History
UnLtd was formed in 2000 by seven non-profit organisations: Ashoka: Innovators for the Public, Changemakers, Community Action Network (CAN), Comic Relief, The Scarman Trust, SENSCOT, and The School for Social Entrepreneurs (SSE).
The awards are funded by the income generated by a £100 million endowment from the Millennium Commission as a permanent source of grants for individuals throughout the United Kingdom to develop their skills and talents, and to contribute to the community; the income from the endowment is held by the Millennium Awards, of which UnLtd is the sole Trustee. [1] [3] John Rafferty was the first Chief Executive who with Sandra Jetten COO successfully negotiated the grant of £100 million from the Millennium Commission and established the network of UK wide offices and staff. From 2006 to 2015 UnLtd was headed by Cliff Prior, who went on to become Chief Executive at Big Society Capital. [4] Mark Norbury became Chief Executive in May 2016.
Programs
Through its support, UnLtd provides a combination of cash funding, investment, support, networking opportunities and pro bono services to entrepreneurs. The awards range from £2,500 to £20,000. Their social investment fund provides larger scale investment capital to more established social ventures.
UnLtd Research studies the impact of the support UnLtd gives to early start social entrepreneurs, and the impact they have on the worlds in which they live. UnLtd has partnerships with academic institutions UCL, Open University, Middlesex University, University of Birmingham.
UnLtd established an investment team in 2016, investing directly into more established social ventures.
The organisation's funding throughout the UK is divided throughout five regions: London, The South and the East of England, The North of England and the Midlands, Scotland, Northern Ireland and Wales.
Fundraising or fund-raising is the process of seeking and gathering voluntary financial contributions by engaging individuals, businesses, charitable foundations, or governmental agencies. Although fundraising typically refers to efforts to gather money for non-profit organizations, it is sometimes used to refer to the identification and solicitation of investors or other sources of capital for for-profit enterprises.
Islamic Relief Worldwide describes itself as "a faith-inspired humanitarian and development agency which is working to support and empower the world's most vulnerable people".
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.
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".
The Skoll Foundation is a private foundation based in Palo Alto, California. The foundation makes grants and investments intended to reduce global poverty. Jeffrey Skoll created the foundation in 1999.
An angel investor is an individual who provides capital to a business or businesses, including startups, usually in exchange for convertible debt or ownership equity. Angel investors often provide support to startups at a very early stage, once or in a consecutive manner, and when most investors are not prepared to back them. In a survey of 150 founders conducted by Wilbur Labs, about 70% of entrepreneurs will face potential business failure, and nearly 66% will face this potential failure within 25 months of launching their company. A small but increasing number of angel investors invest online through equity crowdfunding or organize themselves into angel groups or angel networks to share investment capital and provide advice to their portfolio companies. The number of angel investors has greatly increased since the mid-20th century.
King Charles III Charitable Fund (KCCF), formerly known as The Prince of Wales's Charitable Fund, is a United Kingdom-based charity fund. It provides grants to charity organisations in the United Kingdom and internationally. Grantee organisations vary in focus but fall under the umbrella of one of the fund's designated funding themes.
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.
Film London is London's film and media agency – sustaining, promoting and developing London as a major international film-making and film cultural capital. This includes all the screen industries based in London – film, television, video, commercials and new interactive media. Film London is one of nine regional screen agencies throughout the United Kingdom. The not-for-profit organisation is supported by the BFI and the Mayor of London. Film London also receives significant support from Arts Council England London and ScreenSkills.
The Grassroots Business Fund is a non-profit organization based in Washington, DC. It has field offices in Kenya, Peru, and India.
UK Community Foundations (UKCF) is a registered charity that leads a movement of community foundations committed to positive social change in the UK through the development of “community philanthropy”. Community philanthropy involves people from all parts of a community working together locally to use the financial and other resources available to them to improve others’ lives.
Better Society Capital Limited (BSC), formerly Big Society Capital, is a social impact investor in the United Kingdom, with a mission to grow the amount of money invested in tackling social issues and inequalities in the UK. It invests its own capital into a range of social purpose organisations, as well as enabling others to invest. Much of BSC's money comes from the Reclaim Fund, which was created in 2012 to make use of dormant bank accounts.
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.
Heather Brandon was the chairman of the World Board of the World Association of Girl Guides and Girl Scouts (WAGGGS), from 1996 - 1999. For her work, she received the OB-PS certificate and insignia at the WAGGGS conference in July, 2008. In addition to working as Chief Executive to a number of not for profits, she was also Director of The Global Fund for Children UK Trust, a grant making organisation that helps provide opportunities to vulnerable children. Brandon is a qualified executive coach and training expert in motivational team building and social diversity. She has been influential in youth education, international development and social entrepreneurship.
Temasek Foundation International is a Singapore-based non-profit organisation under the philanthropic arm of the Singapore state sovereign fund Temasek Holdings. Temasek has established 17 endowments since 1974, focused on promoting social and cultural interaction, education, and aid for the disadvantaged in Asia.
Global Changemakers is an international youth organisation with headquarters in Zurich, Switzerland. To date, they have directly trained over 1000 young people and provided grants to 450 youth-led projects in over 128 countries.
Social Investment Business (SIB) is a UK registered charity and trading company that offers loans, grants and other financial products to charities and social enterprises.
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.
