Towards standardised impact evaluation

SINGAPORE has seen in recent years an increase in the number of organisations and projects that address society’s most pressing issues. The Singapore Centre for Social Enterprise, raiSE, reported that in 2020, 27.5 per cent of its 368 social enterprise members were new members. To create and deliver social impacts to their beneficiaries, these social enterprises and charities seek funding assistance from various sources, including the government and private funders.

The good news is that more private funders are keen to fund organisations and projects that deliver direct positive social and environmental impacts. In particular, we have seen a growing trend of social investments with a dual focus on creating positive societal impacts and generating financial returns. These social investments have also been proposed as one of the credible and sustainable solutions in tackling critical social and environmental issues.

Recent examples of such initiatives include GenZero, an investment platform launched by Temasek that pursues investment opportunities that actively address the adverse effects of climate change, and the DBS Foundation Social Enterprise Grant Programme that looks to fund only social enterprises. Other examples include the programmes that have been developed by raiSE to fund and accelerate the growth of the social sector in Singapore.