Funding opportunities for social economy – update 2022

Funding opportunities for social economy – update 2022

Social economy and inclusive entrepreneurship are topics with transversal relevance for a variety of policy fields and economic sectors. Funding opportunities can therefore be found in most EU funding programmes.

Some of these programmes include dedicated measures. Others can be tapped into by social economy and inclusive entrepreneurship actors, even if they do not target them explicitly. This official EU webpage https://ec.europa.eu/social/main.jsp?catId=1561&langId=en  provides an overview of the most relevant EU funding programmes.

Employment and Social Innovation Programme and its 2021-2027 successor

Microfinance and social enterprise finance are key enablers for the development of social and inclusive entrepreneurship. This is why the EU is providing support to microfinance and social enterprise finance providers in the form of both repayable and non-repayable finance to enhance their potential in creating jobs and building a more social and inclusive Europe.

Microfinance

Lack of access to finance is one of the main obstacles micro-enterprises are facing. A significant unmet demand for microfinance exists for vulnerable groups, which face difficulties in accessing conventional credit markets, for start-ups, as well as existing micro-enterprises.

Microcredit providers play an important role in channelling EU support to entrepreneurs. However, this young and growing sector is quite heterogeneous due to the disparity of legal and institutional frameworks in Member States and the diversity of the microcredit providers.

The Commission has launched the following support and actions targeting microcredit providers under the Employment and Social Innovation (EaSI) programme:

  • a European Code of Good Conduct for Microcredit Provision  defining a unified set of standards for the microfinance sector in Europe. To be able to benefit from an EaSI Microfinance Guarantee, non-bank microcredit providers have to sign up to the Code and banks have to endorse it;
  • a guarantee for microcredit providers to increase lending to micro-entrepreneurs;
  • a Technical Assistance programme, which provides an institutional assessment or a financial rating to microcredit providers, and supports the evaluation of their compliance with the European Code of Good Conduct for Microcredit Provision. It also provides capacity building and operates a dedicated helpdesk for microfinance providers;
  • an EaSI MicPro database which acts as a source of information about microcredit providers in each country.

Social enterprise finance

As highlighted in the Social economy action plan, lack of access to finance is one of the obstacles for social entrepreneurship to thrive.

The EU is enabling access to investments of up to EUR 500,000 through the Programme for Employment and Social Innovation (EaSI). Available support includes a guarantee, capacity building investments, a funded instrument and advisory support for social enterprise finance providers.

In addition, equity investments in social enterprises have been piloted under the European Fund for Strategic Investments (EFSI) Equity instrument, namely via funds linked to incubators/accelerators and co-investments with social business angels.

To complement financial instruments providing repayable finance, the Commission provides grant support with a view to addressing specific market gaps:

  • Grants aimed at covering part of the transaction costs of intermediaries. The grant serves as an incentive to intermediaries for making investments of below EUR 500,000 in social enterprises. Eight projects were selected in 2017 and an additional eight projects in 2019.
  • Grants for boosting the development of social finance markets in Europe: 21 pilot projects were selected in 2013, a further 20 projects were selected in 2016, and 14 projects in 2019. The projects served as basis for developing a practical guide entitled A recipe book for social finance.

The Commission also provides operating grants for EU-level networks active in the areas of microfinance and social enterprise finance. Moreover, Member States have the opportunity to support both microfinance and social enterprises through the European Social Fund.

In the period 2021-2027, the support to microfinance and social enterprises will be continued and reinforced under the InvestEU programme. More information will be available soon on the InvestEU portal. In addition, the Employment and Social Innovation (EaSI) strand under the European Social Fund Plus will complement the InvestEU instruments with EU level support for the development of social enterprises, the emergence of a social investment market, and the development of the market ecosystem around the provision of microfinance.

Other relevant EU funding programmes during 2021-2027

The European Social Fund Plus (ESF+) is an important funding source for promoting the social economy and social innovation at national, regional and local levels. Social economy organisations are well placed to achieve most of the ESF+ specific objectives, notably in relation to enhancing the inclusiveness of labour markets and access to quality employment.

At the EU level, the Commission will support transnational cooperation specifically with a view to accelerating the scaling up of social innovation.

In addition to dedicated funding provided via the InvestEU and ESF+, several other EU funding programmes are providing opportunities for the social economy, social innovation and inclusive entrepreneurship:

The European Commission makes use of the Funding & tender opportunities portal to ensure applicants have a common entry point to EU grants.

