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| Topic: | Review of market outreach of FSSI’s financial services in year 2025 to mid-2026 |
| Researcher: | External resource person or consultant |
| Timeline: | October 5 to November 6, 2026 |
The Foundation for a Sustainable Society, Incorporated (FSSI) is looking for a researcher who will undertake a market study on the demand for financial services among social enterprises in the country.
The study, which is expected to be completed by November 5, 2026, will look at, among others, the nature of financing requirements of SEs in the Philippines and the factors affecting their decision to access additional financing. (More information on the study is provided below.)
Those interested should submit on or before September 30, 2026, a letter indicating their interest to do the study and include a curriculum vitae. These should be sent by email to fssi@fssi.com.ph.
We will reply to short-listed applicants by October 2, 2026, and will provide them with more information on the study and on the next steps in our selection process.
BACKGROUND
FSSI launched its Strategic Plan for the years 2025-2029 with the following strategic goals:
- Partnership and Membership Expansion: Expand FSSI’s network of partners and members, with a clear focus on empowering social enterprises (SEs), with emphasis on agriculture and women SEs.
- Finance and Resource Management: Ensure long-term financial sustainability by optimizing existing resources, diversifying revenue streams, and tapping additional funding sources beyond the endowment fund to continuously support social enterprises and achieve FSSI’s mission.
- Enhance FSSI’s overall capacity by optimizing internal structures, adopting innovative technologies, and improving systems, processes and staff capabilities. These initiatives aim to fortify FSSI’s ability to support social enterprises, to ensure they achieve their financial, social, and environmental sustainability goals.
These goals lead towards FSSI’s Vision of “Empowered communities upholding social justice, respecting integrity of creation, and realizing fullness of life” and are in line with its Mission to “Invest in social enterprises by growing bottom lines for people, planet, and profit”.
In pursuing these goals, FSSI will strive to live by its Core Values of Stewardship, Integrity, Good Governance and Excellence.
A major component in achieving these goals is the provision of financial services to social enterprises. This is reflected in the following objectives:
Objective A2. To provide financial and capacity building services to 150 SEs, especially agriculture and women SEs; including 60 new partner SE, 60 new co-investees, and at east 70% of them are generating positive results on people or planet bottom lines, along with the profit bottom line.
Objective A3. To provide financial and capacity building services to 15 new SEs in 3 underserved areas.
Objective B2. To expand financial investments to strengthen partner SEs’ ability to achieve 3BL outcomes.
Objective C2. To improve service delivery through the integration of innovative technologies, including digitalization, automation, and artificial intelligence, with the aim of improving efficiency, accessibility, and responsiveness in meeting organizational and customer needs of FSSI.
The strategic plan was developed based on an assessment of FSSI’s strengths and weaknesses, and the opportunities and threats it faced. A study on the status of Philippine social enterprises, a social market research, an external assessment workshop and preparatory papers were done to identify key opportunities and threats for FSSI currently and in the next years.
Now in the second year of implementation, FSSI is commissioning a study that will look back at how the delivery of financial services to target social enterprises were facilitated during the initial one-and-a-half years and generate insights relevant to the periodic review of the target number of SEs and the projected investments for the rest of the five-year strategic plan.
STATEMENT OF THE PROBLEM
A. What is the size of the market of social enterprises that satisfy FSSI’s eligibility criteria and risk appetite and what are the major characteristics of these suitable SEs (e.g. ownership structure, asset size, industry/sector, geographical location, scope of operation and financing requirements)?
1. Based on FSSI’s recent experience in marketing loans to target social enterprises
a.) At which stage of the project applications are potential partners most likely to drop out? What are the conversion and drop-off rates at each stage of the pipeline
b.) What are the primary reasons why prospective SEs fail to progress from one stage to the next?
c.) What are the most important characteristics of applicant SEs that progressed to the submission of complete requirements and loan approval that differentiate them from the SEs that fail to progress in their loan application?
d.) Which internal and external factors to potential partner SE most influence successful conversion from lead to loan release?
2. Based on secondary data (including data of DTI, CDA, DA and industry associations, among others) and key informant interviews
B. From which financial institutions do these suitable SEs currently get their financing needs and what factors made them decide to source their financing requirements from them?
METHODOLOGY
Survey, review of secondary data, and key informant interviews.
The survey will be limited to a list of existing partners and previously identified leads of FSSI during the period from year 2025 to mid-2026, which will be provided by the concerned units of FSSI.
Relevant studies and data from various government agencies and other organizations will be gathered and analyzed. These will include the following: DTI, CDA, DA, DAR, industry associations, including networks of cooperatives and SEs and SE support organizations.
The key informants to be interviewed will be selected from representatives or contacts of partner SEs, identified leads, SE support organizations, industry associations and others as may be needed.
SCOPE AND LIMITATION
The study will focus on loans and will not include other financial products of FSSI (developmental deposit, co-investment, co-lending, seed capital, equity, and grants).
PRELIMINARY DATA TO BE PREPARED BY FSSI UNITS
- How many prospective SE partners entered the FSSI pipeline during the study period?
- How many prospective SEs signified their interest in applying for financing?
- How many interested SEs completed the documentary and eligibility requirements?
- How many applications that met the requirements were approved?
- How many approved projects resulted in actual loan releases?
ADDITIONAL REFERENCES
- FSSI STRATEGIC PLAN FOR THE YEARS 2025-2029
- FSSI SOCIAL MARKET RESEARCH by Evident
- SOCIAL ENTERPRISE LANDSCAPE IN THE PHILIPPINES prepared by Charles Allen L. Herpacio and Jefferson C.Bore for FSSI
- INTERNAL ASSESSMENT FOR FSSI STRATEGIC PLANNING, August 30, 2024
TIMELINE
The proposed timeline is as follows:
