Challenges and opportunities for scaling proven social innovations



In December 2025, Social Enterprise Netherlands developed the preliminary report “Scaling Social Innovations by Social Enterprises in the Netherlands” as part of the Dutch national consortium within the European Social Innovation Alliance (ESIA). The report explores what social entrepreneurs and policymakers can do to create better conditions for proven social innovations to scale more effectively.

The starting point of the report is that the Netherlands faces a range of complex societal challenges, and social entrepreneurs are developing new responses to these challenges through social innovation. Many of these innovations emerge locally, while the underlying societal problems are national in scope. At the same time, many social enterprises have a clear ambition to scale their impact — but scaling does not happen automatically.



The report focuses on the question:

What challenges and opportunities do social entrepreneurs face when scaling a proven social innovation from a regional to a national level?

To explore this question in more detail, the research focuses on two thematic fields: participation of newcomers and debt counselling. These themes were selected because many social entrepreneurs are active in these areas, because government faces significant difficulty in finding effective solutions, and because social innovation is particularly needed.

The research combines literature review, two workshops and additional interviews with social enterprises, civil servants, researchers, funders and support organisations. The workshops explored challenges and opportunities for scaling and developed concrete recommendations for different stakeholders.



Key insights were:

Social innovations often emerge locally, but scaling requires more than organisational growth. It requires coalition-building, institutional change, cultural embedding and an ecosystem that enables wider adoption.

Scaling can take different forms. It may mean scaling out by reaching more people or places, scaling up by influencing policy, laws and institutional rules, or scaling deep by changing cultural norms, narratives and relationships.

Social enterprises play an important role as pioneers and system challengers. They address complex societal problems, work close to people’s lives and often provide alternatives to existing ways of doing things. However, the systems around them do not always recognise or reward the broader social value they create.

A major barrier is the lack of structural, long-term financing. The report shows that while there are often funding opportunities for early-stage initiatives and more mature organisations, social enterprises in the middle growth phase frequently fall between funding categories. Short project cycles, fragmented subsidies and the absence of suitable growth finance limit their ability to scale.

Bureaucracy, siloed policies and complex procurement rules also make scaling difficult. Social enterprises often work across domains, while public systems are organised in separate policy fields, budgets and mandates. This creates uncertainty, slows down decision-making and makes partnerships harder to sustain.

The report also highlights the importance of experimentation. Social enterprises need low-threshold opportunities to test, adapt and improve their solutions before being expected to scale. Flexible policy frameworks, municipal innovation funds and room for trial-and-error could help create better conditions for experimentation.

Another key finding is the importance of ecosystem coordination. Social entrepreneurs often need strong networks, ambassadors, first movers and committed partners to gain legitimacy, access resources and open doors. Yet the current support landscape is fragmented, and entrepreneurs often have to navigate different programmes, funders and public actors on their own.

The report therefore recommends stronger integrated support structures for scaling. Social enterprises need support with strategy, finance, HR, procurement, impact measurement, organisational development and operationalisation. Network organisations, funders and a future National Competence Centre for Social Innovation could play an important role by providing expert pools, peer learning, scaling toolkits and long-term learning programmes.

Impact measurement is identified as both necessary and potentially problematic. Demonstrated impact helps build trust, legitimacy and access to funding. However, impact measurement should be co-designed and used as a learning tool, not only as a compliance requirement.

The report also stresses the importance of strengthening the participation and agency of target groups, especially newcomers. Social innovations should involve those affected by societal challenges in their design, governance and evaluation. Removing systemic barriers, such as rules that limit newcomers’ ability to work, can improve both fairness and effectiveness.

The preliminary conclusion is clear: social enterprises can significantly contribute to addressing complex societal challenges, but their ability to scale depends on the environment around them. To increase their impact, the ecosystem must provide more room for experimentation, more stable financing, better coordination, stronger partnerships and long-term support.

By documenting the scaling challenges of social enterprises in the Netherlands, this report provides important insights for policymakers, funders, ecosystem builders and National Competence Centres working to strengthen the conditions for social innovation.