The case for optimism in the impact economy

This is the prepared written version of the CEO’s NPC Ignites 2026 opening keynote. The live delivery included natural differences in phrasing, but the core message remains the same.

Two years ago, I sat where you are, waiting to become NPC’s CEO, it was nerve racking.

Firstly I want to thank all of you for the belief you show in NPC. A lot of our work is about convening and amplifying the work of the impact economy, and we feel incredibly supported in that work by the people in this room and beyond. So please keep sending us your stories, keep working with us to understand impact, keep coming to our events and keep engaging in debates with us.

Last year, through Impact UK, we helped open a conversation about the impact economy. This week, we’re contributing to another important discussion in our community. On Thursday we’ll publish a practical guide on evaluating systems change, sharing our perspective on a question many organisations are grappling with: how do we know whether we are making progress on the big issues that require collaboration and long-term change? We’d love to hear your views too, so do visit our stand and place yourself on our scale showing just how hard you think it is to evaluate systems change. And I’ve heard there may be chocolate involved, which is reason enough to stop by.

I am often challenged about my optimism and positivity, and indeed I was challenged from this stage last year by the wonderful Polly Neate. But I am unashamedly positive and optimistic, not because everything is rosy, clearly, it is not. Not because, I like the way society functions, I think we can all agree there are challenges. But I am optimistic because in my job I get to meet hundreds of people who get up every day with the intention of improving our society. Your work and your ambition make me positive. Supporting you and the wider impact economy gives me optimism.

I am particularly positive today, because I see a significant opportunity to increase our collective, by bringing more people into our community and with them more ideas and money, leading to more impact.

This room is brimming with charities as Ignites has always been, but also wealth advisors, wealth holders, businesses, social enterprises, and policy makers. We always do our best to put that cross section of people on the stage and in the room. Creating spaces that represent the breadth of our community is core to our strategy.

NPC’s mission is to strengthen and grow the impact economy. And I want to look at the relationship between those two things, because they are not separate.

We must strengthen the impact economy. We must continue to be clear on impact, measure it and be held to account by the impact we actually have. There is no point growing a bad economy—as some in the world seem intent on doing—so we have to continue to focus on impact and practice and highlighting those making the biggest difference. Because growth is not the objective in itself. Greater impact is. Not all growth is good growth.

But one of the single biggest issues we hear, all the time, when we talk about strengthening organisations, is the need for capital. Funding always comes top of the concerns and the needs of people we work with.

So, it is clear strengthening and growth are linked. If we want to strengthen the impact economy, we need more capital—not for growth’s sake, but to enable more organisations to deliver more impact.

And I am feeling positive about capital growth, because of two clear trends. First is that we are seeing significant new wealth being created and transferred. I will just highlight two groups. In the UK, around £5.5 trillion is expected to pass between generations over the next three decades. Secondly the wealth creation as a result the unprecedented age of entrepreneurialism we are living through. Just take the imminent public offerings of Open AI or Anthropic, alone will create hundreds of new multi-millionaires, a small but significant group of whom are in the UK.

The second trend is the intention of many of these wealth holders and business owners. Our research suggests HNWI’s in the UK want to do more, give more, and use their wealth to have a positive impact. Just one data point comes from a report last year we published with Barclays Private Bank where we highlighted that giving amongst High-net-worth individuals has been increasing for the last 5 years.

However, there is one statistic, that shows us the scale of the challenge to ensure that capital is focused on impact. Charities Aid Foundation research shows that only 0.5% of High net worth’s investible assets is given philanthropically. That is such a tiny percentage, but to an optimist, a glass half full person like me, that mean there is a lot of capital available and a new and growing group of wealth holders and business owners with positive social intentions and a sense of responsibility. There are also thousands of incredible organisations capable of delivering a positive impact.

The question is how we grow that philanthropic percentage (we also need to increase the investment one, but that is a different speech). Let’s say we double philanthropy to 1%, that would add £11BN per year.

The challenge of achieving that aim was shown starkly to me a few weeks ago at two separate events. The first a voluntary sector event and the second an event at a private bank on philanthropy.

At the first I was asked, as I often am “where are the philanthropists?”, at the second a philanthropist “asked how he finds the right charities?” Those conversations happened within days of each other. And it struck me that they are really the same conversation.

Let’s start with the philanthropist. This difficulty is real, we hear it from philanthropists all time. I do not think this is a problem of intent. I think its an issue of infrastructure.

At NPC, with others, some of whom are joining us on the stage today, we are working hard to improve advice, education, and training. And we will continue to work with wealth holders, advisors and others to help them find you.  But I wanted to highlight at Ignites our conference where we talk about the impact, the doing, the work, the role I think many of the people in this room can play.

