Applications Now Open For Brand New €500,000 ARISE Scheme

Applications are now invited under the ARISE Scheme 2021.

This Awareness Raising Initiative for Social Enterprise will provide funding to increase awareness of social enterprises and their potential, in line with the Awareness Raising Strategy.

Developing and promoting a wide understanding of social enterprise is a key priority of the National Social Enterprise Policy for Ireland 2019-2022, and the success of the Policy depends in large part on the success in communicating the message about what Social Enterprises are, with the public, amongst social enterprises and other businesses, and across the civil and public service.

Working in partnership with social enterprise stakeholders, DRCD has developed an Awareness Strategy for social enterprise in Ireland. Its main aims are to:

• Provide a common approach to the communications and language around social enterprise.

• Foster a common understanding of the value of social enterprise.

• Collectively empower social enterprises to have a voice and a role in raising awareness.

Dormant Accounts Funded ‘Awareness Raising Initiatives for Social Enterprise’ (ARISE) Scheme

The purpose of the Awareness Raising Initiative for Social Enterprise will be to provide funding to social enterprises and their support and network organisations to carry out awareness raising initiatives that will increase awareness of social enterprises and their potential, in line with the Awareness Raising Strategy. Funding for this scheme will be provided from the Dormant Accounts Fund.

The scheme is inviting applications under two strands:

· Strand One will be aimed at individual social enterprises. It is envisaged that they will tell their story and highlight how their social enterprise is improving people’s lives.

· Strand Two will be aimed at Social Enterprise Network and Support organisations to deliver more general or sectoral messages on what social enterprises are, and their potential to deliver sustainable and inclusive development and recovery.

Projects under both strands will be required to be in line with the key messages of the Social Enterprise Awareness Raising Strategy. The Key Messages are shown in the table below. Organisations seeking funding under this scheme will need to clearly show how these key messages will be incorporated into their awareness campaigns.