23 October 2023: Responsible Finance has received funding from City Bridge Foundation to pilot a London-based risk cover or “first loss” fund pilot with three consumer-lending community development finance institutions (CDFIs).
Three participating CDFIs (Fair Finance, Fair for You, Salad Money) will each receive a “first loss” grant allocation and use it to secure further investment. First loss funding plays a catalytic role and increases the capacity of CDFIs to serve more customers with affordable credit.
We are commissioning an evaluation to measure the impact of the first loss grant and invite proposals from individuals/organisations to:
- Measure the impact of the first loss grant
- Demonstrate how the funding works and the value that it adds
- Produce an easy-to-read, compelling evaluation report to include these findings, which can be used to engage with Government, Government bodies and other funders
Maximum budget: £80,000 + VAT to cover this evaluation including any travel and other expenses required.
Timescale: We are seeking proposals from organisations/individuals able to work with us over the two-year project duration, commencing in late 2023.
We expect the evaluation to include:
- The impact of the grant on investment raising, CDFI lending and individuals (loan recipients)
- A logic model showing the flow and impact of the grant
- An assessment of what effective first loss coverage would look like for the CDFI sector
- As assessment of how this programme was delivered with learning points
- Case studies from tracking impact on borrowers over time
- A benefit/cost ratio showing the direct benefit of CDFI lending, including Green Book analysis of wider economic and social impacts
- Details of any wider benefits/spillover effects not captured in the benefit/cost ratio that could be evaluated if the programme is expanded
Deadline for proposals: 6pm, Friday 10th November 2023.
For full details, including how to submit a proposal and how we will assess bids, please download our invitation to submit a proposal here.
If you have downloaded the above document and would like to have an informal call about the project and evaluation, please get in touch with Theodora Hadjimichael.