Offering three practical suggestions, based on my observations from the last two years, as somewhat of an outsider (that may be using a bit of license after two years) that I think are vital to helping grow the pie. because this two-sided marketplace cannot work unless we do our bit. To make ourselves easier to see, understand and engage with.

A note, I am not endorsing a system that allows many individuals to accumulate vast wealth, and I applaud the work of those who are trying to change the system, but it is the system we have right now.

My first observation is storytelling.

“Where are the philanthropists?”. The common question, but I think it is the wrong question, because it puts the onus on others. We need to focus on the questions we can control: “How is the philanthropist going to find me?” “How can I inspire a potential philanthropist?” “What is my role in growing the community?”

In our day jobs it is incredibly hard to get our heads up, many of our organisations are cash strapped, and overwhelmed by the needs on the ground. As Polly said last year, maybe we shouldn’t have to find ‘funders’. But we do, and we need to think about how we, or others, tell our story, share our work, talk about our impact.

Philanthropists are people, they consume content, come to conferences, talk about issues with their friends and in public, get advice from professionals. Are we visible to them?

Again, not everyone in this room may like me putting some of the onus on charities or social enterprises. And I understand that. But I wanted to highlight my observation, that I do not see a focus on storytelling and universal use of the incredibly cheap tools available to us. It has never been cheaper and easier, but also more necessary to be storytellers.

A couple of practical example is a website launched last week by philanthropist Rory Brooks, The Giving Record, which is collecting stories from charities about the philanthropists they are working with. The Giving Record is part of a wider movement where data and stories are made available and ‘open’. Look for the places where you can put your data and stories. At NPC we will be launching a new AI version of Theory of Change, which has openness and sharing at its core.

My second suggestion is around the concept of community and collaboration. We have embraced the impact economy language because it is inclusive of all the people working to meet society’s needs. We believe that if we spend time together, we will create a greater sense of community. Drive better conversations, form alliances, create solutions and produce programmes that inspire people to take the next step. If we want people to enter the impact economy willingly and at scale, we need to create a welcoming community that is easier to see, trust and join.

However, when I look around the rooms, I am often in – meetings, conferences, round tables— I rarely see a broad community, organisations that are different from each other.

Honestly, my reflection on the last two years is those rooms where we discuss a problem with businesses, philanthropists, local government and the social sector are still the exception, not the norm. And I believe that is a problem.

That is like having a family meeting with only half the family! Of course, sometimes it is good to meet as parents or as children, but we also need to meet together. And this is not just a challenge for the organisations convening these meetings. If you attend a conference or round table and keep seeing the same faces, ask the organisers who is missing. We all have a part to play in bringing a broader range of people into the room.

Last year from this stage we heard from Gemma Peters, who brilliantly described how Macmillan thinks about cancer in a place. If you are dealing with cancer in an area, you have to deal with the businesses and employers of people who have cancer. You have to deal with the public sector responsible for care. You have to deal with the charities filling the gaps. You have to deal with community leaders, religious groups, and the people who understand that place. All of these people have to come together. This year, Michael Strickland is going to talk about how Macmillan are engaging with the broadest range of wealth holders.

And that leads me to my final observation – place.

Philanthropists are often driven by the challenges on their doorstep. Because of this, because of the government’s clear proposition around every postcode, and because physical community is such a fundamental, we all must ask how do we support place-based work?

So, I am positive, because new wealth, wealth focused on positive impact is showing up and wants to be good funders. I am positive because there is so much opportunity for greater impact, moving from just 0.5% to 1% of investible assets being philanthropic is £11Bn. I am positive because there are so many amazing organisation who deliver impactful work.

But we do have work to do on the plumbing, we need to make it easier for money to find you, and the other way round. I have suggested we can do better on storytelling, collaboration and place. And we will support working on evidence to support your storytelling, and convenings where a broad group are invited and relevant content, like place is discussed. I am around all day, feel free to discuss it with me.

I wanted to end my speech referencing an important individual and important moment for NPC. Last week Tris Lumley, who many of you know ‘left’ NPC to focus on his work on openness, a subject he discussed from this stage last year. Incubating and spinning out projects is something we hope to do more of. And while we continue to work with Tris, I wanted to note his 22-year contribution in this speech. Many of you will know Tris through his work on impact measurement, philanthropy, digital transformation and, more recently, Open For All. But what has always stood out to me is his ability to spot ideas before they become mainstream and then help turn them into something practical that others can use. Few people have done more to shape how our sector thinks about impact. And perhaps that is a fitting note to end on. Because if there is one thing I hope we do at Ignites and afterwards, is think a little differently about how we create impact, how we grow it, and who we bring with us.