Are you a founder, leader, or sector influencer for a community‑based social enterprise (charity, CIC, other non-profit, socially trading organisations, purpose-led SME etc)?
Partnering for Purpose CIC is contributing to research exploring why so many community-based social enterprises (CBSEs) work incredibly hard, stay deeply connected to local need – and still struggle to create the lasting social change they’re capable of.
The argument is that it’s not just about individual organisations. It’s about the wider system around them – how funders, councils, commissioners and anchor institutions either support or undermine the ability of CBSEs to thrive and build long-term impact.
In short, what is the response mechanism of grassroots organisations? And is it suboptimal dealing with symptoms rather than causes?
Community‑based social enterprises are often closest to the realities of local need – but proximity alone isn’t enough to create long‑term, regenerative social impact. Amongst other things, we need to explore
- how the wider ecology around CBSEs – funders, councils, commissioners, anchor institutions, communities and peer organisations – either enables or constrains their ability to thrive.
- insights into legitimacy pressures, funding constraints, repeated community need, coordination challenges, and the tension between independence and collaboration.
- the idea of “aggregation without absorption” — how CBSEs can build shared evidence, shared infrastructure and collective voice without losing the local trust and autonomy that make them valuable.
We have a survey which explores
- Legitimacy & Funding: What do local authorities, funders, or commissioners most often misunderstand about how organisations operate?
- The Proximity Paradox: When has being close to a community exposed an organisation to intense delivery pressures without the structural support to match?
- “Aggregation without Absorption”: How can CBSEs build shared infrastructure, joint evidence, and a collective voice without losing the local trust and autonomy that make you unique?
- Regenerative Capacity: What are the biggest barriers stopping organisations from shifting from “crisis response” to long-term prevention?
If you would like to share your thoughts and insights, click the button below
Take our CBSE Survey