Big Society Capital asks: what do you think of us?

Following greater efforts at transparency in recent months, Big Society Capital has now opened a survey in order to find out what partners and stakeholders think of the organisation. Respondents can preserve their anonymity.

The wide-ranging survey looks at both understanding of social investment generally and of Big Society Capital itself; it also asks for feedback from those who have had any interaction with it and asks for input on what future strategy should be. Further questions seek opinions about the organisation's effectiveness in getting capital to the market.

Other questions concentrate on the effectiveness of the organisation as a ‘market champion’, looking to assess the traction campaigns around social investment tax relief and lobbying for social impact measurement have had. The survey also seeks to identify if respondents believe Big Society Capital has any political associations.

Following the announcement of the survey, chief executive Cliff Prior commented: “Big Society Capital was set up five years ago using the public's money that was lying unused in dormant accounts with the ambition of making it easier for charities and social enterprises to raise investment so that they could do more of their fantastic work.

“Since that time a huge amount of work has been done. But there is always more we could be doing and different ways of doing this. Having just joined as chief executive, I want to take this opportunity to take stock and hear from all of our partners and stakeholders to get a sense of how you feel the organisation is doing – and how it could do better.”

After the announcement that he would take up the post last year, Prior gave his first interview to Pioneers Post and pledged at the time that one of the first things he would do would be to “invite the views of the social sector organisations that are interested in investment”. The announcement of the survey suggests that a spectrum of opinions much wider than that is now being invited.

The survey is open until 20th April and can be found here. 

Photo credit: Véronique Debord-Lazaro