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In 2008, the Central & Eastern Europe (CEE) private equity industry set a new fundraising record that we should all be proud of. We collectively raised €300,000 in the first Private Equity Shares campaign to benefit the important work of NESsT, a charitable organization that we believe is making an important contribution to the development of the social fabric of CEE. Please click here for a description of the firms and individuals who supported the first Private Equity Shares campaign.
If you have already heard about NESsT at the annual CEE Private Equity Forum in London or at the HVCA conference in Budapest, then you know that NESsT works very similar to how our own private equity firms do. NESsT’s mission is to support “social enterprises” -- businesses that create social benefit in a financially self-sustainable way. The many social enterprises NESsT supports apply market-based approaches to solving critical societal problems in the same communities of CEE in which we invest. NESsT “invests” philanthropic capital in their portfolio of social enterprises; they support the portfolio with time and advice, and ultimately they seek to exit by ensuring the social enterprise is able to stand on its own feet. A good example of this is Kék Madár in Hungary which is developing a social enterprise employing people with severe intellectual disabilities in its restaurant and catering business. Likewise, NESsT is supporting Fundatia Carea Calatoare to launch a social enterprise creating and selling audio books that is helping the 90,000 people in Romania who are visually-impaired to gain access to education and employment. These are but a few of the many social enterprises that NESsT supports to provide much-needed economic and social benefits to marginalized communities across CEE.
In 2008, NESsT had 68% more funds to support social enterprises thanks to the support of over 30 CEE private equity firms and individuals who gave to Private Equity Shares. As a result, NESsT was able to complete 9 new “deals,” more than doubling the number of social enterprises receiving its support from 8 to 17.
The results from NESsT’s portfolio are impressive:
- 100% are meeting or exceeding social goals; and
- two-thirds are meeting or exceeding social and financial goals.
NESsT has also developed a robust pipeline, providing training to 78 new, early-stage social enterprises over the last year, and helping 20 to complete business plans for new social enterprises. The demand for NESsT’s work is great and growing: in Romania alone, NESsT received 106 applications in its first social enterprise competitions.
With your support, we want to help NESsT expand this work to benefit more CEE communities. The Private Equity Shares campaign is targeted at raising in excess of €500,000 from the CEE private equity community. The funds raised will go to support the current NESsT portfolio of CEE social enterprises as well as new social enterprises.
We ask you to consider joining us in the campaign by making a donation. The attached letter and donation form sets out the very simple details of how you can give.
We have all had direct exposure to the work of NESsT and believe it is a very good destination for your charitable giving. Not only do they make your money go a long way, but they do so in a sustainable and professional way that mirrors our private equity investment approach.
We hope you will help us to make Private Equity Shares a success. Please get involved!
Yours sincerely,
Thierry Baudon, Mid Europa Partners
Saki Georgiadis, Hermes GPE
Joanna James,
Advent International
Daniel Lynch,
3TS Capital Partners
Robert Manz,
Enterprise Investors
Joseph Schull, Warburg
Pincus
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WHY me? The campaign targets central European private equity industry participants to encourage them to share their success with the region that has provided them with so much opportunity.
HOW can I participate? Follow the instructions on the donation form to make your contribution. Encourage your firm to make a corporate gift as well.
WHAT will my cash do? Your contribution will help to expand the work of NESsT to benefit marginalized communities across central Europe. The €300,000 raised through the Private Equity Shares 2009 campaign will go to support the current NESsT portfolio of social enterprises as well as to support new charities to launch social enterprises:
- a €25,000 gift will allow NESsT to provide venture grants to five charities to expand their existing social enterprises to benefit more people in marginalized communities;
- a €10,000 gift will allow NESsT to assist five charities to complete viable business plans for their social enterprises;
- a €5,000 gift will allow NESsT to provide “seed capital” for a charity’s new social enterprise;
- a €2,500 gift will enable NESsT to train 50 charities, providing them the fundamentals of good business planning for social enterprise.
- your gift of whatever size will be put to work making a social enterprise a success!
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WHO are they? NESsT is a charity founded in Budapest in 1997. It focuses solely on helping other charities to better fulfill their goals of solving critical social problems in CEE.
WHAT is it they do? NESsT provides expert advice and financial support to selected charities that want to develop a social enterprise – that is, a business that will help those organizations achieve financial sustainability and maximize their social impact. In other words, NESsT gives grants to help charities develop real businesses that will not only make them some money, but contribute to their social goal. NESsT’s grants to charities to launch social enterprises are up to €10,000 each, meaning its small budget goes a long way.
WHY do they do this? By assisting charities to better plan for and operate their social enterprises, NESsT ensures their long run success and provides higher efficiency for charitable giving.
WHERE do they do it? In CEE, NESsT currently operates in five countries -- Croatia, Czech Republic, Hungary, Romania and Slovakia, with plans for expansion to Poland. NESsT also operates in Latin America.
HOW is it working? NESsT has a solid track record of significant results. 100% of NESsT portfolio enterprises are meeting or exceeding their social goals and two-thirds are meeting or exceeding social and financial goals. You can read more about NESsT’s results in CEE in its Private Equity Shares impact report, “Making the Grade.”
All donors will be recognized here on the campaign website and will receive an interim and year-end report from NESsT demonstrating the use of funds and resulting impact of their donations.
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