Social enterprise lending

This article needs additional citations for verification. Please help improve this article by adding citations to reliable sources. Unsourced material may be challenged and removed. Find sources: "Social enterprise lending" – news · newspapers · books · scholar · JSTOR (August 2009) (Learn how and when to remove this message)

Social enterprise lending is a form of social finance which refers to the practice of offering loans and other financing vehicles below current market rates to social enterprises and other organisations pursuing social goals. This is often referred to as "patient lending," or financing with "soft" terms. Patient lending recognises that projects with social outcomes often reach profitability later than commercial projects. Softening the terms of a loan means that a social lender may offer provisions such as longer loan terms, lower interest rates and repayment "holidays" where capital and interest repayments are not due until the project is profitable. Social lenders might also offer small grants as part of an investment package.