Designing Social Investment - Cabinet Office UK, Snook & The Point People

Designing social investment | @annie_camilla @rufflemuffin @cassierobinson








9


10Designing social investment | @annie_camilla @rufflemuffin @cassierobinson



1. The middle stage gap2. (ventures struggle to fund themselves

when they have an initial service or product, but aren't yet ready to move towards scale or rapid growth)

3. Lack of skills crossover between funders and ventures

4. Ventures feel funding criteria and decisions are opaque

5. Wasted time on applications6. Language barrier for 'not social

enterprise'7. (some ventures are excluding themselves

from sources of funding they perceive as 'not for them' because they don't consider themselves to be social enterprises)

8. Understanding different funding routes upfront

9. Repayable finance seen as too risky for ventures


Creating opportunities by asking ‘how’ of the system


1. How might we… stretch the boundaries of the stage at which ventures can be funded?2. How might we… facilitate funders to make greater use of skills from ventures?

3. How might we… help social ventures understand the outcomes of funding applications in order

for them to learn and develop?

4. How might we… remove overlapping processes for the application stage of funding

opportunities?

5. How might we… attract ‘not social enterprise’ to the social finance landscape?

6. How might we… enable ventures to understand and consider different funding routes rather

than just the one that is most familiar?

7. How might we… create more flexible repayment options for ventures that do not have assets

like a building?
































Government & Nonprofit

Designing Social Investment - Cabinet Office UK, Snook & The Point People