Having spent many years working with social entrepreneurs, Tim Griffiths says he never fails to be moved by the passion and commitment that he sees from the unique individuals who drive these projects.
“Social entrepreneurs are society’s problem solvers. They see problems, develop solutions and have a bias for action. They typically have a unique insight into a problem, can look beyond the horizon of the current way of doing things and point to a brighter future. They can see things that nobody else sees, and they are willing and able to do things that nobody else can or will do.”
The concept of social entrepreneurship is much better understood now than it was when Social Entrepreneurs was founded in 2004. For Griffiths, partnership is key to delivering on its mission, meaning in this case, not just the project drivers themselves but the wider community of supporters that get behind the vision of the social entrepreneurs looking to effect change in society.
“Our role is to help deliver accelerated social change through the power of people. We couldn’t do any of this without the power of our community, the people with the will to solve Ireland’s social problems and who can convert that will into collective might,” he says.
“The support that we offer social entrepreneurs is made up of a balance of direct funding; and coaching, expertise and mentorship. We ourselves are funded through a combination of sources from corporates, foundations and individual philanthropy.”
Griffiths brings 25 year career in business leadership, working in the advertising industry, where he ran two agencies. While he took the helm as chief executive in 2021, his social entrepreneurship journey has been much longer.
“Back in 2005, when I was working in advertising, I was introduced to Ashoka, an organisation that supported social entrepreneurs. Paul O’ Hara, who was leading the organisation here knew that marketing would be an important skill set because he knew there were fabulous stories to tell about the individual social entrepreneurs and the work they were up to. We formed a small marketing committee. Over the years since then I’ve found myself slowly falling out of love with advertising and falling in love with social entrepreneurship.”
In 2005, social entrepreneurship was a much less developed sector and Social Entrepreneurs Ireland was very much in its infancy. Since its foundation in 2004, it has developed a wealth of experience as the primary organisation in Ireland identifying and supporting social entrepreneurs. Over that time, it has supported more than 650 social entrepreneurs, ploughing more than €7.5 million in grants and another €7 million plus in non-financial supports.
Each year, the organisation has a National Call, which results in hundreds of applications for places on its programmes. This initiative provides social entrepreneurs with the opportunity to explain the problem they are trying to solve, their proposed solution, their vision for the future, and why they believe they are the best people to drive it.
The Ideas Academy, he says, is a three-month, early-stage programme to provide social entrepreneurs with the support and direction they need to kick-start their idea and take the next steps to start tackling the problem. Participants are supported to clearly articulate, refine and progress their solution, to build skills and accelerate learning in core areas of importance to social entrepreneurs, and to move from idea to action.
The Action Lab programme caters to the emerging need among social entrepreneurs in the piloting and early roll-out phases of developing their organisations. The goal over this three-month programme is to help social entrepreneurs develop as leaders while offering direction on key challenges they face as they build the foundations of their organisation.
The Impact Programme, meanwhile, is a nine-month accelerator programme that aims to help a select group of social entrepreneurs to bring their project to the next level. Programme awardees receive initial direct funding of €20,000 in addition to support in areas such as leadership development, strategic planning, fundraising, governance, communication and resilience. Group training is available where relevant as is access to membership of the Social Entrepreneurs Ireland community. Participants also have access to a suite of resources and expert advice provided on a pro-bono basis from our community and supporters.
Finally, the Changing Ireland Accelerator is a 12-month programme providing direct support to a handful of organisations with high potential, with the aim of scaling these organisations. Awardees receive €60,000 and support in areas such as leadership development, marketing and communications, governance, strategic planning and finance, as well as individual support, group training if required and membership of the SEI community.
The organisation is very particular in the projects it supports and selects what it believes to be the projects with the best potential to accelerate and embed social change, Griffiths says. Each application is thoroughly evaluated and carefully considered by at least one SEI team member and up to five external reviewers and this is following by an intensive interview and adjudicating process.
“We take great pride in the rigour of our selection process. We leverage the discerning expertise of our community, comprising more than [650] entrepreneurs, social impact sector practitioners, corporations, business leaders, technical consultants and partners.”
Given the critical mass that has developed in the sector in recent years (see panel), as well as the continuous need for social impact, Griffiths sees social entrepreneurship as an area that will continue to grow and flourish over the next 20 years, as long as it continues to be supported.
On a personal level, he says Social Entrepreneurs Ireland has always had a unique and special culture and it is a real privilege to be part of a group of people who value and support that.
“I think what binds, not only the SEI team but our broader community of entrepreneurs and supporters as well, is the belief and passion in our desire and ability to make Irish society better for everyone. That’s a very motivating force and a great environment to work in every day.”
Measuring the impact of social entrepreneurship
Social enterprise is well established in Ireland and growing rapidly, evidenced by a report published last year by the Department of Rural and Community Development.
The report found that around half of the recognised base of social enterprises have been established more than 20 years. Moreover around 16 per cent of social enterprises were established in the last four years, suggesting a dynamic and evolving sector.
Ireland is home to 4,335 social enterprises with an estimated income of €2.34bn. As important partners for Irish public actors they play a significant role in supporting the implementation of national and local strategies across many sectors.
Social enterprises account for 3.7 per cent of the total Irish workforce or 84,382 people. Women represent 69 per cent of social enterprise workers. This is broadly in line with the social economy throughout the OECD, reflecting in part the specialisation of the of the social economy in historically feminised sectors and occupations such as care, health and education.
Irish social enterprises are active in a wide range of sectors, in line with other European Union (EU) countries. These include childcare, community infrastructure and local development, health, youth services, social care and heritage, festivals, arts and heritage, sectors which together account for just over two thirds of the social enterprise sector. Other areas include sport and leisure, training and work integration, housing, food, catering and hospitality, environmental services, retailing, transport and financial services. Almost 77 per cent of social enterprises work in more than one sector.
Some 75 per cent of social enterprises have a local focus, jumping to 84 per cent in rural areas while 15 per cent of social enterprises operate internationally. Most derive their income from a mix of training, goods and services and Government grants. A significant portion (40 per cent) have an annual income of less than €100,000 with the median annual income standing at €180,000.
Around half of the social enterprise workforce is part-time and social enterprises are mostly made up of micro (57 per cent) and small enterprises (35 per cent).