Impact Europe & European Commission Partnership 2023
The partnership recognises the role Impact Europe (previously EVPA) plays as the European investing for impact network and aims to encourage development of social finance and impact investing in Europe. With the “IMPULSE” programme (Investing for an Impactful European Social Economy), Impact Europe contributed to policy development, facilitated interactions between the impact community and policymakers, delivered strong capacity-building actions, and provided crucial data and research on the European impact investing market.
The IMPULSE programme has four main objectives:
- Support the European Commission to raise awareness about and enable the implementation of relevant EU policies and funding.
- Reinforce the capacity of the Impact Europe members and share best practices
- Voice the concerns and expectations of organisations facilitating access to finance to provide input for policy design and implementation
- Provide data and research on developments in the field, which can serve as input for evidence-based policymaking
1. Raising awareness
Unlocking EU funding
Impact Europe organised two EU funding mentoring meet-ups (one online and one in-person at Impact Week). These interactive meet-ups, one on general opportunities for social impact focused funds, and the other focusing on skills and education, enabled Impact Europe members to connect and exchange their practical experiences in unlocking EU funds in these areas, with a focus on InvestEU and ESF+. EU policy makers were present to guide our members through the new EU funding programs.
Impact Europe’s revamped ‘EU Funding Watch’ webpage continued to offer targeted and easily accessible information on funding opportunities at the EU level and beyond, as well as EU non-financial support opportunities, to Impact Europe members and social economy stakeholders.
All eyes on SFDR
Impact Europe organised a webinar on the EU Sustainable Financial Disclosure Regulation (SFDR) and its implications for the impact ecosystem. It featured perspectives from different stakeholders on the regulation, including an impact legal expert, an impact asset manager and an EU policymaker, and enabled participants to exchange views ahead of the European Commission’s SFDR consultation and evaluation. A video was also produced following the webinar to give the opportunity to a wider audience to learn more about the SFDR.
Exchanges with policymakers
Impact Europe representatives had 28 exchanges with European Commission officials and other multilateral authorities, enabling us to raise our voice and keep abreast of policy developments to inform our members and the broader impact ecosystem. We actively engaged in discussions on the implementation of the EU Social Economy Action Plan, the Sustainable Finance Disclosure Regulation and EU funding programs.
EU policy at Impact Week
We organised two sessions at our Impact Week, on EU sustainability disclosure rules and their effect on the impact ecosystem and on the EU Social Economy Action Plan and the way forward of the social economy ecosystem in the EU. 100+ participants took part in open conversations, peer learning and case discussions and strengthened their knowledge of concrete opportunities in the area of social economy.
In numbers
> 2,4k users of the EU Funding Watch webpage (80% increase from 2022)
> 350 attendees of our policy events
2. Capacity building and best practices
Impact stories
Impact Europe published a case study on how National Promotional Banks and Institutions co-invest with the EU and other impact investors, catalysing capital for a resilient and just society. This enabled us to emphasise the need for public-private collaboration to bring more capital to the impact space and make more actors impact actors.
We also showcased three inspiring cases showing impact measurement and management in practice. These cases focus on investors at different stages of IMM implementation, from early stages to in-depth experience, and aim to encourage Impact Europe members to improve their impact management systems and translate this inspiration into action.
Our Impact Stories continued to present innovative social enterprises and highlight the catalytic role of investors in supporting them to achieve a positive impact on society.
Learning hub
We trained 65 impact practitioners to better support social enterprises, through our advanced peer learning programme on impact measurement and management and Investing for Impact Crash Course. We also launched a series of “Learning Pills”, an innovative dissemination format to increase knowledge on the unique opportunities for corporate social investors to contribute to the impact ecosystem.
Convening power
We convened a number of gatherings focusing on the role of foundations in catalytic grantmaking and endowments for impact.
Two e-talks on catalytic grantmaking focused on how grant makers and funders can ensure grants catalyse enterprise growth and development, and how foundations tackle challenges and work in collaboration with different stakeholders to build capacity for organisations' sustainable development. Thanks to real-life examples, practitioners were able to exchange best practices and learnings.
Two gatherings on investing endowments for impact explored the practicalities of how to invest foundation endowments for impact, how they can be beneficial for foundations, and how foundations across Europe can overcome barriers.
Impact Europe also organised a peer-to-peer in-person event dedicated to impact funds, in collaboration with Impact VC and hosted by ImpactCity The Hague. This was an opportunity for 50 impact funds to connect with like-minded peers, share knowledge, experience and explore co-funding opportunities.
A growing community
We grew the Impact Europe community to 350 members, bringing in new and more diverse expertise and perspectives with 70 new members in 2023.
In numbers
> 7,300 views of the Impact Stories webpage, a 28% increase compared to 2022
> 300 views of our case study on national promotional banks
> 250 people joining our peer gatherings
> 70 new members
3. Shaping policies
Listening to the impact community
Through regular exchanges, Impact Europe identified the concerns and expectations of its members and other relevant stakeholders about enabling and impeding factors in the EU policy landscape, in particular on InvestEU and access to funding, social innovation, sustainable finance regulations and the Social Economy Action Plan.
Shaping EU policies
Impact Europe contributed to EU policy design by participating in two public consultations.
Since the EU Sustainable Finance Disclosure Regulation took effect, Impact Europe noticed growing concerns with the regulation among impact fund managers. We therefore responded to the European Commission’s public consultation to assess the regulation, and gathered insights from 21 impact fund managers across six European countries, collectively managing €1.881 billion in Assets Under Management. The resulting report outlined these perspectives and highlighted the main challenges and opportunities impact investors face when implementing the SFDR.
Our submission on the Social Economy Gateway advocated for a platform which would represent impact investing / impact investors. After the official launch, we continued advising and sharing feedback with the European Commission to ensure the gateway reaches its potential and actively involves all relevant actors.
