Together with Good Finance, Vonne and Access - The Foundation for Social Investment, Big Society Capital was delighted to be part of the first ever Good Finance Live. It's aim was to provide a space where social enterprises and charities who were actively looking for capital could meet with a wide range of social investors - all in one place.
With Good Finance Live, we wanted to create an informal but informative setting with plenty of opportunity for conversation and connections. I've been to big national conferences before that aimed to include this aspect. But I found that, on the whole, they never quite managed to achieve it with either the nature of the content or the cost getting in the way.
Similar to Let's Talk Good Finance events, Good Finance Live was a chance to hear direct from those who have already taken on social investment as well as learn about new developments in the sector. But it also featured a marketplace where charities and social enterprises could meet and talk directly to a whole range of social investors.
Social Investor Marketplace
A total of 16 social investors - both local and national - were at Good Finance Live. It was great to see so many conversations happening and people networking. Here's a few pictures from the day.
Hear From A Peer
There's no better way to learn about what social investment looks like in reality than hearing direct from other charities and social enterprises who've already taken it on. So we were pleased to have four organisations share their social investment journey with us. Don't forget, you can also listen to their stories in the podcasts.
What's New in Social Investment?
In these sessions, attendees were able to catch up on the latest developments on social investment including the Enterprise Development Programme, the Reach Fund, GET INFORMED: Social Investment for Boards and the Northern Cultural Regeneration Social Investment Fund.
Here's some key links from each of our 'What's new in social investment' speakers:
- Enterprise Development Programme - Deborah Smart, Social Investment Business
- GET INFORMED: Social Investment for Boards - Melanie Mills, Big Society Capital
- The Reach Fund - Deborah Smart, Social Investment Business and Adrian Bean, The Key Fund
- Northern Cultural Regeneration Social Investment Fund - Scott Gordon, DCMS
Good Finance Demo
The event was also a chance to explore the tools available on Good Finance including the diagnostic tool, social investor and advisor directory, case studies as well as resources for charities and social enterprises to measure their impact.
Interested in Learning More?
For the latest on social investment for charities and social enterprises including news, events and blogs, do sign-up to the Good Finance newsletter. We also have a series of Let's Talk Good Finance events taking place around the country throughout the Autumn and Winter.
By Melanie Mills, Social Sector Engagement Director, Big Society Capital.
This blog originally appeared on Big Society Capital.