Social Enterprise Stars Campaign Needs You

This update was originally published in the Winter 2015 RSF Quarterly.

Nearly 2,000 people have checked out our 25 social enterprise stars campaign page since September, when we launched our effort to add a wave of new borrowers to our loan portfolio in the coming year. That’s a great start, but we know there’s plenty of room for an even bigger reach if everyone in the RSF community keeps an eye out for social enterprises that could have a greater impact with our help.

Do you know—or have you heard of—established businesses or non-profit organizations in the U.S. or Canada that are doing groundbreaking work in food and agriculture, education and the arts, or ecological stewardship? Please send them our way:

• Let the lending team know about them by emailing lending@rsfsocialfinance.org
• Direct prospective borrowers to our campaign page: http://rsfsocialfinance.org/social-enterprise-stars/
• Share news of our borrower search through social media, using the hashtag #SocentStars.

Not sure who’s a good fit? Here are a few great examples of current borrowers in the arts and education field:

Playworks is the leading national non-profit leveraging the power of play before, during, and after school to transform children’s physical and emotional health. Its programs improve school climate, reduce bullying, and increase student engagement through play and physical activity. Playworks provides public schools with trained, full-time coaches who use recess and play to support learning. Playworks also provides consultative, training services for educators and youth workers

Liberty Source meets an under-recognized need by employing military spouses in U.S.-based business process outsourcing work. Military spouses in the U.S. have a higher rate of post–high school education than the general population but, because of frequent moves and limited job opportunities near military bases, they are four times as likely to be unemployed or underemployed.

LA STAGE Alliance is a voice for the arts sector in the public policy sphere and creates audience engagement resources, operational support, and other programming designed to “raise the floor” for the entire arts community and allow artists to reach increasingly ambitious artistic goals.

Thank you for helping to build the next economy!

To receive a loan from RSF, an enterprise should have the following qualifications—but we’re not asking you to screen referrals. If you think they might meet our criteria, we’d like to hear about them.

• A social mission in one of RSF’s three focus areas: Food & Agriculture, Education & the Arts, and Ecological Stewardship
• Incorporation in the U.S. or Canada
• Strong collateral (which may include pledge or guarantee communities)
• Funding needs ranging from $200,000 to $5 million ($100,000+ for arts organizations)
• 3 or more years of operating history
• Operational profit, or a clear path to profitability in 12 months
• Annual revenue of $1 million or more ($500,000 for arts organizations)