Project: Market Making for Social Investment
Grant: £15,000 

The School for Social Entrepreneurs (SSE) in Yorkshire and Humber is a company limited by guarantee that is part of the larger SSE network. The SSE is a social membership organisation with independent and locally governed schools across the UK, Canada and India. The organisation supports social entrepreneurs to create change in their communities and improve the lives of others. With SSE’s help to start, scale-up and sustain their organisations, social entrepreneurs are able to have an impact on urgent issues, such as poverty, health, education and the environment.

To tackle barriers to social investment, SSEYH will work with a select group of up to 10 social entrepreneurs who will be invited to participate in a 6-day action learning programme with one other individual from their organisation, ideally a Board member. By introducing social investment much earlier in the growth phase of a social enterprise, the programme is intended to expand the social investment market beyond the selected cohort by creating a ripple effect that will encourage the cohort’s peers to exploring social investment as an option to support future growth.

The six-day learning programme will consist of four programme days and two action learning days. The focus of the four days will be on visioning (what is the long term aspirations of the social enterprise, what growth is anticipated, over what period); assessing finances (understanding the current financial position, making financial projections for the future, what options are viable); overcoming barriers/building confidence around the social investment proposition; and bringing clarity to next steps towards investment readiness. SSEYH will invite a range of experts, in this case social entrepreneurs, who have experienced social investment and are willing to share their journey with participants.