Information on how to access this funding has been gathered in an European Funding Toolkit by the Euclid Network and in a Funding Toolkit for Early-Stage Social Innovators developed in the context of the European Social Innovation Competition.

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This publication has been prepared within INDIGISE project. The content of this publication is the sole responsibility of the project coordinator and may not always reflect the views of the European Commission or the National Agency.

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SOCIAL IMPACT INVESTMENTS AS A TOOL FOR FUNDING SOCIAL ENTERPRISES

Purpose: Social impact investments are essential to support and promote social entrepreneurship development. This article aims to identify the factors that could develop the local impact investment market in Sri Lanka as a tool for funding social enterprises.

Design/methodology/approach: The methods of research are an analysis of scientific literature, experts’ interviews, and generalization.

Findings: In order to accelerate the impact investment as a tool of funding, the impact investors, social enterprises, government and society must work collectively. Necessary social, cultural, and policy changes should be carried out, and specific recommendations have been made accordingly.

Originality/value: This research study is essential in terms of sustaining and promoting impact investments in Sri Lanka as a tool of funding social enterprises and developing the ecosystem.

Keywords: social enterprise, social impact investing, impact investments, finance, investors.

Category of the paper: Research paper.

Read here: Social impact investments as a tool for funding social enterprises

Audrone URMANAVICIENE, Kulamini Dilanka MENDIS (2021). Social impact investments as a tool for funding social enterprises. Scientific Papers of Silesian University of Technology Organization and Management Series, 691−711. DOI: 10.29119/1641-3466.2021.151.48.

This publication has been prepared within SENBS project No. 2020- 1-EE01-KA204-077999. The content of this publication is the sole responsibility of the project coordinator and may not always reflect the views of the European Commission or the National Agency.

Not a Lack of Funding

Lessons Learned from Alternative Finance Experts – A View from Spain

Culture is an extremely complex concept to define. It is generally referred to as the set of tangible and intangible material assets of a social group inherited across generations in order to guide individual and collective practices. Cultural changes, the mindset of societies and the shift in thinking can usually take decades or even centuries or millennia. Changes take place gradually, so they are difficult to perceive on a day-to-day basis.

 What about the so-called organisational culture, how do we define it, and is transformation possible in a short time? It is obvious that, since they are a system and structure, companies are embedded in the surrounding environment, but it is also true that they have their own inner universe of meanings; a set of norms and values that have been built up in the shape of an ecosystem made up of their own traits.
Please, continue to the original source at Social Finance Lab: https://www.socialfinancelab.eu/post/not-a-lack-of-funding
Are You Still not recycling? You Might Regret It!

Are You Still not recycling? You Might Regret It!

What is Life Cycle Assessment and How it helped BinFree to discover their contribution to the environment?

Life-cycle assessment for glass recyclables and deposit packages to discover our contribution to the environment.

2021 is behind the door and it’s been almost a year since the first pick up that BinFree delivered for deposit packages! With the incredible work of our intern, Udesh Wickramarathne, a life-cycle assessment was conducted for the pick up services operations for glass recyclables and deposit packages to discover our contribution to the environment.

Life Cycle Assessment (LCA) is one of the techniques of environmental management being developed to assess possible environmental impacts associated with products/services. According to the ISO standards, LCA is defined as a method for analysing and determining the environmental impact along the product chain of the systems. LCA differs from other environmental methods by linking environmental performance to functionality, quantifying the pollutant emissions, and the use of raw materials based on the function of the product system.

environmental protection, nature, light bulb

Why BinFree collects deposit packages and recyclable glass?

BinFree offers pick up services for households, cafeterias and restaurants as well as companies that sort their waste and they want to contribute to their society and enrich themselves with knowledge regarding the environment, for deposit packages and recyclable glass packages.

  • Deposit packages

For deposit packages, a fee is charged on applicable beverage containers at the point of purchase, which retailers are required to collect from consumers. Intended to act as an incentive to recycle, deposits refunded when the consumer returns the empty container to an authorised redemption centre or retailer for recycling. For finding the closest reverse vending machine, Kuhuviia is an excellent digital tool that can help you. The deposit packages have assigned to their package the following labels:

BinFree collects the deposit packages to ensure that the end user recycles the packages and make the returning process smoother, faster and without any physical effort. We provide our service to the society to encourage the disposal of bottles and cans, and reward our clients’ efforts with financial incentives for sustainable purchases and blog articles regarding single use plastic alternatives such as menstrual cups, bamboo cotton buds, solid dish soap and shampoos and stasher bags.

