Arts Impact Fund: Insights from the first year
We are delighted to share our first year insights paper, which…
Arts Impact Fund
The fund is now closed for new investments.
The Arts Impact Fund was the world’s first impact investment fund specifically for the arts and cultural sector. The Fund offered unsecured finance between £150,000 and £600,000 repayable over a period of three to five years. Between July 2015 and September 2019, we committed £8.8 million across 27 organisations.
The Arts Impact Fund was the world’s first impact investment fund specifically for the arts and cultural sector. The Fund offered unsecured finance between £150,000 and £600,000 repayable over a period of three to five years. Between July 2015 and September 2019, we committed £8.8 million across 27 organisations.
Key Information
| Investment window | July 2015 to August 2019 |
| Funding available | £150,000 to £600,000 |
| Repayment period | 3 to 5 years |
| Interest rates | 3% to 8.5% |
| Fees | No early repayment fee Holding fees may apply |
| Investments completed to date | 27 |
| Total amount committed | £8.8 million* *This figure includes undrawn or repaid funds that have been re-invested |
Arts Impact Fund is administered by Arts & Culture Finance on behalf of Nesta Arts Impact LLP, a limited liability partnership registered in England and Wales with company number OC396102.
Background and History
The Arts Impact Fund is a pilot initiative that brought together public, private and charitable funding to demonstrate the potential and impact of social investment in the arts and cultural sector. It was created and funded by Bank of America, Esmée Fairbairn Foundation, Nesta and Arts Council England, with additional funding and support from Calouste Gulbenkian Foundation.
The Fund set out to achieve several objectives:
- Support the development of investment-readiness in the arts and cultural sector by working with organisations seeking repayable finance and supporting them through the investment process and due diligence.
- Encourage the development of enterprising and financially resilient operating models.
- Support the financial resilience of arts and cultural organisations by providing them with affordable finance flexible to their needs.
- Help arts and cultural organisations improve their understanding of social impact and their ability to measure and articulate their impact to internal and external stakeholders.
- Promote the wider positive impact art and culture have on society and support more organisations to benefit individuals and communities through their work.
Funding – the fund is now closed for new investments
Arts Impact Fund offered unsecured loans (and revenue participation agreements, where appropriate) between £150,000 and £600,000 with repayment term of three to five years and interest rates ranging between 3.5% and 8.5%.
Eligibility criteria
Your organisation’s primary activity is in arts and culture
Your organisation’s core operations or activity should be based in the arts and culture. For example, a dementia charity using art to engage its beneficiaries would not be eligible to apply for investment. However, a theatre providing outreach performances in local schools to target disadvantaged children would meet our criteria.
As part of the Fund’s criteria for investment, organisations must work in one of the art forms recognised by Arts Council England. These are:
- Theatre
- Dance
- Music
- Visual arts
- Literature
- Combined or multi art forms
- Digital arts
Your organisation is registered and operating in England
We can only work with organisations registered in England and primarily benefiting communities in England. Digital organisations will need to demonstrate their primary audiences are based in England.
We do not make loans to individuals, sole traders, partnerships or unincorporated bodies (unless their partners/members are exclusively corporate bodies).
Your organisation has a clear social mission, reflected in its structure and governance
To be eligible, your organisation has to demonstrate that has a clear social mission. This includes asset-lock and a restriction of the personal gain derived from its work. Charities, community interest companies and community benefit societies with a recognised charitable purpose are eligible for investment. Other incorporated entities, such as companies limited by shares, will be considered based on the strength of their social mission and whether the majority of their profit will be reinvested into that mission.
Your organisation is able to demonstrate measurable social impact in one of our priority areas
We are looking to support three social outcomes areas through the Arts Impact Fund.
- Young people and educational attainment
- Citizenship and Community
- Health and Well-being
When applying, you will need to show how your organisation works (or intends to work) in at least one of these areas and how it would go about monitoring, evaluating and reporting on its social impact throughout the life of its investment. In general, we expect organisations to have articulated their theory of change either formally or implicitly as well as to have developed (or be in the process of developing) appropriate tools and processes for impact management.
Contact
For fund-specific enquiries, please contact Seva Phillips.
Investment Committee
Chair Richard Brass, Head of Wealth and Asset Management, UK, Berenberg (independent)
Geoff Burnand, CEO, Investing For Good (independent)
Ross Burnett, Senior Manager, Policy (Chief Executive Unit), Arts Council England (former)
Nathan Elstub, Chief Investment Officer, Nesta
Helen Goulden, Executive Director, Innovation Lab, Nesta (former)
Alison Holdom, Grants Manager, Esmée Fairbairn Foundation
Francis Runacres, Executive Director, Enterprise & Innovation, Arts Council England (non-voting)
Nicola Saunders, Director, Business Improvement & Innovation, Arts Council England (non-voting)
Moira Sinclair, Chief Executive, Paul Hamlyn Foundation (independent)
Andrea Sullivan, Head of International Environment, Social & Governance, Bank of America
Investors and Partners