We also continued to disseminate Impact Europe’s position paper on the EU Action Plan for Social Economy.
Raising our voice
The Impact Europe team attended 50 conferences and events to voice the experiences and concerns of investors for impact and engage with a wider audience. We also disseminated relevant social finance practitioners’ policy practices and reports through our online channels.
In numbers
> 37 exchanges with Impact Europe members on EU policies
> 1,600 views of our SFDR publications
> 800 users of our SFDR & Impact section (launched on 13 Dec 2023)
4. Spreading knowledge
Impact data
Impact Europe increased understanding of trends in the European impact investment market by publishing a ‘Talking Numbers’ blogpost series in partnership with European National Advisory Boards for impact investing (NABs). These went in-depth into the results of the first harmonised European impact investment market sizing launched by Impact Europe and GSG in 2022, and gave visibility to national data efforts. We also prepared for the next data collection in 2024.
We organised a webinar convening national experts to discuss crucial topics linked to the European data harmonisation effort, such as additionality, listed assets and impact investing segmentation, and foster European collaboration.
Our online membership platform was fully implemented in 2023 to facilitate data sharing among practitioners.
IMM burning topics
We developed and shared research on best practices and strategies of investors for impact, through a 'burning topics series' on Impact Measurement and Management involving practitioners, experts and academics – including articles and podcast episodes.
Funds in focus
We held two 'experts-only' gatherings touching upon impactful exit strategies for impact funds and exploring effective communication with LPs about impact.
We also published a research article on how funds of funds can unlock more capital for impact, which reached a record 1,000+ views in just two months.
Catalytic capital
Impact Europe organised an e-talk introducing catalytic capital as an innovative financial tool to reach additional impact towards achieving the UN SDGs, and exploring the relationship between catalytic capital and additionality, a pillar of investing for social and environmental impact.
Deepening knowledge on social finance
To contribute to the development of knowledge in the impact ecosystem, we had regular exchanges and collaborated with research centres and universities to create synergies and build on each other’s insights. We also disseminated relevant reports in our online Impact Library and through our digital channels.
In numbers
> 1,200 views of the ‘Talking Numbers’ blog series
> 2,400 views of the IMM Burning Topics series
> 250 attendees at our research webinars and gatherings
The power of communications
Throughout 2023, we amplified reach and engagement with our target audiences through strategic use of communication tools and channels. We engaged and built synergies with key stakeholders in the impact ecosystem, nurturing existing partnerships and developing collaboration with new strategic partners. We continued developing our online presence through our website, and improved user experience, design and content. We created engaging multimedia content on project activities and wider sector development, showcasing best practices and success stories of investing for impact models, bringing the voices of Impact Europe members to the fore, developing thought leadership on key topics, and providing information on EU funding and policies. The regular rollout of podcasts, online insights and videos helped us increase our online reach by over 40% compared to the previous year. We also used social media and email marketing effectively, with a particular focus on audience segmentation and targeting, to amplify and disseminate our messages and content. Our media outreach work with both mainstream and sector-specific media outlets aimed to position the community power of Impact Europe, advocate for an enabling policy framework, and bring thought leadership and insights on social innovation in Europe.
In numbers
> 200,000 users of our website – 43% increase compared to 2022
> 377,000 page views – 57% increase compared to 2022
> 1.4 million engagements – 52% increase compared to 2022
> 166 insights published on our website – 32% increase compared to 2022, of which 52 podcast episodes, 13 videos and 86 thought leadership pieces
> 3.4 million LinkedIn impressions – 70% increase compared to 2022
> 22,300 LinkedIn followers – 38% increase compared to 2022
> 7% LinkedIn engagement rate, 75% better than industry standard
> 11,000 newsletter subscribers
> 114 email campaigns
> 42% email open rate – 56% increase from 2022
> 10% click rate in email marketing – 150% increase compared to 2022
> 45 partnerships with stakeholders in the impact ecosystem, 12 new partnerships in 2023
> 650 media mentions, including tier 1 outlets (Corriere della Sera, La Stampa, EuropaPress, BFM TV)
> Special report on impact investing with Financial Times
490,000 impressions (in the first week)
35,000 unique visitors (in the first week)
> Frontpage campaign on SFDR with Politico
118,000 impressions (in 24 hours)
77.48% viewability (industry benchmark: 57%)
97.4% VTR (benchmark 2022: 88%)
Conclusion
Our activities in 2023 to achieve our four main objectives under the IMPULSE programme have led to some important outcomes and results.
We delivered strong capacity building actions to support access to EU funding and facilitate interactions between the impact community and EU and national policy makers on key EU policy instruments. This increased awareness among Impact Europe members and other relevant stakeholders about EU policies and relevant funding opportunities.
Our policy and research cases and peer learning convenings enabled our community to be inspired to replicate and learn from innovative best practices, with a particular focus on impact measurement and management.
Thanks to our policy recommendations, the European Commission and other EU institutions were informed about challenges of specific EU policy developments and financial instruments, and forward-looking solutions to improve the social finance market.
Our training activities enabled our members and practitioners to increase their knowledge of investing for impact practices and how to maximise impact by supporting social purpose organisations.
Our data and research work enabled us to increase knowledge about social finance within the wider impact ecosystem and to identify key sector/thematic-specific funding and capacity gaps.
The EU’s support to Impact Europe brings crucial added value to our work. It allows Impact Europe to fulfil its mission of accelerating positive and lasting social and environmental change at scale by mobilising resources, collaboration and building a thriving impact ecosystem. It also gives us and the whole social investment sector both increased credibility and visibility, thanks to our involvement in initiatives led by the European Commission such as the GECES and others.