During the past 11 months, we have collected 5120 deposit packages from households and specifically:

–17,4kg of equivalent plastic (with this quantity saved, 24 football teams can make their athletic shirts, as for every 7 plastic bottles, one football shirt can be produced according to Eesti Pandipakend)

–261,8kg equivalent glass (quantity equivalent with 1377 Coca Cola 330ml bottles, as each bottle weighs just 0,19 kg).

–27kg of equivalent aluminum  (quantity that would cover the production needs of 871 iPhones, considering the fact that each iPhone contains 0,031kg of aluminum  )

  • Recyclable glass

After a great demand of our clients, we decided to start collecting also recyclable glass for packages that are not included in the deposit system such as wine bottles, bottles from alcoholic beverages, glass jars from marmalades, sauces, children food, soups etc. as well as oil bottles. Glass is 100% recyclable and can be recycled endlessly without loss in quality or purity.

We are here to help you to get rid of this “guilty” habit that we all have – keeping empty glass jars in a cupboard that we never use. We have unoccupied these cupboards space in many households, releasing space and sometimes we even received bottles from 19th century! We have noticed that creating a relationship of trust and reassurance can bring an increase in the consumers’ patterns regarding the packaging and specifically a preference on glass packaging than plastic, as it is known that the package will be safely and appropriately disposed of.

 We have collected 460kg of recyclable glass and thanks to our partner TVO, we were able to deliver them to recycling facilities and ensure its safe disposal. Recycled glass can be used in the production chain to make a new glass bottle, a soup or a marmalade jar.

  • What would happen without BinFree?

In Tallinn, a major amount of general waste ends up either to incineration plant or to a sanitary landfill. One of the main reasons that waste can end up there, is lack of sorting from the consumers’ side. Taking this into consideration, we analysed and measured the environmental impact in case of landfill and incineration, the amount of deposit packages and glass recyclables collected by us, taking into account 3 main variables: climate change, acidification and human toxicity.

Incineration plant
Climate Change kg CO2 eq 4.07E+01
Acidification kg SO2 eq 5.61E-03
Human Toxicity kg 1,4-DB eq 1.91E+00

Data used from the LCA conducted in November 2020

Landfill
Climate Change kg CO2 eq 2,87E-01
Acidification kg SO2 eq 4,50E-05
Human Toxicity kg 1,4-DB eq 1,48E+01

Data used from the LCA conducted in November 2020

During the period 01/01/2020 to 22/12/2020, the carbon footprint generation of our waste collection process was:

Carbon footprint of the collection process
Km completed 673
kg CO2 eq 180,2

Data used from the LCA conducted in November 2020

According to the above results, waste incineration has the highest impact on all 3 environmental impact categories. Specifically, if the quantities described above 17,4kg of equivalent plastic, 721,8kg equivalent glass and 27kg of equivalent aluminum were incinerated would emit 40.17kg of equivalent CO2 to the environment which would contribute to climate change, 0.00561kg of equivalent SO2 would emit to cause the acidification in air and water, and 7.13 kg of equivalent 1,4-DB will emit into the environment which is toxic to the human health.

We have committed to minimise the possibility of releasing these pollutants to the environment by collecting the materials and recycling them, saving CO2 emissions from incineration. We have achieved to maintain a positive carbon footprint besides the transportation carbon emissions from the collection process (180,2kg of equivalent CO2).

BinFree has saved with its operations 538,69kg of equivalent CO2 emissions!

We are very proud for this work and we wish for a prosperous continuation of our activities and contribution to the society and the environment! We are open to suggestions, collaborations and solutions that might help us minimize the impact of our transportation and collection methods and we are happily announcing that from 2021, it would be possible to make an impact analysis for each pick-up, upon request.

By Katerina Chantzi from BinFree, Estonia

 

This publication has been prepared within SENBS project No. 2020- 1-EE01-KA204-077999. The content of this publication is the sole responsibility of the project coordinator and may not always reflect the views of the European Commission or the National Agency.

