Making sure enterprise growth finance is available when charities and social enterprises aren’t ready for repayable investment
Enterprise grants help charities and social enterprises strengthen their financial resilience by developing or expanding income-generating activities. These grants support organisations where repayable social investment isn’t yet the right fit, giving them the opportunity to grow and become more self-sufficient.
This process includes providing finance (and sometimes advice and support - “technical assistance” - alongside) to help these organisations transition to new enterprise models or grow existing ones. This enables them to sustain or grow their impact.
Unlike traditional grants, they are designed to drive growth in income and financial resilience. The funding and support provided encourage and enable enterprising activity, helping organisations build long-term sustainability.
Access understands that charities and social enterprises go through different stages in developing income-generating activities. While our main focus is providing grant funding for Blended Finance funds that offer repayable social investment, we recognise that many organisations are not yet in a position to take on investment—particularly those in the early stages of enterprise development.
To address this gap, we are committed to ensuring that the social investment sector can support these organisations through Enterprise Grants and other forms of assistance. We also encourage other funders to take a similar approach, as we believe this is one of the most effective ways to strengthen the sector’s long-term growth and sustainability.
Access generally supports organisations that are already on their enterprise journey, rather than those at a more exploratory stage.
Some of our programmes combine different types of funding. They’re shown below if they focus fully on enterprise grants or include elements of it in a broader programme.
Now closed, the Enterprise Develoment Programmme helped charities and social enterprises transition to new enterprise models, or grow existing ones
Supporting the development of stronger, more resilient and sustainable social economies in disadvantaged places
Helping charities and social enterprises to support the communities most affected by the cost of living crisis
The Enterprise Grants Taskforce brings together funders looking to support the development of earned income across the sector.
If you are a charity or social enterprise looking for funding, visit Good Finance.
You will find tools to help you decide if social investment is right for your organisation and a comprehensive overview of the funds available to you.
