Collecting Data on Social Enterprises 2025

1The challenge This playbook presents the shared learnings of more than 25 leading organizations collecting data on social enterprise. The advisory group 1.1 1.2In 2024, following the publication of “The State of Social Enterprise”, the Schwab Foundation for Social Entrepreneurship partnered with Social Enterprise UK and Euclid Network to research the variety of methodologies used to collect data on social enterprises. The team engaged with global experts specializing in social enterprise mapping, survey methodologies and statistical analysis. Additionally, the team hosted the Aligned for Impact workshop, bringing together nearly 50 leaders from Africa, the Americas, Asia and Europe to exchange insights and discuss best practices in data collection. A key outcome of this initiative was the launch of a dedicated Advisory Group on Social Enterprise Data in December 2024: a group of over 25 active members spanning civil society, academia, the public sector and the private sector. The group serves as a collaborative platform dedicated to enhancing the quality, consistency, comparability and impact of social enterprise data worldwide. As a starting point, the group has focused on the collection of demographic data about social enterprises through surveys. Surveys have long been a widely used method for gathering and reporting demographic data on social enterprises globally. Over the past decades, they have played a key role in recurring studies and have become a standard practice among membership organizations and financiers. Given their widespread use, surveys offer significant potential for harmonizing future data collection efforts. The shared learnings on collecting data through surveys, developed by the Advisory Group on Social Enterprise Data, are presented in this playbook. Designed as a practical guide for practitioners, this playbook provides guidance on collecting, analysing and leveraging demographic data on social enterprises through surveys, ensuring that the sector’s contribution is more accurately measured and effectively communicated on a global scale. In addition to this playbook, the Advisory Group on Social Enterprise Data has developed a set of common survey questions. These have been published separately on the website of the Global Alliance for Social Entrepreneurship.3 The members of the advisory group intend to adopt these questions in their own data collection efforts and encourage others to do so as well. Methodology The guidance and tools presented in this playbook have been collated using mixed methodologies, including desk research, interviews and mapping of existing surveys. In-depth reviews of key methodologies were conducted with guidance from leading organizations, including: –International Labour Organization (ILO): Measuring the social and solidarity economy (SSE).4 –UN Inter-Agency Task Force on Social and Solidarity Economy (UNTFSSE): Encyclopaedia of the SSE, statistical measurement of the SSE.5 –UN Research Institute for Social Development (UNRISD): Measuring the scale and impact of the SSE.6 –UN Statistics Division (UNSD): Satellite account on non-profit and related institutions and volunteer work.7 –Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD): Thirty-four country fact sheets on the SSE.8 –European Commission: Benchmarking the socio-economic performance of the EU social economy.9 Collecting Data on Social Enterprises: A Playbook for Practitioners 6