The Challenge: Balancing Access with Assessment

Over recent months at Growth Impact Fund, we’ve examined our first-stage application process closely. We ask social purpose organisations (SPOs) to submit a short application form alongside a pitch deck and financial model to begin meaningful conversations about their ventures.

We’ve noticed that many organisations view our requests for pitch decks and financial models as barriers to accessing investment. Many take weeks or months to submit these documents, whilst others don’t submit them at all. This prompted critical reflection about their relevance to our assessment process.

Key Questions We’re Addressing at Growth Impact Fund

Do we need pitch decks and financial models from organisations applying for investment for the first time?

Could we replace them with alternative communication methods, or better support social purpose organisations in providing them?

To answer these questions, we returned to our guiding fund principles and the dual needs we must balance.

The Context: Two Essential Needs

From Growth Impact Fund’s inception, we’ve designed our process to be inclusive for those under-represented in the sector. This has always involved balancing two central requirements:

Applicants’ needs: Simple and accessible application processes that don’t exclude based on prior investment experience or resources

Our fund’s needs: Sufficient information to assess candidates fairly and avoid falling back on proxy measures prone to bias (such as “does this person speak confidently about their organisation?”)

Finding this balance across different process stages has challenged us, particularly considering our capacity to support applicants in providing information.

Initially, we decided to request pitch decks and financial models because these help us review investment proposals efficiently. Previously, we held one-to-one conversations with all applicants before requesting documents, but this approach proved unsustainable and actually weakened our ability to be relational with the most eligible candidates.

Our Hypothesis and Testing Approach

At Growth Impact Fund, we developed a hypothesis that we could increase both the number and speed of organisations providing pitch decks and financial models through targeted support.

We implemented “Fund Information Sessions” for applicants—group sessions guiding people through essential document ingredients, offering live Q&A with our team, and providing investment process overviews.

These sessions aimed to meet two key applicant needs:

1. Clarity

    on documents required for application

2. Understanding

    whether Growth Impact Fund represents a good fit worth their time investment

Testing Our Information Sessions

To evaluate session effectiveness, we:

• Conducted feedback interviews with seven attendees
• Compared document submission rates before and after launching support sessions
• Held follow-up discussions with session deliverers and observers

What We Learned at Growth Impact Fund

Positive outcomes emerged clearly: Attendees valued seeing faces behind the Fund and appreciated the informality, which made Growth Impact Fund seem more “human.” This helped applicants feel more invited into the social investment world, breaking down traditional investor-investee barriers.

“It felt very different to other funds—much more welcoming” — Attendee

We discovered that group sessions could reflect our commitment to relational, human-centred investment processes without requiring one-to-one relationships for every interaction.

Mixed feedback revealed important nuances: Initially, we decided against showing visual templates of pitch decks and financial models because we didn’t want organisations feeling pressured to present their business with flashy documents or specific formats to demonstrate they “belonged” in investment spaces.

Some attendees valued this approach: “It was nice to hear people saying you can send us what you have, and then we can work on it together” — Attendee

However, others wanted visual examples of these documents. Many sought structured templates as practical bases for creating submissions, showing us that founders value simple tools and frameworks for articulating their business, alongside broader assurances that submissions needn’t be polished or definitive.

The challenge: Whilst attendees reported increased confidence in their ability to submit documents, we haven’t yet seen this translate into clear submission rate increases.

How We’re Responding at Growth Impact Fund

We’ve decided to continue information sessions whilst making tweaks to support applicants more effectively.

Our enhanced approach includes:

1. Wider use of visuals

    in sessions

2. Follow-up support

    for all attendees seeking further document guidance:

The Three Zones Framework

At Growth Impact Fund, we’ve identified three zones that funds can occupy based on information requests and application simplicity:

Zone of Proxy: Funds request little detail, leaving judgements open to bias (based on founder backgrounds or presentation styles)

Zone of Orthodoxy: Funds request polished pitch decks and financial models projecting multiple scenarios, excluding those who’ve never applied for investment or lack financial modelling skills

Zone of Balance: Funds request essential but rough information about organisations—used as a basis for more in-depth team discussions

We believe the Zone of Balance represents the most inclusive approach, where Growth Impact Fund now operates.

What’s Next for Growth Impact Fund

We’re monitoring these changes’ effects on submission rates whilst recognising that some ventures will need additional support beyond our outlined measures.

We’re actively exploring further ways to support organisations navigating these steps. Whilst we don’t operate an accelerator providing sustained one-to-one application support, we don’t believe our audience always needs this level of assistance—accelerators can be lengthy, sometimes exclusionary processes.

Instead, we’re particularly interested in quicker, targeted, group or cohort-based supports that maintain accessibility whilst providing necessary guidance.

Learning from the Sector

At Growth Impact Fund, we’re committed to continuous improvement and sector collaboration. We invite other funds supporting diverse-led organisations to share their approaches:

Questions we’re exploring:

• How do you help organisations navigate your application process?
• Do you offer support in creating or submitting documents? How is this funded?
• Do you moderate documentation requests for certain audiences, or have you found this counterproductive when organisations need documents for equity rounds elsewhere?

Implications for Your Organisation

For social enterprises seeking investment: Understanding how progressive funds like Growth Impact Fund balance accessibility with assessment can help you:

• Identify investors committed to inclusive processes
• Prepare for application requirements without feeling excluded
• Access support resources that improve your success chances
• Expect reasonable accommodation for your circumstances

For other social investors: Our learning offers practical insights for improving your own processes:

• Group information sessions can maintain efficiency whilst providing support
• Visual examples and templates help without creating rigid requirements
• Balancing accessibility with due diligence requires ongoing refinement
• Sector collaboration strengthens everyone’s approach

Building More Accessible Social Investment

At Growth Impact Fund, our commitment to accessible applications reflects broader values about power-sharing and inclusion in social investment. By sharing our learning openly, we hope to contribute to sector-wide improvements that serve diverse organisations better.

The social investment landscape benefits when we collectively work towards processes that assess merit without excluding based on background, experience, or resources. This requires ongoing experimentation, honest reflection, and commitment to putting applicant needs at the centre of our design decisions.

Interested in applying to the Growth Impact Fund? Our application process is designed to be accessible whilst maintaining rigorous assessment standards. Visit our website to learn more about our support resources and application requirements.