LETI Investment for Impact #2
To begin with LETI was focussed on fixing London's energy policy, but our scope has since widened considerably and LETI now respond to national policy and provide guidance that can be applicable globally.
Initially LETI was managed purely by volunteers, giving their time both in working hours, but mostly in their own time. We have had no formal funding, organisation sponsorship or income from paid membership (aside from events, where event costs are covered by event sponsors). It is important to acknowledge that some organisations have given significant amount of ‘time and advice in kind’ over the last 3 years, notably Elementa, Levitt Bernstein and Etude. LETI was started using funding from Elementa’s impact fund and Elementa have continued to be amazing supporters, allowing space for LETI to grow and evolve and we are very grateful for this.
In 2020 LETI ran a crowd funding campaign to broaden our impact across the UK, and we raised nearly £12k. https://www.crowdfunder.co.uk/leti#start
We are hugely grateful to all the supporters who donated this money; it has helped support LETI to have a huge impact over the last 18 months, despite the pandemic, in the following ways:
Publications:
- Hydrogen: a decarbonisation route for heat in buildings?
- Embodied Carbon Target Alignment, and one pagers
- Client Guide for Net Zero Carbon Buildings
- LETI Climate Emergency Retrofit Guide
Consultation responses:
- MHCLG Future Building Standard
- Hydrogen one pending
Ongoing:
- Supported a further six workstreams
- Employed communication support, who is now providing 1.5 days a week of invaluable support with planning events, communications and keeping LETI organised.
What we will do with the funding
We hope to raise £25k which will support LETI for 1.5 years. Our annual costs are estimated as follows:
- £3000 - £4000: ongoing costs to run LETI
- £8000-10000 per annum: Keep our current communications/ coordination support - support on internal and external communications and social media
- £4000 per annum: Increasing coordination support - To increase LETI talks and events presence over the coming months, and we anticipate needing more support to manage this.
Our commitment
As it is fundamental we remain independent, we think that crowdfunding is the best approach as it enables both organisations and individuals to contribute. This philosophy will allow us to remain independent of any vested interest and we will continue to be dedicated to the acceleration of the industry’s efforts towards achieving Net Zero Carbon buildings as soon as possible. We believe that LETI’s collective voice has had a significant impact over the last 5 years and we would like this to continue. If you agree, please support us.
How much money are we trying to raise?
We have set a funding target of £25k by the end of 2021 to provide financial resilience over the coming year, but the more we raise, the better it is for everyone in the built environment industry.
All donations are gratefully received and appreciated.
Any organisation giving more than £500 and individual giving more than £50 will be included on LETI’s donor list on our website.
We would also be keen to hear from organisations interested in supporting LETI in other ways such as hosting events or providing publishing services, please contact [email protected] with any offers.
For more information on LETI see www.leti.london
