Q: What sort of funding is available to someone starting a social enterprise?
Jun 07 2010
Answered by: Ashley de Safrin Ask a question
There’s a variety of sources of finance and funding available to start a social enterprise. Each potential social enterprise needs to first consider what kind of business model they’ll be setting up and then research the range of funding options available.
This includes grants, contracts from the local authority or other public sector agencies, private sector contracts, a start-up loan from a specialist lender, and/or investment from a social investor. What a new social enterprise can access however will depend on their legal structure. For example, it is highly unlikely a social enterprise will be able to access grants as well as an investor whom would expect dividend payments in the future.
A good starting point for many potential social enterprises is UnLtd, which provide small start-up grants of around £2,000 for social entrepreneurs to test their idea or start their social enterprise. A comprehensive list of funding and finance available for social enterprises including list of main specialist lenders, social investors and funders can be found in our new Social Enterprise Toolkit guide.
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