This is the last in our four-part series that demonstrates how the Vivensa Foundation is making an impact. You can catch up on part one here, part two here and part three here.
At the Vivensa Foundation we know we can’t address the most pressing challenges in ageing through grant-giving alone. We also use strategic partnerships, social investment and impact-intentional investing to help drive the systemic change needed to secure a healthier later life for all of us.
The power of joint funding partnerships
We recognise that change requires a collective effort because no single organisation can solve the complex challenges of ageing alone. That’s why we work with like-minded funders, trusts and foundations as well as professional membership organisations, advocacy organisations, and social impact investors and innovators.
For example, our Joint Doctoral Training Fellowship with the British Geriatrics Society (BGS) aims to launch careers in ageing-related research. This Fellowship is unique because it’s open to any frontline healthcare profession — clinicians, nurses, pharmacists, and allied healthcare professionals — and is building up the number of research-active healthcare professionals interested in healthier older age.
Our 2020 Fellow, Dr Sarah Hopkins, shares how our joint funding approach has opened more doors for her to influence the care provided to older people. “Thanks to my Fellowship, I now co-chair the BGS End of Life Special Interest Group, provided evidence in the House of Commons to the Commission on Palliative and End-of-Life Care, and I have published in important journals, such as the BMJ.”
Social investment fueling innovation
While traditional grant-making is vital, sometimes systemic change needs a different kind of funding. That’s where social investment comes in — as a way for trusts and foundations to support their charitable mission directly through investment, alongside making a financial return, albeit one that may be concessional.
We’ve ringfenced £5 million of our investment portfolio for social investment as a good way to pilot bold ideas that might not always be able to access mainstream sources of finance. For example, we recently invested in BelleVie — an innovative, people-powered, tech-enabled home care provider. Inspired by the Buurtzorg operating model in the Netherlands, their aim is to reinvent home care in the UK by testing and scaling self-managed care teams. They’ve expanded into four counties and their Wellbeing Support Workers have already helped over 500 families.
Our journey to becoming an impact-intentional investor
We aim to distribute roughly £5 million in grants each year, funded through the financial returns generated by our endowment, which has a current value of around £170 million. But rather than view our endowment as separate from grant-making, we strive to invest with it in ways that further our mission.
Our Chief Investment Officer, Andy Gnaneswaran explains: “We’re having an impact through our investment portfolio — positive or negative — whether we like it or not.” That’s why the Vivensa Foundation has embraced impact-intentional investing.
While traditional investment approaches are based on the risk-financial return trade-off, we’re making investment decisions that balance three objectives: risk, financial return and impact. Our Investment Policy Statement outlines where we are in the process of implementing our responsible and impact-conscious investment strategy.
While working towards aligning our entire portfolio with our values, we’re also demonstrating that trusts and foundations can rethink how they invest. “We’re not just grant-givers, we’re asset owners,” Andy shares. “We can go well beyond focusing on the money spent through grants and can begin thinking about how money is generated. Just imagine if more trusts and foundations start prioritising their values in their investment portfolios, using more of their assets to contribute toward their mission.”
Work with the Vivensa Foundation
We want to work with more like-minded funders, organisations, social impact investors and innovators to make lasting change to older people’s lives. Read our strategic framework to find out more about how we use partnerships, social investment and impact-intentional investing to further our mission. And subscribe to our newsletter to keep up-to-date with what we’re working on and opportunities to work together.