A government fund has helped charities and social enterprises win £233m worth of investment and contracts, according to an evaluation report published today.
The Investment and Contract Readiness Fund (ICRF) was launched in 2012 and managed by Social Investment Business (SIB). Since then, it has unlocked a total of £18 for every £1 of grant funding provided, the report says.
The fund received £13.2m worth of Cabinet Office funding for 155 ventures, the report says.
Rob Wilson, Minister for Civil Society, said the results “exceeded all expectations and set a benchmark for the rest of the world to follow”.
“The Fund has helped VCSEs (voluntary, community and social enterprise organisations) to grow and increase their impact through taking on investment and winning public sector contracts; all helping to build a truly compassionate society,” he said.
The ICRF was initially set up as a three-year pilot programme to help organisations looking to raise at least £500,000 in investment or win contracts of £1m or more. Grants of between £50,000 and £150,000 were provided to charities to purchase the support from a list of approved providers.
Jonathan Jenkins, chief executive of SIB said the results of the fund would help the organisation “understand the lessons of the fund to help model even more impactful interventions in the future”.
“Turning £13m of grants into £233m of contract/investment wins is no mean feat,” he said. “So often, the role of an intermediary is misunderstood or undervalued. Hopefully the experience of ICRF will encourage more organisations to use their services going forwards, as we aim to build a more sustainable market for advice and support”.
The ICRF funded a range of support services, from financial modelling and impact measurement to investment structuring and tendering and bid writing.
One organisation to receive support was London-based homelessness charity Thames Reach. According to SIB, the grant helped it secure a £520,000 investment with a further £4m expected in the coming weeks.
Jeremy Swain, chief executive of Thames Reach said the ICRF provider challenged and tested the charity’s model and made it “more achievable and compelling to potential investors”.
“If you want to do things differently and transform lives in a way that hasn’t been achieved before, you need the probing and scrutiny that social investment intermediaries bring,” he said.
Last December, the Office for Civil Society announced it would set up a foundation which is largely based on the ICRF model. The Access Foundation will provide charities and social investment organisations with more than £100m worth of grant funding.
