History

At a meeting in London in January 2004, the five founding trustees (Luciano Balbo, Stephen Dawson, Michiel de Haan, Doug Miller and Serge Raicher) formally launched the European Venture Philanthropy Association (EVPA) to promote venture philanthropy in Europe. The launch was the culmination of series of meetings and discussions between the five who had in common a background in private equity, an interest in investing in charities and a conviction that something new was needed to maximise charities’ contribution to the resolution of social problems. They discussed the model of venture philanthropy, which had enjoyed a brief vogue in the US but was virtually unknown in Europe. At the start, it was a network without members, staff or premises, a support mechanism with virtually nothing to support. They had to ‘grow the industry’ to promote the idea of venture philanthropy in Europe and to support those few new and emerging VP funds that existed. The association depended – and continued very much to depend until 2008 – on the ‘sweat equity’ of the trustees and on the bought-in expertise of consultants and advisers, prominent among whom was Rob John, who became chief adviser from late 2004 to early 2009.

This organisational parsimony made the association flexible and easy to run with few resources. On the other hand, it made great demands on the few people who were involved and, at times, the new network was overstretched.

Two key early steps were to enlist the support of European Foundation Centre (EFC) and the European Private Equity and Venture Capital Association (EVCA). The buy-in to VP of foundations would be crucial if it were to make any headway and private equity firms were seen as having (because of some common ideas and common vocabulary) a natural affinity with VP. The support of the EVCA could be secured through Serge Raicher who was the former secretary general of that association and the co-founders came from the private equity industry. Doug Miller secured EFC support at a meeting in Brussels in early 2004. The platform and the credibility that the support of both of these groups enabled have been vital. It has enabled EVPA to ‘punch above its weight.’

In September 2004, EVPA’s charitable registration in the UK was confirmed and, in the same month, they ran an exploratory conference on venture philanthropy, in Amsterdam which drew 65-70 people, double the number projected, from eight countries. In June 2005, the first annual conference took place, which drew 135 people from 14 countries. Advance publicity was provided by interviews in private equity magazines Real Deals and PE International, both of whom have been staunch supporters of EVPA, and through a panel at the EFC annual conference in Budapest earlier in the month.

Since the early days of EVPA, much has happened. In 2009, EVPA transformed itself into a Brussels-based international non-profit association (aisbl) under Belgian law with permanent staff and consultants. The annual conference draws an average of 350 participants and is considered the key event in European venture philanthropy. The association has a permanent team of professionals managing the activities. The ‘founding fathers’ still contribute to the evolution of EVPA and the VP industry, but EVPA has now grown to a 140+-member-strong network with a wide range of services to its members.