distilling "good practices" and sharing lessons among organizations committed to developing the social
enterprise practice.
Practitioners globally agree however that they lack access to sufficient funding. Gains have been made
internationally in a subset of social enterprise–microfinance, where there is now broad acceptance of
nonprofits’ borrowing capital to facilitate business growth. Although social investors and foundation
Program Related Investments (PRI) that fund social enterprise endeavors are on the rise, for the
majority of social enterprises operating in other program areas, access to capital, whether loans or
grants, is limited.
Social enterprise is a means to a more just and equitable society. Through its value maximization
properties, social enterprise addresses one of the most pressing issues facing nonprofits today–how to
achieve ongoing sustainable impact. This prospect is social enterprise’s promise as well as its future.
Whether or not social enterprise is brought to bear as a mainstream nonprofit strategy rests on the
participation and commitment of practitioners and funders. In a word, it will take a substantial
investment of time, resources, and money along with the willingness to expand horizons into unknown
territories.
As seen in this typology, many social enterprises defy neatly labeled boxes. The sprawling nature and
diversity of the field could easily intimidate the risk adverse implementer yet delight the intrepid
architect. The current state of the social enterprise field is not unlike that of early micro-credit and
employment development programs: many of the obstacles and challenges it faces are similar.
Dovetailing on the success of more than 30 years of microfinance, and employment creation, social
enterprise is poised to enter the market in full swing