Bayard Endowment Fund

Created in 2022, the Bayard-Agir pour une société du lien fund is part of the commitment of the Bayard group, which became a company with a mission in January 2023.
Uniquely positioned in France, it draws on Bayard’s values and expertise to respond to new societal challenges and combat the fragmentation of society. The Fund’s mission is to create new alliances to provide long-term support for innovation and social cohesion in order to promote new social and environmental models. The ambition of the Bayard Fund is to provide long-term support and multiply the impact of 20 initiatives over the next 3 years.

Anchored in the field of innovation and the social and solidarity economy, the Bayard-Agir pour une société du lien (Bayard-Agir for a caring society) fund promotes social innovations that foster social cohesion throughout life. It encourages grassroots initiatives with a proven impact model and the potential for spin-off and replication. It can also intervene upstream, in the field of research and studies of innovative projects.

The Bayard fund has three main focuses:

• developing projects that create links and awaken a sense of otherness,
• transmit new ideas,
• revitalising living together in a way that respects the environment

It favours grassroots initiatives with a proven impact model and the potential for spin-off and replication in order to multiply their impact. It can also intervene upstream, in the field of research and studies of innovative projects.

As part of an innovation-based approach, the Fund has 4 levers at its disposal:

• Financial support
• Technical support based on Bayard expertise
• Bayard ecosystem (community of authors, associative partners)
• Evaluation

The Fund’s business model is based on 3 types of contribution:

• The Bayard Group’s contribution
• Contributions from Bayard stakeholders (readers, etc.)
• Contributions from sponsors and institutions, funding the social link

The Bayard Fund is chaired by Florence Guémy, Managing Director of the Bayard Group and member of the Management Board.

A committee of qualified personalities supports the Fund’s strategy and enriches its guidelines. In the early years of the Fund, it also participates in the validation of projects.

Chaired by Florence Guémy, this committee is made up of :
In Bayard :

• Violaine Chaurand, CSR director – mission manager
• Samuel Lieven, editorial director of Le Pèlerin
• Elodie Maurot, deputy head of culture for La Croix
• Delphine Saulière , editorial director, youth press

Out of Bayard :

• Didier Peillon, General Delegate – Entreprises et Partenariat & Fondation de la Catho de Lille at the Université Catholique de Lille. Expertise: solidarity, third places.
• Fatemeh Jailani, COO Singa Global and ambassador for the European climate pact: expertise in advocacy and public affairs, social entrepreneurship, digital media and engagement.
• Aude Anquetil, Consultant in philanthropic strategy. Expertise: partnerships, impact philanthropy and fundraising for social innovation.
• Steve Moradel, entrepreneur and NGO founder. Expertise: Ethics and technologies, Education, Diversity. In 2020 he will become Linkedin TopVoices. In 2022 he will become a Chevalier de l’Ordre National du Mérite.

Céline Hyon-Naudin, General Delegate of the Bayard-Agir fund for a caring society, has over 20 years’ experience in innovation and social entrepreneurship in France and abroad, working for NGOs, public bodies, impact funds and as founder of a social enterprise in Tanzania.

The Fund works in close collaboration with teams from the Bayard Group’s CSR department.

 

Projects submitted to the Fund must be carried out by legal entities, under public or private law, meet the criteria of general interest and fall within one or more of the Fund’s areas of focus (see Three Priority Areas), developed in France or in the areas in which the Bayard Group operates.
The actions supported must be in line with the Fund’s priorities, be sustainable and have a positive and lasting impact.
The Fund does not support sponsorship initiatives, individual requests submitted by natural persons, requests from religious associations or associations close to political parties, or those chaired by local elected officials.

Financial assistance from the Fund is available for investment or costs related to the implementation of a new project, or for the operating costs of the supporting structure.
The Fund is committed to the financial autonomy and long-term vision of the project and the organisation. The grant requested must therefore not exceed 30% of the total budget of the project or organisation.
The Fund offers multi-year support (3 years).

 

The Bayard Fund – Agir pour une société du lien supports social innovations that have proven their impact, set up by solid, sustainable organisations that are part of their ecosystem. It also supports projects run by Bayard group employees.

 

To help project leaders, the Fund uses a number of levers, including financial grants, support with project engineering and evaluation, the provision of expertise by Bayard Group employees in the form of skills sponsorship, networking with Bayard Fund partners and the Bayard Group community, and so on.

This fund brings together new players and new resources to respond to new societal challenges and combat the fragmentation of society, and to build useful, concrete and sustainable solutions that move society forward.
As an integral part of the ecosystem of social innovation and impact philanthropy, the Fund works alongside numerous SSE players and associations, think-tanks, funds and foundations, and participates in the work of various networks:

• La Fondation de France
• ASHOKA
• VersLeHaut
• Fondation Pierre Bellon
• Collectif des Grantmakers
• Le Centre Français des Fonds et Fondations (CFF)
• Le Groupe Caisse des Dépôts – politiques sociales