outcomes-based contracting. Although there is no single agreed definition of social impact bonds, most definitions understand them as a partnership aimed at improving the social outcomes for a specific group of citizens. The term was originally coined by Geoff Mulgan, chief executive of the Young Foundation. The first SIB was launched by UK-based Social Finance Ltd. in September 2010.
Better Society Capital Limited (BSC), formerly Big Society Capital, is a social impact investor in the United Kingdom. Its mission is to grow the amount of money invested in tackling social issues and inequalities in the UK. It invests its own capital as well as enabling others to invest for impact too. The capital finances front-line social purpose organizations tackling everything from homelessness to mental health and fuel poverty, enabling them to grow and increase their impact.
The Architectural Heritage Fund (AHF) is a registered charity founded in 1976 to promote the conservation and re-use of historic buildings across the United Kingdom. The AHF provides communities with advice, grants and loans to help them find enterprising and sustainable ways to revitalise the old buildings they love, particularly in economically disadvantaged areas. For over 40 years, it has been the leading social investor in creating new futures for historic buildings.
Social Business Trust (SBT) is a registered UK charity established in December 2010 by Damon Buffini and social entrepreneur Adele Blakebrough MBE. The organisation provides grants and business advice to social enterprises based in the UK, in order to support the growth of selected social enterprises and help them to achieve greater social impact.
Dame Caroline Louise Mason has been the Chief Executive Officer of the Esmée Fairbairn Foundation since 2013, a UK charity that supports improvement of life through strategic grants and investment.
The Social Impact Incentives (SIINC) model is a blended finance instrument introduced for the first time in 2016. In the SIINC model, enterprises are provided with time-limited premium payments for achieving social impact, thus aligning profitability with their social impact and enabling them to attract growth capital. The SIINC agreement is a bilateral contract between an outcome funder and an enterprise; an independent verifier assesses the impact performance and clears payments for disbursement; the investment between the enterprise and its investor is arranged via a separate contract.
