What is social investment?

Investors expect to get their money back (often with interest) and expect the finance to have created identifiable social impact.

Social investment is not a grant or a donation. It is money provided to enable an organisation to generate more income or be more effective. This could be money to grow its business or put in place better systems. Importantly, the investment is repayable. 

Organisations might need social investment for a variety of reasons as they grow. These include start-up finance, purchasing an asset or scaling-up an existing service.

If you are thinking about social investment you should be clear about the social impact you expect to achieve and how you will measure it. This is a distinguishing feature of social investment compared to mainstream investment.

Where can I find out more?

There are lots of places where you can find more information about social investment and how it could work for you. A good starting point is the Good Finance website which aims to be a one stop shop for everything you need to know about social investment.