Social enterprises are primarily businesses with social objectives, whose surpluses are principally reinvested for that purpose. For this reason, there is certainly tremendous potential for private sector companies aspiring to be responsible to support and promote social enterprise: what better way to meet your own company’s social responsibility goals than to partner an enterprise that, by its very nature, maximises social return?
For instance, the body set up to promote social enterprise – the Social Enterprise Coalition – wants the government to coax mainstream banks and commercial lenders into providing social enterprises with improved access to finance. And they’re hoping banks and private lenders will get actively involved in innovative lending schemes, such as social venture capital funds that will invest in businesses prioritising social and environmental returns. Here there’s huge potential for private sector involvement.
This integrated approach to CSR and social enterprise is needed at the government level too. It was no accident that CSR, social enterprise and small companies came under the same ministerial umbrella in the last administration. We at Briefing believe this must continue under the next. Fortunately Labour, the Conservatives and Liberal Democrats appear to be fully supportive of social enterprise, in one form or another (perhaps the only issue to gain cross-party support!). But it remains to be seen whether the ‘talk’ will survive the ‘big issue’ politics that are likely to emerge from any government in the immediate aftermath of May 5.
Corporate Citizenship Briefing, issue no: 81 – April, 2005
COMMENTS