Philanthropists who have invested their philanthropic capital in the new CAF Social Impact Fund, launched just five months ago, have already enabled CAF Venturesome, who manage the fund, to lend over £1million to help ten charities.

Link Community Development was the most recent charity to benefit from a CAF Social Impact Fund loan.

The charity works to improve education in Sub-Saharan Africa and is funded by both DFID and the EU.

Like many charities reliant upon grants, they are vulnerable to cashflow swings as most programme funding is paid in arrears.

CAF Venturesome helped them with a £90,000 loan which will tie the charity over until their committed funding is received in full.

The CAF Social Impact Fund enables philanthropists with a CAF Trust to invest their charitable capital at 0% interest for a fixed period of between three and six years.

At the end of the term, the capital is returned to investors to either donate to charity in the traditional way, or reinvest in the Fund.

Paul Cheng, head of CAF Venturesome, said: “We are seeing strong demand from charities for loans, and thanks to the generosity of a number of CAF Trust clients we are able to quickly and effectively deploy funds to meet their financing needs.

“I would like more charities and trustees to know about the benefits of loan finance and how social investment can help them to manage both their day-to-day cashflow and secure funds for growth.

"As part of a diverse funding-mix, affordable loans can make them more financially resilient and, in a climate of economic uncertainty, help them to continue their vital work with beneficiaries.”

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