Higher Education (HE) Sector & Social Entrepreneurship

Flourish CIC, supports social entrepreneurs to create the change they see needed in communities and develops networks, assets and resources to enable communities to become socially and economically active and empowered.

They have been commissioned by the Higher Education Funding Council for England (HEFCE) to carry out a multi stakeholder evaluation to understand the capacity the Higher Education sector has to support social entrepreneurship*.   This survey forms part of a wider programme of evaluation and engagement.

This survey will take approximately 20 minutes to complete, depending on the level of detail you provide. Thank you in advance for completing this survey.

If you have further queries contact Jo McGrath, Flourish Co-Founder on 07912 758 486.

*In this context social entrepreneurship is seen in it’s broadest terms and can include social entrepreneurs, social innovators, social leaders, or people running campaigns, projects, enterprises that create social value.

This survey is to be completed by people working within the HEI sector
To give feedback as a social entrepreneur follow this link https://www.surveymonkey.co.uk/r/HEFCESOCIALENTREPRENEUR
To give feedback as a wider stakeholder follow this link https://www.surveymonkey.co.uk/r/HEFCESTAKEHOLDER
Background Context & The Support Offered 

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* 1. What is the name of your organisation?

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* 2. What is your name and job role in the organisation?

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* 3. What is your email address?

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* 4. How long have you been in your role?

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* 5. Does your institution currently have any activities in place that support social entrepreneurship development? If so, what does this activity include? (tick all that apply)

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* 6. To what extent do social entrepreneurs engage with these activities?

  Not at all Sometimes  Regularly 
Social Entrepreneurs/Social Enterprise courses
Accessing support at the ideas development and start up stage
Accessing Intensive development to help them scale up their ventures
Accessing finance for their venture
Peer learning activities 
Training courses to support the development of their ventures  
Accessing pro bono expert support (e.g. legal or financial advice)
Mentoring support
Applying for awards (cash + support)
SE specific accelerator programmes
Involvement in social innovation hacks
Research

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* 7. Which of these activities do you foresee your organisation providing in the next 1-2 years? (tick all that apply)

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* 8. What do you see are the top 3 assets within your organisation that enables you to support SE’s effectively? (tick all that apply)

 Outreach, Referral Pathways and Progression

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* 9. How do you promote the support on offer to Social Entrepreneurs? (tick all that apply)

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* 10. Please tick of the following types of referrals for social entrepreneurs support you have encountered (tick all that apply)

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* 11. Approximately how many people have you supported through your total social entrepreneurship activities over the last 5 years?

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* 12. Approximately how many social ventures supported have incorporated (set up an enterprise) in the last 5 years?

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* 13. What is the approximate value of 'non-cash' support provided to social entrepreneurs per year? NB - you don’t need to spend lots of time calculating this, we would just like an approximate figure.

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* 14. Has this level of investment increased, decreased or stayed the same over the last 2 years?

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* 15. If you have given cash investments (grants or loans) what is the approximate value of these investments in the last 2 years?

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* 16. Has this level of investment increased, decreased or stayed the same over the last 2 years?

Social Entrepreneurship Support Staff Team Interest and Capacity in Providing Support

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* 17. What is the size of the team supporting social entrepreneurs within your institution?

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* 18. How have you developed your knowledge of the SE sector? (tick all that apply)

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* 19. Is there the availability of training for team members to access learning and development opportunities to build their capacity to support social entrepreneurs?

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* 20. Is there consistency in training and capacity building?

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* 21. Would you say awareness and recognition of social enterprise across the HEI’s has increased more over the last 5 years?

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* 22. If you have been in receipt of HEFCE UnLtd funding in the past, to what extent has this helped build your capacity to support Social Entrepreneurship?

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* 23. Since your HEFCE UnLtd funding ended, to what extent has it impacted on your ability to support Social Entrepreneurship?

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* 24. What impact has this had on your ability to financially invest in Social Entrepreneurs?

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* 25. Do you feel you have adequate systems and processes to support Social Entrepreneurship? (please rate the following tools)

  More than adaquate  Adequate Inadequate
Outreach tools
Idea/start up support tools
Scale up support tools
Funding and investment strategy tools
Social value measurement
Marketing and communication
Specialist support consultants
Specialist mentors
Capacity Across Faculties Support (Cross-faculty in this context means two or more departments working together)

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* 26. Cross-faculty interconnectivity – of the Social Entrepreneurs supported what are the themes/sectors that are emerging? (tick all that apply)

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* 27. Which of the following activities work cross-faculty? (tick all that apply)

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* 28. What systems are in place to enable cross-faculty working? (tick all that apply)

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* 29. In which ways do you engage volunteers in your support for social entrepreneurs? (tick all that apply)

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* 30. To what extent have you measured the social value and impact of the social entrepreneurs you have supported?

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* 31. To what extent have you measured the social value and impact of the social ventures that have been established? 

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* 32. To what extent have you measured the social value and impact of the work of the universities to support social entrepreneurs?

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* 33. Have any social impact and value reports been produced?

External Partnerships To Build Capacity

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* 34. Have you worked with any other HEIs in relation to your support for Social Entrepreneurship? If so, who?

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* 35. If so, what areas have you worked on? (tick all that apply)

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* 36. Have you got any external partnerships in place to support your social entrepreneurship activities?

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* 37. If so, what areas have you worked on? (tick all that apply)

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* 38. Have you engaged in programmes to support this partnership work? (tick all that apply)

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* 39. If so, how has this impacted on your capacity to deliver?

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* 40. What support would you require to further embed social entrepreneurship in your organisation or work? (tick all that apply)

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* 41. Have you got strategic buy in from your senior management team for your work to support social entrepreneurs? 

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* 42. Does your university recognise the value of your work to support Social Entrepreneurs in helping to meet their strategic objectives?

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* 43. In your opinion what defines a social responsible university?

  Not Important Important  Very Important  N/A
Having a clear strategic vision as a university, that clearly outlines your social mission
Creating a sense of place, combining corporate, educational, and social values 
Engaging with the wider community for local and societal benefit 
Developing socially responsible students through in-curricular and extra-curricular activities
Procuring from social and ethical suppliers wherever possible
Raising awareness of student and graduate opportunities across the public sector and wider voluntary, community and social sectors
Supporting the development of social innovation, entrepreneurship and leadership
Applying research and innovation activities in partnership with communities for maximum social impact
Having a sustainability strategy to benefit people, the environment and locality
Many Thanks For Completing This Survey. 

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