Repository: finance
10 results found
Communities doing it for themselves: Celebrating a decade of the Community Shares Unit
Published: 2023
It has been a decade since the Community Shares Unit launched in 2012 with over £210 million raised using this unique form of finance. This report aims to provide a detailed and inspiring update on the community shares market while celebrating key milestones, innovations and learnings over the last ten years.
Better understanding the financial impact of funding programmes through the ‘Year Zero’ approach
Published: 2022
Through funding programmes such as Trade Up and the Community Business Fund, Power to Change supports community businesses to trade for the benefit of their local community; yet how can we understand the financial impact that Power to Change has had on community businesses? The answer is not straightforward, and programme impact can be difficul…
Power to Change and blended finance
Published: 2021
The social investment market in the UK is growing rapidly, with transaction values rising from £165 million to £1.1 billion over the last ten years. Power to Change sees social investment as being a key funding approach to develop the community business market. Working through the Key Fund and Social and Sustainable Capital (SASC) they have i…
Smaller charities, SORP and issues of financial accounting and reporting
Published: 2021
This research is concerned with the use and impact of the Charities SORP on smaller charities across the three jurisdictions of the UK (England and Wales, Scotland, and Northern Ireland). The report is structured around eight core research questions, with the findings from each research method synthesised to produce answers to these questi…
Financial analysis of the Liverpool City Region community business market
Published: 2021
This study follows on from research conducted on community businesses in the Liverpool City Region in March 2019. The original work aimed to build a detailed evidence base to demonstrate the size and scope of the community business market in the region, and to provide insight into how growth and financial sustainability can be achieved.
T…
Understanding a maturing community shares market
Published: 2020
This paper is the first of two reports by Co-operatives UK reviewing the community shares market. The community shares investment model has become a popular approach to raising finance and since 2012, £155 million has been raised by over 103,000 people to save and create more than 440 vital spaces and services. This report comprises of communi…
Targeting funding to support community-led housing
Published: 2018
This working paper looks at the objectives of Power to Change’s community-led housing (CLH) funding programme and brings together evidence which will help target Power to Change’s interventions. Looking first at the Development stages of CLH groups, and their funding and support needs the report then maps the current landscape (and gaps in)…
Investing in Localism: How Local Authorities Can Provide Good Finance For Community Business
Published: 2018
Last year, Power to Change published Uncharted Investment, a research working paper that explored the sources of finance for community business. That work pointed towards a number of unexpected or previously underestimated sources, including lease finance, crowdfunding, equity finance – even credit cards and bank account overdrafts featured a…
We still haven’t found what we’re looking for: Uncharted investment in Charities, Social Enterprises and Community Businesses
Published: 2017
This report aims to help community businesses understand their finance options beyond banks and social investment, including opportunities presented through the local community, friends and family, local authorities and other public bodies. Community businesses may also find that the terms of finance available from such sources have relatively …
Facing Forward: How Small and Medium Charities can Adapt to Survive
Published: 2017
Facing Forward was written by Charlotte Ravenscroft, Evidential Consulting, and describes 10 trends to watch in a changing operating landscape with recommendations on how small charities should respond. With the impact of Brexit, economic uncertainty and growing pressures on local government adding uncertainty for the future of small charities,…