Alastair Davis is looking for social enterprise champions to keep Social Investment Scotland firmly focused on its social purpose
It’s only been relatively recently in Social Investment Scotland's (SIS) 14 year history that the concept of social investment has become more mainstream. There are a whole range of reasons for this, not least the changing make up of funding sources for the third sector and the increasing popularity of social enterprise as a business model.
Consequently, and particularly south of the border, a whole industry has developed around social investment with many bright minds applying their financial skills and logic to the social sector. It’s important, I believe, that as a sector we welcome this and make sure that we harness this talent for the positive social impact it can create.
That said, there is a risk, I believe, that the values and beliefs of the sector (however defined) could be compromised by this new influence. Bright financial minds, when asked to solve social problems, can create complex financial models that may seem to have little relevance to the social issue they seek to resolve. In some instances social sector engagement can be very limited, if it happens at all.
By becoming one of SIS’s Social Enterprise Champions you can help to make sure that SIS remains in touch with charities, voluntary organisations and social enterprises across Scotland.
Alastair Davis
This is why, in my opinion, social sector organisations need to start being more demanding of their investors about what types of finance and support they need to create social impact – after all no one knows better than those at the front line how to really make a positive difference.
Social investors themselves need to make sure they are listening to what the sector is telling them. Social investment intermediaries, like SIS, have an important role to play here. Our mission is to connect capital with communities – not only to make investments on behalf of our investors in charities and social enterprises but to perform this role in reverse, educating investors about what will make the most difference to the front line.
I want to make sure that SIS is an organisation that does listen in this way and that the investment packages and products we offer are aligned as far as is possible with the needs of our customers. This is why we are establishing a more formal group of social enterprise champions – to interface with the sector in this way. By becoming one of SIS’s Social Enterprise Champions you can help to make sure that SIS remains in touch with charities, voluntary organisations and social enterprises across Scotland. I’d encourage anyone that is interested in supporting our development in this way to get in touch with me.
Alastair Davis is chief executive of Social Investment Scotland
