Philanthropic investors are currently either looking for social entrepreneurial organisations to support individually, or often invest their money via ethical funds such as BonVenture, NESsT, New Profit Inc. or Bridges Community Ventures.
At the same time, there are numerous initiatives and organisations around the globe aiming to provide online platforms for "social investments". To date, most are donation focused, with the exception of Kiva.org who offer microfinance or myc4.com who offer larger loans, the latter specifically in African countries, both via a peer-to-peer platform. EDA Capital Connect on the other hand acts as a platform for direct transactions between social enterprises and institutional investors / lenders.
Furthermore, ethical banks such as GLS Bank have experienced an enormous increase in their client base. GLS Bank now receives twice as much requests as it did before the economic crisis. This shows the enormous demand in this sector. In light of the current financial crisis, private investors are becoming aware of their responsibility to control HOW they are making profits - and now more than ever looking for trustworthy partners who invest their money in an ethical way.
