What is Venture Philanthropy?

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Venture philanthropy is a field of philanthropic activity where private equity / venture capital models are applied in the non-profit and charitable sectors. There are many different forms of venture philanthropy but the EVPA believes it can be characterised as:

• The active partnership, or engagement, of donors, volunteers and/or experts with charities to achieve agreed outcomes such as organisational effectiveness, capacity building or other important change;
• The use of a variety of financing techniques in addition to grants, such as multi-year financing, loans or other financial instruments most appropriate for a charity's needs;
• The capability to provide skills and/or hands-on resources with the objective of adding value to the development of a charity;
• The desire to enable donors to maximise the social return on their investment whether that be as a financial donor or as a volunteer of time and expertise.

View a Venture Philanthropy Diagram (powerpoint)

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