The German Social Entrepreneurship Monitor (DSEM) has been providing annual information on the German social entrepreneurship ecosystem since 2018. The aim is to provide decision-makers from politics, business, and civil society with a basis for supporting social enterprises.
For 2020/21, the DSEM is once again providing an overview of the potential and challenges of social enterprises in Germany. A total of 400 participants were surveyed for the monitor about the status of their organization. Michael Wunsch, project manager of the DSEM, is certain:
“The survey results show that social enterprises make an important contribution to society.”
According to the DSEM, social enterprises are oriented towards the common good: 74.8 percent reinvest or donate the majority of their profits to social causes. Social enterprises are also characterized by a high degree of innovation, 93 percent offer at least one market innovation at the time of their founding. More women than in the rest of the startup world are found here in positions of responsibility: According to the survey, the average proportion of women in the management of social enterprises is 52.7 percent. And sustainability is not only considered in many social enterprises, it is also implemented: Over 80 percent of social enterprises view ecological and social responsibility as important criteria in procurement.
What is missing: financing options
The 3rd DSEM demonstrates that social enterprises are committed to a more sustainable society. Expanded financing options could help further strengthen this trend.
“The study clearly shows what the sector needs: more start-up and follow-up financing, an expansion of public support systems and transparent allocation of public funding for social enterprises,”
thinks Katrin Elsemann, Managing Director of German Social Entrepreneurship Network (SEND).