Good Finance is a collaborative project to help improve access to information on social investment for charities and social enterprises.

We recognise social investment can be confusing and difficult to navigate. That's why in 2016 key representative from social enterprises, charity and social investment sectors came together to launch an initiative to help tackle this barrier for social sector organisations.

Our mission

Our mission is to be the single trusted source of information on social investment for charities and social enterprises.

We will achieve this by:

1. Improving knowledge on social investment, what it is, what it can be used for and the journey and process it requires
2. Enabling organisations to make informed decisions, based on their needs and situation, not on embedded attitudes
3. Helping connect organisations to the right investors to talk to based on shared values

Website and project

Good Finance consists of two distinct, but by no means separate strands.

Digital: Content to help inform and educate social enterprises and charities about repayable finance and better connect them with social investors. This includes tools like Is It Right For Us, The Fundmapper, The Outcomes Matrix, The Jargon Buster and the Cost of Capital Calculator, as well as casestudies, blogs and podcasts. 

Programmes and Projects: offline engagement activity such as events, e-Learning courses such as Social Investment Unpicked, Masterclasses and Investment Committees of the Future, as well as Addressing Imbalance, a user-led programme that seeks to tackle disproportionate barriers to accessing social investment for organisations facing marginalisation.  

Why is it needed?

Charities and social enterprises identified a critical need for a comprehensive digital resource to help them to effectively navigate social investment. Evidence of this need originates from a number of sources including:

• Social Enterprise UK’s findings in the State of Social Enterprise 2015 Report

• Findings from the Alternative Commission on Social Investment
• Research conducted by the Cabinet Office

More recently, organisations are tackling the Cost of Living Crisis, alongside crippling energy prices, diminishing availability of grant and other tough economic circumstances, meaning the need to diversify their income is more important than ever. Social investment isn't right for everyone, but we hope to provide relevant, jargon-free information to those that are suitable for repayable finance. 

How the website was built

The website was built following an extensive period of user-centred research and design workshops with charities and social enterprises across the UK. You can see the outputs of that work in the report written by service design agency, Snook, which was commissioned by Government Inclusive Economy Unit (DCMS): Designing Social Investment User Research. 

The website was officially launched in Spring 2017, containing new content, tools and a refreshed brand based on the user-needs identified during the research phase of the project.

As of May 2023, the project has reached over 500,000 unique users and continues to support thousands of social enterprises and charities exploring social investment on a monthly basis. 

Governance and funding

Our Steering Group helps to inform our strategic direction of the project and is made up of key representatives from the social enterprise, charity and social investment sectors.

Our Stakeholder Review Panel provides critical and constructive feedback on the project and is made up of key stakeholders in the social investment sector. 

Good Finance is jointly funded by Access - The Foundation for Social Investment, Big Society Capital and DCMS, with in-kind support provided by members of the steering group.