Across Europe, corporations are starting to explore taking an investment-oriented approach to creating strategic social returns, often seeing their business grow alongside.

Exploring these developments, EVPA has launched ‘Corporate Social Impact Strategies – New paths for collaborative growth’. The report charts the rising interest in social impact among corporations and corporate foundations, and the collaborations and linkages that are starting to take shape between these players and Venture Philanthropy and Social Investment organisations (VPOs) – including foundations.

The report shows how some of the most innovative corporations strategically align their corporate foundations with their core business, or set up their corporate foundation as a VPO, to work in new fields/and/or countries or specific sustainability topics, sometimes handing over these projects if they show commercial viability. This strategy allows them to take a long-term approach towards innovation without the short-term profit maximisation pressure of the core business.   The report also provides examples of where foundations practising venture philanthropy bring experience, knowledge and processes, complementing corporate resources, to explore social investment approaches.

EVPA is convinced that foundations and corporates working together have the potential to create great social change, at lower cost and with higher impact.

To download the report
http://evpa.eu.com/?publication-cat=key-players