Funding gaps particularly affect organisations such as social enterprises which are often appointed by public administrations that provide social services. The IFISE project is looking to identify innovative financial instruments that can also use European Structural and Investment (ESI) Funds to address unmet financing needs of the social economy.

This handbook offers clear guidelines for public administrations interested in designing and setting up financial instruments that positively impact society. It draws a roadmap to help navigate existing methodologies, tools and metrics for Social Impact Investment (SII). In addition, best practice examples highlight how to manage financial instruments with a social impact.

An overview of SII and its options under ESI Funds is given in Chapter 1. Chapters 2 and 3 are dedicated to analysing Social Impact Bonds (SIBs) and Social Impact Funds (SIFs) respectively.

The three chapters are designed to be standalone documents. The handbook can be read as a whole or each chapter can be consulted as needed.