6 ways to get started with social investment

Social investment still appears on the ‘too difficult’ pile for many charity leaders and trustees, but it’s not going away—yesterday’s keynote speech shows social investment is a top priority for the current Minister for Civil Society during the coming five years.

Whether a loan or social impact bond, social investment might not be for everyone, but it would be a mistake to dismiss it before you have had the chance to conduct a careful assessment.

We know it can be daunting, so we’ve put together a list of six ways to get started:

1. Find out why social investment has the potential to address some complex and enduring problems by looking at this blog.
2. Ask whether social investment is for you: download and read our Best to borrow? guide for charities or our Best to invest? guide for funders.
3. Take your pick of these free-to-use tools to measure the impact of investments: our 13 outcomes maps  (covering everything from Arts & culture to Physical Health) produced for Big Society Capital or this array of resources on the Inspiring Impact Hub.
4. Meet others who are struggling with the same issues at our events and training workshops, including our October conference #NPCIgnites, which includes a session on new financial models like social investment.
5. Learn from others by reading lessons we’ve pulled together on how to make an impact through social investment in Smart money.
6. Don’t be afraid to ask for help. Find out how NPC can help and read about what we’ve done for organisations like Cheyne Capital.

Hopefully some of these articles, publications, events and services can help you shift social investment from the ‘too difficult’ pile to the ‘to be considered’ or even ‘done’ pile.