Who Are the Next 25 Social Enterprise Stars? We’re Still Looking to Meet Them
Our campaign to add 25 social enterprise stars to our loan portfolio over the next year is introducing RSF to hundreds of social enterprises striving for outsized impact—about 1,600 enterprises and referrers had checked out our campaign page by the end of October.
Why is this important? Most growing businesses face challenges raising capital at some stage in their development. But for social enterprises, which use the power of business to directly improve society and our environment, the funding obstacles tend to be tougher and more persistent. By definition, they upend the expectations of traditional investors, lenders, and donors. RSF provides the kind of flexible, mission-aligned capital that meets social enterprises’ needs—but they’re often operating in isolation and don’t know we exist.
So please keep spreading the word! The more #SocentStars posts there are on Twitter, Facebook and LinkedIn, the more social enterprises we can reach and assist. Here are a few post ideas:
Are you one of the next economy’s #SocentStars? @RSFSocFinance can fund your growth: bit.ly/1tH0ytE #socents
Every #socent needs a savvy funder. @RSFSocFinance has loan money for the next 25 #SocentStars: bit.ly/1tH0ytE
Do you know any #SocentStars? @RSFSocFinance has loans for the next 25. Send them here: bit.ly/1tH0ytE #socent
Not sure who would be a good fit? We’re looking for more enterprises like these new RSF borrowers (also see details on the Social Enterprise Stars campaign page).
Liberty Source
Liberty Source, a public benefit corporation and subsidiary of existing RSF borrower Digital Divide Data (DDD), employs military spouses in U.S.-based business process outsourcing work. Although founded just this summer, Liberty Source already employs over 90 people at Fort Monroe in Virginia. The more than 700,000 military spouses in the U.S. have a higher rate of post–high school education—80 percent—than the general population, but are four times as likely to be unemployed or underemployed because of frequent moves and the limited number of job opportunities near military bases.
“Without support from RSF, we would not have been able to get Liberty Source off the ground,” said Deborah Kops, Board Chair, Liberty Source and Board Member, DDD. “The RSF loan provided us the seed money to hire staff and buy equipment. Only a mission-aligned lender understands both the social impact and the imperative to operate a commercially viable company.”
Eastern Carolina Organics
Eastern Carolina Organics (ECO) is a farmer- and employee-owned food hub distributing fresh, seasonal, organic produce to retailers, institutions, distributors, and restaurants across North Carolina. RSF provided a line of credit through our PRI Fund to help ECO bridge the time between payments to farmers and sales receipts from customers.
“Food hubs like ECO have the ability to connect producers with growing market demand, which holds incredible promise for positive impact on the local economy, social equity, and the environment,” says Kate Danaher, RSF Senior Lending Associate.
Know any loan candidates like these? Please send them to Wanted: Social Enterprise Stars.
