Enlight

About Enlight 

Work hard, Play hard, Give something back  …..

We invite you to support Enlight at The Entrepreneurial Exchange

Enlight is a new venture philanthropy fund for members of the Entrepreneurial Exchange.  Enlight’s mission is to enable ambitious charities and social enterprises tackling persistent social and economic problems, to reach their full potential, be more effective and transform the lives of more people.

Work hard, play hard, give something back.  These are the values we share as members of the Entrepreneurial Exchange.  In your own way, you will already be giving back, whether individually or through your company, by making charitable donations, giving your time as a volunteer or providing in-kind support.  Enlight is an innovative way to focus your charitable and community support. If we work together and pool our financial and non-financial resources, whether we can give just a few hours or a few days or time, a few hundred or a few thousand pounds, we can make a bigger difference.

Enlight will make a difference by working with organisations that show an enterprising and innovative approach, with an emphasis on those that have the potential to be developed and benefit more people in the future.  We will support our chosen charities over a set period of time, normally three to five years, so they become more sustainable and robust by the time our partnership ends. Venture philanthropy is results focused and each charity we work with will have specific goals to reach to ensure that we maximise the social return and can measure the impact of our efforts. We will use our leadership skills and expertise to encourage more collaboration, co-ordination and sharing of best practice amongst voluntary organisations, using the successful model we have developed in the Exchange.

Initially Enlight will support organisations working with young people under 25 in Scotland to enable them to achieve their full potential.  We have already begun to identify organisations that want to work with us to develop a social enterprise enabling them to provide employment opportunities and generate income, provide mentoring for their senior management, review their business model or expand their reach.  In addition our first strategic focus is on children and young people who are looked after or in care.  Our strategic programme will bring together all the partners from government and charities to the young people themselves, to look at the issues at an early stage that make it difficult for these young people to move from supported care to independent living. To find out more about our programmes visit our webpage at www.en-light.org

Why should I become a member?

• Giving collectively is more effective than giving individually – you can leverage your charitable giving to make a bigger difference.
• By sharing your skills and expertise as well as a cash investment you can dramatically change charities and social enterprises, improving their effectiveness and innovation.
• Our hands on support will support charities to improve their performance, whilst our strategic programme will focus closely on a single issue we can have an even greater impact on
• You can choose to divert the many requests for charitable gifts you receive personally or to your company to Enlight, explaining that Enlight manage your charitable givin
• In the long-term, there will be opportunities for your company’s employees to be involved as volunteers if you choose
• We will carry out all the due diligence and assessment to ensure investments generate the maximum social return
• The opportunity to learn more about philanthropy through our programme of events and networking with other members

What commitment do I have to make?

We offer you flexible involvement, so you can engage at the pace your business and family life allows, whether you can give a few hours or days of your time

We ask you to make a financial contribution and encourage you to give as much as you can.  You can give personally or through your company, and as we’re a charity your gifts will attract Gift Aid which will also has tax benefits for you

Want to find out more?

Visit www.en-light.org or contact Imogen Assenti.  She will be happy to answer any queries you may have either over the phone or in person if you prefer.

Our People

Enlight has an Advisory Board of members chaired by Jim McColl OBE and a small executive lead by Imogen Assenti.