 

Microfinance in the European Union: market analysis and recommendations for delivery options in 2021-2027
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Microfinance in the European Union: market analysis and recommendations for delivery options in 2021-2027

This report assesses current microfinance provision in EU and presents recommendations on how to bridge the financing gap and to meet evolving market needs as a means of promoting growth, employment and inclusion across the EU. Most microfinance in the EU comes from larger providers, with support for smaller, non-bank lenders remaining limited. The EU has taken measures to improve provisions, such as the European Progress Microfinance Facility, launched in 2010 and complemented since 2014 by the Microfinance and Social Entrepreneurship axis of the EU Programme for Employment and Social Innovation (EaSI).

Catalog N. : KE-03-20-321-EN-N

Download here: https://ec.europa.eu/social/main.jsp?catId=738&langId=en&pubId=8347&furtherPubs=yes

 

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This publication has been prepared within INDIGISE project. The content of this publication is the sole responsibility of the project coordinator and may not always reflect the views of the European Commission or the National Agency.

 

MakeSense launched support fund for early stage social enterprises

MakeSense launched support fund for early stage social enterprises

And here is the awesome news! Makesense is launching its first investment fund for Entrepreneurs changing the world for good “Makesense seed 1”.

It’s one of the only pre-seed investment funds for Social Entrepreneurs in Europe! The fund has 8,2 millions of euros available. It was raised and built completely by the awesome co-founders of Makesense Alizée Lozac’hmeur , Coralie Gaudoux and Léa Zaslavsky. The investment committee is only composed of women and it’s going to help early-stage Entrepreneurs access funding to change the world using tech for good & communities! There s a real funding gap at the pre-seed stage at the moment and this is where the funds come in.

Thank you to the European investment fund, Caisse de depots, BNP Paribas, Vital emploi and the three amazing tech entrepreneurs including Marc-David Choukroun for investing in the fund!

Massive massive thanks to the European investment fund and its general director Pier Luigi GILIBERT for supporting half the fund and for coming to the launch event of the fund in Paris!

More information on https://fund.makesense.org/

 

Finding money to start a social enteprise

Recently we came across a handy article by Alastair Wilson from the School for Social Entrepreneurs:

A lightbulb has blinked on in your brain and inspiration has hit – you know how you’re going to right that social injustice that you see. What’s more, your solution can earn money. You’re going to launch a social enterprise.

Now, where can you find some money to get your project off the ground?

Social enterprises are generally perceived to be a good thing. Not only do they provide employment and contribute tax revenue like any other business, but they also serve a socially useful purpose. So if you’ve got a good idea, there are numerous organisations that want to support you, including Her Majesty’s Government.

But first: think. Do you need to get money from someone else for the very early stages of your social enterprise? Lots of social entrepreneurs start their project while holding down a regular job. Think about using a little of your own money and asking for volunteers or work space you could use for free.

If you’ve considered your options and definitely need an injection of money to launch, read on.

Free money!

Our Lloyds Bank and Bank of Scotland Social Entrepreneurs Start Up Programme is a good place to start. Every year, we offer a free learning programme and grant funding to people with a great idea and the drive to make positive change.

UnLtd, the foundation for social entrepreneurs also offer ‘Try It’ and ‘Do It’ awards of £500 and £5,000 respectively. The first, as the name suggests, is money towards testing an idea that you might have. The second is for when you’re sure you want to go for it and start your business. Both amounts of money come with award managers who can offer advice. Given that UnLtd helped more than 500 social enterprises to start last year, they’re a solid organisation to have in your corner. If you’re reading this in Scotland, check out Firstport’s Start It and Build It awards, too.

Grants – free money that you don’t have to pay back – are available through many different charitable organisations. But very few specifically target budding social entrepreneurs. Instead, think about what your social enterprise is intended to do. Is your art initiative proving to be a springboard for people with mental health problems? Then the Henry Smith Charity might be willing to give you some money. Started a business that’s a boon to your local community? Give Power to Change a shout. We’ve listed as many organisations offering grants as we can here.

Continue to a full text here:

https://www.the-sse.org/resources/starting/finding-money-start-social-enterprise/

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A Guide To Funding a Startup

If you’re looking for funding opportunities for your social enterprise, you might want to have a look at this “Ultimate guide to funding a startup”. 

It has a quite comprehensive list of funding options for startups. Even though many of them concern only Canada and USA, many of the options are also global (or one can find a local alternative):

The funding guide includes:

  • Traditional crowdfunding sites (e.g. Kickstarter)
  • Equity crowdfunding (sell shares to the crowd)
  • Peer-to-Peer lending
  • Alternative lenders (i.e. alternatives to the banks)