The purpose of the Fund
The Youth Strategic Investment Fund is a long-term high-value programme that reflects the Foundation’s commitment to support the development, sustainability and impact of organisations that have evidenced a track record of working with young people to achieve positive change.
The Youth Strategic Investment Fund targets a small number of organisations each year (2-4) that are already known to the Foundation and is by invitation only. It is designed as a strategic investment that will have a longer-term influence on the shape of an organisation itself, its impact in working with young people and its position within its field of practice.
Fund Structure:
The Youth Strategic Investment Fund provides a five year fixed term investment (of up to £550,000) towards the core costs of an organisation as well as a package of tailored and flexible expert support. This package of support is structured to resource practical steps towards strengthening organisations and therefore the impact of their work with young people. The investment will, typically, address strategic developments for the organisation in at least two of the following areas:
- The quality of the organisation: strengthening their services and consolidating their position as a leading organisation within their field of practice
- The reach of the organisation: enabling greater engagement for young people in an established service through the development of projects, methods or technologies
- The scale of the organisation: replicating a project or service through, for example, geographical expansion, social franchising or digital technologies
- The influence of the organisation: in terms of shaping sector-wide practice, advocating for systems change and/or enhancing policy approaches in work with young people
Fund Principles:
The Youth Strategic Investment Fund adopts a relational approach and works closely with funded organisations to identify priorities for development prior to and throughout the five year programme. The Fund is a bespoke investment tailored to support the complexities of organisational development and an organisation’s ambitions to achieve growth in impact.
The following principles underpin the Foundation’s relationship with organisations supported through the Fund:
Ownership: The Fund works alongside an organisation’s own plans, goals and ambitions to grow its impact in work with young people. We seek to support these plans through providing financial resources, commissioning expert advice and offering guidance that will strengthen the organisation to achieve its expressed mission and purpose.
Partnership: The Fund adopts a collaborative approach. This requires regular engagement between the organisation’s senior staff and the Foundation. We seek to build relationships of trust that, while remaining fundamentally supportive, can withstand critical challenge in pursuit of a shared vision for working with young people to achieve positive change.
Flexibility: The Fund operates a responsive approach to organisational needs. The Foundation will support the leadership of an organisation with timely and flexible support. The package of support will be bespoke for each organisation, supporting the organisation’s journey of development and its changing needs during the lifetime of the investment.
You can also view examples of grants made through the Youth Strategic Investment Fund in our grants database or in these case studies.
Applications are by invitation only.