Foundations as Pioneers: Catalytic Grantmaking in Practice

The Social Entrepreneurship Netzwerk Deutschland e.V. will host “Foundations as Pioneers: Catalytic Grantmaking in Practice” online on 2 November.

Philanthropic funding that sets further capital in motion: What is catalytic grantmaking, and what role can foundations play?

Catalytic grantmaking starts where conventional finance falls short. Foundations deploy their resources to enable impact that would not otherwise be possible. A grant, for example, can bring a social enterprise to the point where commercial impact investors come on board. A guarantee can take part of the risk off other funders. Foundations can act on their own or work with specialised partners. Through such intermediaries, they can invest in social enterprises without building an investment team of their own.

This is the first roundtable in a series on catalytic grantmaking, with Impact Europe, elea and Elucid. Together, they will explore the topic at the intersection of foundations, social enterprises and social innovation. Drawing on practical examples, the series will discuss what role foundations can play, why this approach can be relevant to their strategy and why it matters for impact-driven enterprises. They will also look at what these relationships look like and how they can be shaped, as a complement to existing forms of funding.