The cycle of poverty has existed for too long and it is clear that business as usual is not good enough. At Impetus we believe that if we are to make real headway in breaking the cycle of poverty we need to innovate ourselves and also support other effective, innovative charities and social enterprises.
Impetus issues 2008/09 impact results
In November 2009 we issued our annual impact results,
which track the progress of charities and social enterprises
supported by Impetus. We were proud to announce that in 2008/09 our
portfolio of high-impact charities and social enterprises:
i) increased their average annual growth in income from 29% in
2007/08 to 40% (ten times the sector average*)
ii) grew the number of people they help each year by an average of
56%.
These results are particularly impressive given the very
challenging economy in 2008/09. That Impetus portfolio
organisations were able to achieve so much at a difficult time is a
testmanet to both the dedication and hard work of our charities and
social enterprises, and also the effect of our work building the
capacity of these organisations. Read the
press release.
New Fund: Impetus for Reducing Reoffending
Initiative
In the summer of 2009 we launched this major new initiative, with
the aim of making a significant impact on the high level of
re-offending in the UK. We plan to invest in 3-6 charities or
social enterprises that are working to tackle re-offending and that
have ambitions to transform their impact over a three-to-four year
period. Read more about the Impetus for Reducing Reoffending
Initiative.
Impact measurement
We are passionate about the importance of measuring impact, and
finding the most innovative and effective ways to demonstrate
social impact. We are very proud that Impetus is one of the
first grantmaking organisations to pilot a newly developed Social
Return on Investment (SROI) methodology, spearheaded by the Cabinet
Office and SROI-UK. We are excited to be working at the
cutting edge, participating on the steering group, and piloting the
methodology with a select group of our portfolio charities.
New investments
We are delighted to announce our most recent investment in leading
social enterprise FRC Group. We are partnering with FRC Group
initially for 14 months with a view to making a longer-term
investment at the end of the planning process.. Read more about FRC Group.
Impetus Impact Report
In line with our commitment to both measure and share the impact of
our portfolio charities and social enterprises, each year we
publish an Impact Report. In November 2009 we published the
2008/09 Report. Download the Report.
Awards
Impetus was a finalist - selected from over 300 nominations - for
the Directory of Social Change Awards, in the category of Investing
in Social Change. This award aims to recognise an organisation
or individual who has "really thought hard about the best
way for them to invest time, skills or money to achieve social
change. By assessing the need, bringing others on board and making
effective use of their resources, they achieve a real
difference." Read about our high impact.
We couldn’t possibly have expanded in the way we have, and with the speed we have, without support from Impetus.
Rob Owen
Chief Executive, St Giles Trust
