February 2025
Social enterprises face a persistent and well-documented challenge: they are often rich in social impact but poor in the financial literacy, governance rigour and investor-readiness required to access the growth capital they need. The result is that many organisations with huge potential remain small, underfunded and unable to scale their impact.
The Proper Good Social Investment Programme was designed by Upturn in response to this challenge. Named after the Greater Manchester vernacular for ‘genuinely excellent’, Proper Good works with a cohort of social enterprises to build the capacity, capability and confidence needed to attract social investment.
The programme spans 12 weeks and combines group masterclasses, peer learning sessions and one-to-one tailored support. Topics covered include financial modelling and forecasting, impact measurement and reporting, governance and legal structures, investor relations and pitch preparation, and strategic business planning.
Organisations completing the Proper Good programme have secured social investment from a range of funders including community development finance institutions, charitable foundations and private social investors. Several have gone on to deliver expanded programmes, create additional employment and increase their community reach significantly.
“Proper Good gave us the tools, the language and the confidence to walk into an investor meeting and make our case. Within six months of completing the programme, we had secured our first external investment. — Participant, Social Enterprise Cohort”