Arts & Culture Finance uses social impact investment to support arts and cultural organisations that benefit the lives of individuals, communities and society through their work.

We manage several social impact investment funds aimed at organisations in the arts and culture sector on behalf of our funding partners.

Our funds

Arts & Culture Impact Fund

The new Arts & Culture Impact Fund is our biggest fund to date and the world’s largest social impact investment fund for the arts, culture and heritage sectors. The UK-wide fund will invest at least £23 million in arts, culture and heritage organisations demonstrating a clear social impact. Socially driven arts and cultural organisations of all sizes across the UK are invited to apply for loans of between £150,000 and £1 million, with up to a 10-year repayment period.

More information on the Arts & Culture Impact Fund page

Cultural Impact Development Fund

The £3.7 million Cultural Impact Development Fund offers small-scale repayable finance between £25,000 and £150,0000 to socially-driven arts and cultural organisations in England that are committed to improving the quality of their impact practice and evaluation and could benefit from external support with this. Browse the portfolio.

More information on the Cultural Impact Development Fund

Arts Impact Fund

The Arts Impact Fund was the world’s first impact investment fund specifically for the arts and cultural sector. It provided repayable finance between £150,000 and £600,000 to arts organisations in England with ambitions to grow, achieve great artistic quality and have a positive impact on society. Between July 2015 and September 2019, we committed £8.8 million across 27 organisations. The Arts Impact Fund is now closed for new investments. Browse the portfolio.

More information on the Arts Impact Fund

Why we do this

We believe that arts and culture play an essential role in our everyday lives, in the forging and understanding of our identity and in growing the UK’s economy. They inspire, challenge and educate us.

As part of the economy, the arts and cultural sector drives growth, creates job opportunities and generates valuable income for our communities.

We also recognise the power of arts and culture to transform people’s lives and be an instrument of social change. There are shining examples of how arts and cultural organisations engage some of the most vulnerable and marginalised communities and help tackle deeply entrenched social problems.

Our vision for arts and culture

  • We live in a society where a diverse and sustainable arts and culture sector enriches people’s lives through motivating cultural engagement and participation and using the power of arts and culture to change lives.
  • Arts and cultural organisations are able to articulate more clearly the positive social change they are uniquely placed to have on individuals and communities.
  • The social impact of arts and cultural organisations grows as a result of a new impact culture.
  • The public at large understand the value of arts and cultural organisations.
  • Motivated repayable finance is an established, widely accepted and used form of financial support for arts and cultural organisations.
  • Arts and cultural organisations are resilient and thriving, free to plan their future and take autonomous risk with impact and programming strategy and practice.

Get in touch

If you are an arts or cultural organisation interested in exploring social impact investment or taking on repayable finance to develop a new venture, grow an existing strand of work or invest in your asset base, please visit our website, contact us at: [email protected]sign up to the Arts & Culture Finance newsletter, or follow us on Twitter.

Team

Fran Sanderson

Fran Sanderson

Fran Sanderson

Director of Arts Programmes and Investments

Alongside heading up the Arts, Culture and Creativity team, Fran also has primary responsibility for the Arts Impact Fund.

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Seva Phillips

Seva Phillips

Seva Phillips

Head of Arts & Culture Finance

Seva is responsible for Nesta's social impact investment work in the arts, culture and creative industries

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Trishna Nath

Trishna Nath

Trishna Nath

Investment Manager, Arts & Culture Finance team

Trishna joined the Arts and Culture Finance team as Investment Manager for the Cultural Impact Development Fund (CIDF).

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Louisa Shanks

Louisa Shanks

Louisa Shanks

Investment Analyst, Arts & Culture Finance

Louisa worked across the investment process for the Arts & Culture Impact Fund, sourcing opportunities to due diligence, preparing investment proposals and managing portfolios.

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Dominika Cazamea

Dominika Cazamea

Dominika Cazamea

Investment Analyst, Arts & Culture Finance team

Dominika is an Investment Analyst for the Arts & Culture Impact Fund, a social investment fund offering repayable finance to arts, culture and heritage organisations across the UK.

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Rachel Green

Rachel Green

Rachel Green

Investment Manager, Arts & Culture Finance

Rachel works in the Arts & Culture Finance team as an investment manager of the Arts & Culture Impact Fund.

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