Finding funding is one of the biggest challenges faced by social entrepreneurs. You can have what you think is the best idea in the world but without the moolah to make it happen it’ll be close to impossible to even get off the ground.

Your options get thin when your business is focused on maximising social impact rather than profits. The problem is that many traditional investors view social impact as a financial cost and therefore a lousy investment decision. To make things even more difficult, for-profit social enterprises are ineligible for funding from many grant-makers, trusts, and other philanthropic funders which are limited to funding organisations with charitable status.

But it’s not all doom and gloom. From competitions to crowdfunding, there are still a range of ways a budding social entrepreneur can get the funding they need to convert their passion and ideas for social good into real social impact. Here’s the best of the best.

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