{"id":49519,"date":"2013-05-26T02:01:28","date_gmt":"2013-05-26T06:01:28","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/staging24.finca.org\/our-work\/social-enterprise"},"modified":"2024-11-04T02:03:01","modified_gmt":"2024-11-04T07:03:01","slug":"social-enterprise","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/finca.org\/en-gb\/what-we-do\/social-enterprise","title":{"rendered":"Social Enterprise"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

What is a Social Enterprise?<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

The term social enterprise<\/em> can be defined as an organization that addresses a basic unmet need or solves a social or environmental problem through a market-driven approach<\/a>, according to the Social Enterprise Alliance. However, with such a broad definition, a lot of organizations can fall under the category of a social enterprise.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Given our own extensive history in the field, FINCA International has expanded upon this characterization of a social enterprise. In addition to the criteria laid out in the above definition, we believe a social enterprise should also provide goods or services that enable people to work toward lifting themselves out of poverty.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

By focusing on all three of these aspects used to define a social enterprise\u2014meeting a basic unmet need, focusing on an environmental or socially-conscious issue and helping people to help themselves\u2014FINCA and its partners are able to have a greater impact in a more lasting and sustainable way.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Microfinance: The Original Social Enterprise<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

More than 30 years ago<\/a>, one of the world\u2019s first social enterprises opened its doors\u2014FINCA, a bank for the poor.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The free market was failing billions of people who could not access financial services. A basic need was unmet. So FINCA jumped into the breach. We started off by making small loans\u2014as tiny as $25\u2014and eventually added savings, insurance and other financial services<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

To succeed, we had to go where others feared to tread. And, with support from many people over the years, we proved the banks (and the market) wrong. The poor could be good customers.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Now, we are taking what we learned in the realm of microfinance<\/a> and the experience of scaling a social enterprise and applying it to solve other unmet needs.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

BrightLife: Building a Bridge from Energy Access to Financial Inclusion<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

Nearly 140 years after the advent of the lightbulb, nearly 1 billion<\/a> people still have no reliable access to electricity. Living \u201coff-grid\u201d introduces a host of problems for poor families who are forced to burn dangerous fuels to light their homes and to prepare meals.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

To change this, we launched BrightLife<\/a>. This social enterprise makes life-enhancing products\u2014like solar home systems and clean cookstoves\u2014accessible and affordable to the poor.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"A