The fund, which aims to raise £1.25m for 1,250 charities over a five-year period, will also pay the Cranfield Trust to provide management consultancy to charities benefiting from donations it receives.
The trust will provide about £10m worth of consultancy services, including advice on business plans, marketing, finance and human resources worth between £5,000 and £16,000 for each project.
The fund includes the Execution Charitable Trust, the philanthropic arm of stockbrokers Execution, and bankers Coutts & Co among its founding partners.
Tina Baker, fundraising manager at the Cranfield Trust, said the fund would give charities “sustainable income for a fixed period”, rather than relying on grant funding which may be awarded annually and could make “long term strategic planning difficult”.
She added: “The Smart Fund is attractive to people who want a strategic approach and who want to see some social returns. Assessment reports will say what we have done, what the charity asked for and what the long-term outcome is.”