New crowdfunding support available through the Reach Fund
by Jasmine Ward | Jan 09, 2018 | Learn
Charities and social enterprises looking to raise investment via Crowdfunder.co.uk will now be able to apply for a Reach Fund grant.
The Reach Fund, funded by Access (The Foundation for Social Investment and managed by Social Investment Business), allows organisations – known as Access Points – to refer charities and social enterprises to apply for grants of around £15,000. The grants can be used to pay for specific support that may help them to raise investment.
Deborah Smart, Head of Programmes (Grants) at Social Investment Business, said:
“We are really excited to welcome Crowdfunder.co.uk to the Reach Fund. People powered social investment is a fast growing success story and we hope that the Reach Fund can help more fantastic organisations to raise investment through the Crowd this year.”
Crowfunder.co.uk will now be able to refer charities and social enterprises to apply for grants to pay for activities such as legal work, business planning or financial forecasting that may be needed to help them secure investment.
Jason Nuttall, Programme Director at Crowdfunder.co.uk, said:
“Becoming an Access Point is a great step for us at Crowdfunder. We’re often contacted by groups looking to take on investment, particularly through community shares issues, and these groups usually just need that little bit of extra support to get there. The Reach Fund should help us to grow the number of community owned assets across the UK.”
Crowdfunder.co.uk is also a member of the £10m Big Society Capital Crowd Match Fund. Through this programme, Big Society Capital matches crowdfunded investments made by individuals into Social Investment Tax Relief (SITR) eligible charities and social enterprises.
Camilla Parke, Investment Associate at Big Society Capital, said:
“The Reach Fund is a fantastic resource to help charities and social enterprises looking to raise investment get over the final hurdle. We’re delighted that leading crowdfunding platforms have become Access Points and can make this grant funding accessible to organisations they’re working with – for many this could be the final piece in the puzzle to unlock much-needed investment from the Crowd.”
There are now 21 Access Points signed up to the Reach Fund, all of whom are able to work with charities and social enterprises to apply for a grant. By the end of September 2017, the fund had made 45 grants with deployment continuing to accelerate.