Deep public sector budget cuts mean that a reliance on grants and project based funding is not sustainable. Private sources of funding are also declining. The way that organisations receive their funding is changing. Within the current economic climate, there is a need to invest in programmes that both deliver a social good, but that also provides a return for investors. Social Investing allows for exactly this.

Our work to date focuses on Voluntary and Community Groups in the Youth Sector, understanding the potential role of social investment and how it can be used to grow capacity of the sector.

Key Reading:

• Growing Interest? Mapping the market for social finance in the youth sector. (August 2011) This report, published as part of the Catalyst Consortium, considers the potential for social finance to not only address under-capitalisation of the voluntary and community youth sector, but also to grow the capacity and entrepreneurialism of the sector.

Blogs:

• Growing Interest? This blog outlines the case for using social finance to help youth charities and social enterprises thrive in the current economic climate.