Hedgehog first visited Impetus, the charity which brings together private equity money and business skills with small charities looking to grow, in issue 12. And while private equity has not been covered in glory since last summer, indeed is spending much of its time trying to battle new regulation, Impetus has been working away, and now is about to gain a new chairman.
Hedgehog first visited Impetus, the charity which brings together private equity money and business skills with small charities looking to grow, in issue 12. And while private equity has not been covered in glory since last summer, indeed is spending much of its time trying to battle new regulation, Impetus has been working away, and now is about to gain a new chairman.
Louis Elson, co-founder of Palamon Capital Partners, is taking over in March from Stephen Dawson, Impetus’ co-founder, and in an interview he said his plans are “not for revolution but evolution”. He wants to reinforce and enlarge Impetus’ existing networks of supporters throughout the law, accountancy, consulting and PE, and at the same time take a little of his own medicine: “How do we do to Impetus what we’re doing to other charities? It has exactly the same potential for growth and can have a more diverse impact.”
This impact is created through unrestricted strategic funding (which is dependent on meeting set objectives), hands-on support from an Impetus Investment Director, and specialist support for business development. Capital investment and professionalisation go hand-in-hand. Using its contribution as leverage, Impetus often finds co-investment too.
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The strength of Impetus, Louis Elson says, is that its model is “battle-tested”, and it produces “precision and measurable results”.
Elson is already very familiar with philanthropic endeavours: he is on the development board of the Prince’s Trust, is a Fellow of the Royal Society of Arts and is a trustee of the Phillips Academy Andover. He was previously at Goldman Sachs and was a partner of Warburg Pincus, and is a member of the Research Advisory Board of the British Venture Capital Association.
Another pressing issue is helping philanthropists – corporate and individual – to recognise what Impetus can do for their giving: “Many people, who are predisposed to give, haven’t figured out how to do that,” Elson says; first, they find it hard to find charities, and secondly, they cannot be sure that their money will be well-used. “We articulate to capital investors that this is a way of solving problems” by drawing them to sustainable, well-run charities in the Impetus portfolio.
Their portfolio is composed of charities that work with issues of social significance, such as Street League, which uses sport to motivate homeless and disadvantaged people, and IntoUniversity, which helps disadvantaged young people get into university. There are also overseas charities, such as Camfed International, which educates children in Sub-Saharan African, and the Fairtrade Foundation.
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“Stephen Dawson and Nat Sloane [the other co-founder] did develop a system of screening, to look at charities no matter what sector they’re in. It helps take the emotion out of the decision and look pragmatically at the best areas need to be addressed.”
Does he have any favoured charities? “Part of the reason I agreed to stand for chairman was that I found that Impetus convinced me through its rigour that all of the charities it’s supporting are worthy. I found that compelling – they took the bias out.”
