Organisations have to learn to adapt fast to be as effective as possible in their communities. In the social investment space, this has generated a wealth of options to achieve and deliver public benefit. This has included the development of community shares schemes, crowdfunded projects, social impact bonds, charity bonds, and social lending. The real challenge is to match the right investor with the right type of finance with the right kind of organisation.

 

While non-profits are discovering new ways of communicating their track record, potential to utilise social finance and their case for investing in local communities, there are challenges for local grantmakers in identifying and developing social finance initiative. The number of CICs in the UK has outstripped the number of cooperatives and mutuals, with many local startups taking on this status. As social enterprise and social investment grows, how will this impact on existing grantmakers and on the investment spectrum?

 

In this roundtable, the panel will discuss how local organisations have approached social finance in the South West. The panellists will explore how barriers to access social investment are being broken down, how trustees should approach questions around social finance, and how SITR can provide benefits to investor and investee.