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 fight against the fragmentation of society. The Fund’s mission is to create new alliances to support long-term innovation and social ties to promote new social and environmental models. The ambition of the Bayard Fund is to support over the long term and multiply the impact of 20 initiatives within 3 years.

Anchored in the field of innovation and the social and solidarity economy, the Bayard-Agir Fund for a Linking Society promotes social innovations in the service of social ties throughout life. It promotes actions in the field 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. Three priority areas[/intertitle

The Bayard Fund is deployed around three main axes:

• developing projects that create links and awaken otherness,
• to transmit new imaginations,
• revitalize the living together respecting the living

It favors actions in the field 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 approach, the Fund has 4 levers:

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

The economic model of the Fund is based on 3 types of contributions:

• The contribution of the Bayard group
• Contributions from Bayard stakeholders (readers, etc.)
• Contributions from patrons and institutions that finance the social link

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

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

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

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

Outside Bayard :

• Didier Peillon, General Delegate – Companies and Partnership & Foundation of the Catho de Lille at the Catholic University of Lille. Expertise: solidarity, third places.
• Fatemeh Jailani, COO Singa Global and European Climate Pact Ambassador: advocacy and public affairs expertise, social entrepreneurship, digital media and engagement.
• Aude Anquetil, consultant in philanthropic strategy. Expertise: partnership, impact philanthropy and fundraising in social innovation.
• Steve Moradel, entrepreneur and NGO founder. Expertise: Ethics and technologies, Education, Diversity. In 2020 he becomes Linkedin TopVoices, In 2022 he becomes Knight of the National Order of Merit.

Céline Hyon-Naudin, General Delegate of the Bayard-Agir fund for a link society, has more than 20 years of experience in innovation and social entrepreneurship in France and abroad, both within NGOs and public actors as well as impact funds, or as founder of a social enterprise in Tanzania.

The Fund works in close collaboration with the teams of the CSR department of the Bayard group.

The projects submitted to the Fund must be carried out by legal entities, under public or private law, meeting the criteria of general interest and falling within one or more of the Fund’s priorities (see Three Priority Axes), developed in France or in the territories where 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.

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

The Bayard Fund – Acting for a Society of Connections supports social innovations that have proven their impact, implemented by solid, sustainable organizations that are part of their ecosystem. It also supports projects carried out by Bayard employees.

To help project leaders, the Fund implements various levers, including financial grants, support for 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.

This fund brings together new actors and new resources to respond to new societal challenges and fight against the fragmentation of society, and 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 actors 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