Understanding social impact investment
How much? What kind? From where? Do I need it at all? Social impact investment can often be confusing and difficult to navigate. That’s why key representatives from social enterprises, charity and social impact investment sectors have come together and collaborated to improve access to information.
- 150000+ Number of unique Good Finance website users – All numbers from Good Finance
- 75000+ Unique users of the Good Finance COVID-19 hub
- 98000+ Investor directory views
The challenge
The world of social impact investment can be hard to navigate for some social enterprises and charities. Many organisations don’t know how to use investment, what type of finance to seek, or which intermediary best shares their values. Many found there was no comprehensive digital resource to help them navigate the different sources and types of social impact investment.
Our approach
Good Finance fills this gap. It was created with the support of a range of organisations, including Big Society Capital and our sister organisation, Access – The Foundation for Social Investment. Its mission is to be a trusted source of information about social impact investment for social enterprises and charities in the UK, with a user-centred design approach at its heart.
Through its website, Good Finance fills knowledge gaps with jargon-busting tools and stories about impacts that have been made. Meanwhile a directory of investors and advisers helps connect social-sector organisations with the right investment. Good Finance also hosts regional and national events, bringing together social enterprises, charities, fund managers and intermediaries, and investors. Together they share information and explore opportunities, developing the pipeline of potential future investees.
Impact and learning
Good Finance’s impact and success is primarily about its reach, in terms of the number of social enterprises and charities accessing its resources and tools, as well as those organisations’ user experience. Its range of resources have seen big demand over recent years.
Among these resources are its microsites, such as “Get Informed – Social Investment for Boards” , which offers free resources and mentoring. The peer learning videos featuring trustee experiences of taking on or considering investment have been watched over 3,200 times since launch, and the SIB Provider Toolkit has had 500+ users since July 2019.
The social impact measurement page and video had more than 4,000 views by the beginning of 2020. Good Finance also hosts our Outcome Matrix, which has been viewed and used more than 64,000 times since the site’s launch in April 2017.
During the pandemic, Good Finance set up a COVID-19 Resource Hub for charities and social enterprises. By September 2020, this had 75,000+ unique users. Its guide on how to navigate funding during the pandemic was downloaded more than 800 times by June 2020.