January 2016 – Knowledge Bank

Section/Subsection / Title / Link / Description
Starting up – How to start a Social Enterprise
Legal structures for your business / Government will establish central grants register / https://www.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/493635/53532_Cm_9190_Accessible.pdf / The government will create a central register of the voluntary sector organisations it funds and will monitor their performance more closely in the aftermath of the collapse of the children’s charity Kids Company in 2015. Government has already started developing a Grants Information System, which will help departments make more informed decisions about grant funding.
Funding and finance for start ups / Social Investment Jargon Buster / / Confused by all the jargon terms and phrases used in social investment? This handy jargon buster can help you make sense of the opportunities available.
Measuring your impact / Becoming more Effective with Evaluation and Impact Practice / / ‘Impact practice’ is the activities that an organisation does to focus on its impact. This can include planning desired impact, planning how to measure it, collecting information about it, making sense of that information, communicating it and learning from it.
In this article Sarah Menzies from NCVO discusses how organisations can be more effective with both evaluation and impact practice.
Growing a Social Enterprise
Training courses for Social Enterprises / Social Entrepreneurs Training Survey 2015 / / Each year the School for Social Entrepreneurs undertakes a survey to understand the training needs of social entrepreneurs working within social enterprises, charities and the public sector. The report shows that training on social impact measurement is the main topic that social entrepreneurs will pay to receive training on.
Social Enterprise Education Pack / / This schools resource pack developed by the British Council is designed to encourage students to develop an awareness and understanding of how business can help to address social problems as well as gain practical experience in planning and setting up their own social enterprise.
Business Toolkit for Growing Social Enterprise / Social Media Monthly Active Users for 2016 [Infographic] / / This useful infographic shows the monthly user rates of some of the main social media networks. These are potential customers and to reach this audience organisations should make the most of the social platforms available.
6 Social Metrics To Keep Your Eye On To Make The Most Out Of Your Social Strategy / / Having a presence on social media can raise awareness of your organisation and create a build-up of followers which you can engage with, but how can you tell if your social media strategy is creating the results you want it to have? Here are 6 social metrics which will help you to measure if you are on the right track and what to do if you are not.
Social Enterprise Knowledge Vault
Social Enterprise Benchmarking / Social Enterprise in Belgium:
A Diversity of Roots, Models and Fields / / This paper is part of a series of Working Papers produced under the International Comparative Social Enterprise Models (ICSEM) Project. Launched in July 2013, the ICSEM Project (
seeks to document and analyse the diversity of social enterprise models and their eco-systems from some 50
countries across the world. The most recent report explores Social Enterprise in Belgium.
Social Enterprise in Scotland: Census 2015 / / Conducted by Social Value Lab, in partnership with a range of national agencies, the new research shows Scotland to be a world-leading nation in nurturing social enterprise and recognises social enterprise as a fairer and more inclusive way of doing business.
Social Enterprise and the Public Sector / Why Community
Transport Matters / / This new report aims to help community organisations demonstrate the social value of the services they provide. The report concludes that community transport schemes have the potential to make savings of up to £1.1bn a year.
Social Clauses / The Social Value Act in 2016: challenges and opportunities / / As the Social Value Act enters its third year of existence Pioneers Post talks to Nick Temple at Social Enterprise UK to find out whether 2016 will be the year the legislation really makes its mark on public service commissioning.
Social Innovation / Independence of the voluntary, community and social enterprise sector in NI: finding a new story to tell Interim report / / This report details the interim findings of research into the independence of the voluntary, community and social enterprise (VCSE) sector in Northern Ireland, commissioned by the Building Change Trust in 2015.
Its purpose is to share early findings and to initiate debate, rather than present final conclusions. This interim report will provide a clearer understanding of the levels of independence of VCSE organisations and the sector’s understanding of the wider environment within which it operates, initiating a dialogue about how the VCSE sector perceives and understands the notion of independence.