Can faith organisations embrace social enterprise?

Daniel Singleton, National Executive Director of FaithAction Network casts an encouraging eye at Social Enterprise.

When I came to FaithAction one of the questions that the voluntary sector were considering as a whole was "Can we take public money and pursue public service contracts, without compromising our values, constitution etc?"

Although this question remains, many are just struggling to survive. It is survival which is pushing more voluntary sector and community groups to consider how social enterprise can be part of their business plans. 

The dilemma many face is that they can be clear on the ‘social’ good of what they want to achieve but they are often less sure and somewhat uncomfortable with the whole area of enterprise. The idea of being ‘business like’ can seem to be at odds to being compassionate. Of course this does not need to be the case. 

An independent source of income, not subjected to the confines of targets and reporting of a public service contract, can give just the freedom of operation that organisations want to pursue their mission. 

The income source that a social enterprise can provide to the voluntary sector is great value, but the possibility that a social enterprise may be able to provide additional employment to a local community must not be missed. Giving someone the opportunity to work is a very powerful investment and can be part of breaking down exclusion for that individual and their family. 

So social enterprise is a ‘no brainer’? Not quite! What we find at FaithAction is there is not shortage of good ideas from Faith and Community organisations, but often what is lacking is the people available and willing to make it happen. Identifying ‘Enterprise Champions’ is one of the most important tasks for any organisation looking at social enterprise. This is where things tend to grind to a halt. 

FaithAction, The Social Investment Business and Greenwich University are working together to provide organisations the tools and knowledge needed to set up and maintain social enterprises.

The Social Investment Business and FaithAction will be holding a Social Enterprise Conference on 28 November. Find out more