Supporting the impact of social enterprises through skill-sharing opportunities

Social enterprises and non-profit organisations play a critical role in shaping and contributing to societies around the world. However, their ability to scale and strengthen their community impact is often hindered by resourcing challenges.

The Beautiful Bunch is a floral design and delivery business that provides training and employment for women from refugee and asylum seeker backgrounds. Since its launch in 2020, The Beautiful Bunch has expanded its operations in Melbourne and is now interested in entering the Sydney market, but required support with the scoping and assessment of potential opportunities.

In May 2023, The Beautiful Bunch connected with the Macquarie Group Foundation, which drives social impact work for Macquarie, through the Social Enterprises Needing Development (SEND) program. The SEND program, run by for-purpose sector intermediary Social Impact Hub*, introduces Australian social enterprises to Macquarie employees who volunteer their time and professional skills to help social enterprises navigate challenges and opportunities.

A small cohort of Macquarie employees worked with The Beautiful Bunch to develop a business plan for its expansion into the Sydney market. The plan included understanding its goals, researching and analysing potential collaborators, funders and possible locations, and developing a matrix to inform decisions around the feasibility of different expansion options.

The Social Impact Hub selects social enterprises for Macquarie volunteers and distributes an expression of interest form to gather information on their skills, experience and interests. Based on these details, Social Impact Hub then matches them to volunteers who align with the social enterprise’s need. In a follow up survey, 100 per cent of the social enterprises that completed the survey said they were interested in continuing to engage with skilled volunteers in a similar way in the future.

Anna Le Masurier, Regional Director of the Macquarie Group Foundation in Australia, said the process of connecting social enterprises with skilled volunteers was a vital part of Macquarie's work to help drive outcomes. “Having an experienced intermediary play a match-making role in bringing people and organisations together is important to invest in,” she said. "It makes all the difference to this type of project-based volunteering.”

In 2023, the first year of the SEND program, more than 40 Macquarie employees volunteered with 10 social enterprises introduced by the Social Impact Hub.

Romy Sandler from Macquarie’s Corporate Operations Group volunteered with HoMie, a clothing store in Melbourne supporting young people affected by homelessness or hardship by providing retail skills training to help secure employment. She said her experience in learning and development as well as diversity, equity and inclusion made her particularly interested in HoMie’s requirements.

“I was brought on to the HoMie project to support its Inclusion Training program, which aligned with my experience and passion,” Romy said. 

Other Macquarie volunteers worked with Remember The Wild, a social enterprise that provides tools to create immersive and accessible experiences that bring nature to people at home. They created a business plan to reduce Remember The Wild’s reliance on grants and help explore revenue- generating initiatives. The process included an ideation session to explore the feasibility of these opportunities, and recommendations on strategic business development and implementation.

Dr Catherine Cavallo, COO of Remember The Wild, said it was “really energising to get out of our echo-chamber and be reminded of the importance of the field we are working in.”

“It was great to approach challenges and ideas with a fresh set of eyes, and to brainstorm in the context of the team's financial, marketing and business development expertise.”