The Social Economy context in Portugal can be summarized as follows: funding needs of 750€ millions, more than 55.000 Socially Purposed Organisations (SPOs) and a potential funding available of 1250€ million. Although there is potential for funding, SPOs remain without access to it. The causes for this are manifold, both for the demand and supply sides. Causes regarding the demand side are: lack of information, poor quality applications and partnerships, lack of medium and long term sustainability strategies, and lack of coincidence between the objectives of the funder and the SPOs. Causes regarding the supply side are: lack of transparency in calls for proposals, lack of articulation and complementarity between funders, lack of feedback about the selection process, lack of clarity regarding the application of documents, and the need for more simplified and quick application processes.
GEOfundos started to address the need to build capacity amongst SPOs and social entrepreneurs by improving the availability of information on funding opportunities. GEOfundos is a solution aiming to increase the ability to obtain effective and efficient funding which will lead to the improved financial sustainability of SPOs and social entrepreneurs. GEOfundos started as a partnership between several organisations, amongst which is the Associação Mutualista Montepio. The GEOFundos platform is the only platform in Portugal that has all national and international funding opportunities for SPOs and entrepreneurs. It provides a number of personalized services that include warning systems. These are: customized information by region, activity, amount and target groups. The platform is a learning space with a knowledge centre with videos, documents, articles, etc…Its expert centre provides consultancy and training services for capacity building. Support is also offered for doubts and questions.
The platform is addressed to all SPOs and social entrepreneurs, NGOs, associations, charities, mutuals, cooperatives and foundations who wish to apply for national and international funding/investment, regarding the areas of environment, education and training, poverty, social innovation, arts and culture, health and humanitarian support. GEOfundos provides several advantages to the social economy. Firstly, it grants SPOs more time, as it is easier for them to access funding, thus dedicating more time to their mission. Secondly, it increases SPOs success in applications, thanks to its support services. GEOfundos has been operating since May 2017. Between May 2016 and August 2017 there have been a total of 554 opportunities available in the platform, with a total number of 201 identified funders (133 international and 68 national). The preliminary impact outcomes of this 6 month period are:
- 63% of the inquired subscribers applied for funding opportunities received through GEOfundos alerts system
- 26% of these were successful applications
- These entities report that 76% of their funding opportunities were found through GEOfundos
- 3,6€ million is the minimum amount captured by SPOs and Social Entrepreneurs that can be attributed to GEOfundos
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