Social Impact Guarantee (SIG) is a results-based financing mechanism that functions similar to a money-back guarantee. It allows a donor to ensure that their donation achieves the social impact it was meant to achieve, or a portion of the funding is returned. This donation can then be recycled to a new iteration or other programmes to try to achieve the intended outcomes.
Working with YMCA Singapore as service provider, TL Whang Foundation as donor, and Lorinet Foundation as guarantor, Tri-Sector Associates designed and launched the world’s first Social Impact Guarantee (SIG) (2021-2022) to fund innovative enhancements to YMCA’s Vocational and Soft Skills Programme (VaSSP).
Since 2011, VaSSP has been serving youth-at-risk who are Not in Education or Employment (NEET) to re-engage them in work and school.
Using the SIG financing, the YMCA could improve the core VaSSP to achieve even higher success rates for the youth they serve by including three enhancements namely Internships, Extended social intervention, and Enhanced learning programme.
Results:
- YMCA trained 78 youth. In 12 months, with the SIG Enhancements, the placement rate increased from 59% to 77.4%.
- The three enhancements are now embedded into VaSSP’s core model.
- Through the SIG, we tested the model and demonstrated that SIG is adaptable, can have a portfolio approach, and is an approach that can be scaled up.