• Contact Us
  • Receive SEEP Updates
 
         
  • SEEP Member Space
  • Become a Member
  • About
    • Our Story
    • Our Core Values
    • Our Team
    • Partner with SEEP
    • Board of Directors
    • COVID-19 Response
  • Membership
    • Meet Our Members
    • Benefits
    • How to Apply
    • SEEP & AMEA Partnership
    • SEEP Member Marketplace
    • SEEP Member Space
    • GenerationNOW
  • Thematic Areas
    • Agriculture & Food Security
      • Agriculture & Food Security Resource Library
    • Resilient Markets
      • Minimum Economic Recovery Standards
      • Markets in Crises Community of Practice
      • Livelihoods and Inclusive Finance Expansion
      • Disaster Risk Reduction
      • Resilient Markets Resource Library
    • Responsible Finance
      • Responsible Finance through Local Leadership and Learning
      • Association Services
      • Online Courses and Certification in Digital Finance
      • Responsible Finance Resource Library
    • Savings Groups
      • Women Saving for Resilience
      • Mastercard Foundation Savings Learning Lab
      • Savings-Led Working Group
      • Savings Groups Evidence and Learning Initiative
      • Red GALAC
      • The Mango Tree
      • SG2020: The Future of Savings Groups
    • Women's Economic Empowerment
      • WEE Global Learning Forum
      • WEE Working Group
      • WEE Peer Learning Group
      • AWEF Learning Series
      • WEE Resource Library
  • SEEP Resources
  • Blogs and Webinars
    • Blogs
    • Webinars on Demand
  • Events
  • Conferences
    • 2020 SEEP Annual Conference
    • SG2020: The Future of Savings Groups
    • 2017 Women’s Economic Empowerment Global Learning Forum
  • Contact Us
  • Receive SEEP Updates
  • SEEP Member Space
  • Become a Member
       

 Back

Introduction to Understanding and Accessing Social Investment: A Brief Guide for Social Entrepreneurs and Development Practitioners

May 29, 2008 | by Jessica Shortall

NGOs, non-profits, and other social purpose organizations have traditionally relied on grants, donations, and contracts to fund their work in poverty alleviation, enterprise development, market facilitation, and livelihood development. These grants or contracts typically carry no expectation of financial return. Money is spent according to an agreed-upon budget and project plan, with the expectation that organizations will produce outputs (training, association development, market linkages) that lead to development outcomes (improved productivity, reduced costs, increased sales) and ultimately positive social impact (increased income, increased education, empowerment).

Over the last 10–15 years, social enterprise has emerged as an effective practice for achieving sustainable development goals. Social enterprises may generate financial returns, help an organization become sustainable, or generate social impact that is assessed and reported as a “social return on investment.” For example, an organization may count, per US$ 1 invested, the number of people who access health services, use irrigation equipment, or double their income. The application of business principles to social goals creates new operational strategies and disciplines. It also creates demand for, and opens opportunities to, new types of funding.

This paper explores the growing pool of money termed “social investment” that is tailored to social enterprises. Social investment can help organizations build capacity, test innovations, and achieve sustainability. It can be a more flexible source of financing than grants and contracts, but it can also come with some challenging performance objectives. The goal of this paper is to introduce enterprise development practitioners and social entrepreneurs to social investment as a financing tool and help them begin to navigate their way toward raising social investment funds.

Specifically, we hope to:
• Provide a working definition for “social investment” and explain how this differs from traditional funding mechanisms
• Educate development practitioners and social entrepreneurs on social investors and their criteria, and how to identify appropriate types of social investment as practitioners evolve their business and funding strategies
• Provide concrete advice on approaching social investors, a process that is significantly different from traditional proposal writing

Categories: Livelihoods Market Systems Microenterprise English Unpublished Resources SEEP Resource Library Resources

Search Now
Filter By Category
topics
  • All
  • Consumer Protection
  • Disaster Risk Reduction
  • Economic Strengthening and Recovery
  • Financial Inclusion
  • Food Security
  • Fragile and Conflict-affected Environments
  • Health
  • Livelihoods
  • Market Systems
  • Microfinance
  • Monitoring and Evaluation
  • Rural and Agricultural Finance
  • Savings Groups
  • Technology
  • Women and Girls
  • Youth and Children
Thematic Areas
  • All
  • Agriculture & Food Security
  • Resilient Markets
  • Responsible Finance
  • Women's Economic Empowerment

Language

  • All
  • Arabic
  • English
  • French
  • Portuguese
  • Spanish

Geographical Region

  • All
  • East Asia and Pacific
  • Eastern Europe and Central Asia
  • Global
  • Latin America and The Caribbean
  • South America
  • South Asia
  • Sub-Saharan Africa
  • Western Europe

Year Published

  • 2021
  • 2020
  • 2019
  • 2018
  • 2017
  • 2016
  • 2015
  • 2014
  • 2013
  • 2012
  • 2011
  • 2010
  • 2009
  • 2008
  • 2007
  • 2006
  • 2005
  • 2004
  • 2003

logo.png

1621 North Kent Street, Ste 900,
Arlington, VA, 22209

P 202.534.1400
F 703.276.1433

Website Photos: © mari matsuri

QUICK LINKS
  • Home
  • About SEEP
  • Membership
  • Our Thematic Areas
  • SEEP Resources
  • Join our Team
  • COVID-19 Response
  • SEEP Blog
  • Webinars on Demand
  • Events
  • Jobs in the Network
  • Privacy Policy
CONNECT WITH US

             

Get News

 
Website by Morweb.org
© 2023 SEEP. All rights reserved.