Hefboom
Hefboom was founded on November 11 1985. It found its origin in a need for financial support to start-up projects in the social economy at that time. Since then Hefboom is supplying different types of credit to organisations active in this sector.
The legal status of a cooperative organisation was chosen not only to raise capital, but also to create a social structure. The socially engaged in our society can help the socially vulnerable in our society by signing in on shares. The shareholders of the organisation are institutionals as well as individuals.
Later on it became clear that the organizations active in the social economy were experiencing growing pains. Because of the expansion of the sector, they often seemed to struggle with management issues. Hefboom created an advice activity to address questions from these organizations. Over the course of years Hefboom gained a lot of experience in managing cooperative organizations. Hefboom became an important partner for cooperative enterprises by providing advice and offering services such as shareholders management.
Today Hefboom cvba has about 1.500 shareholders and a funding base of 15 million euro.
In October 2007 Hefboom started a microfinance activity. The microfinance activity is currently under the legal status of a non-profit organisation (Hefboom vzw).
Hefboom has an approval by the Flemish government for its credit and advice activities.
Hefboom has a General Assembly and a Board of Directors. The board consists of 10 members including the managing director Dirk Dalle. The board of directors is the central policy- and decision-making body and represents the various stakeholder groups.
Within the management team there’s a head of advice (Jo Jespers), head of credits (Piet Callens) and a head of finance & back office (Danny De Mul), forming the management committee.
The credit team is an internal credit committee that can decide on credit applications within well-defined boundaries (see chapter 3.1. Credit/Investment policy: internal procedures and guidelines). The credit team consists of the head of credits, head of finance, the managing director and credit consultants.
The credit committee is responsible for evaluating and awarding long-term financing. The committee's members include external experts, members of management, the board and credit consultants.
Mission, objectives, area of operations & investment strategy
Hefboom strives for a better and more sustainable society through management consulting, financing and other services for companies, organizations and projects with a social purpose.
Hefboom provides credits to social and sustainable projects and enterprises, as well as to people who want to start up their own business but do not have access to bank credits.
Hefboom also supports social enterprises with management advice and coaching, and provides other services, such as project management and shareholders management mainly to cooperatives and non-profit organisations.
Partners
In order to achieve the goals, Hefboom is always looking for partners in various fields. This network, which Hefboom has built up over the course of years, aims to create partnerships with other organizations to support and cover the social economy and work together to support initiatives and products that contribute to a sustainable, socially responsible society such as: In|C (www.in-c.biz), Starterslabo (www.starterslabo.be), Unizo (www.unizo.be), Syntra (www.syntra-ab.be), Sociale Innovatiefabriek (www.socialeinnovatiefabriek.be), Bizidee (www.bizidee.be), Dyzo (www.dyzo.be), Flanders Synergy (www.flanderssynergy.be) etc..
Hefboom has influence on regional, Flemish and European policy thanks to the close contacts to administrations and ministries of welfare, social affairs etc..
Hefboom also builds strong relationships as a shareholders with organizations such as Tama ( a new European cooperative that provides loans to social projects and organisations within Europe), The Shift (www.theshift.be), Trividend (www.trividend.be), Starterslabo’s (www.starterslabo.be), Fairtrade Belgium (www.fairtradebelgium.be), Aspiravi (www.aspiravi.be), Limburg Wind (www.limburgwind.be), Incofin (www.incofin.be), Crédal (www.credal.be), Triodos Bank (www.triodos.be) and many more.
Hefboom works together with colleague organizations in Flanders, Wallonia and the rest of Europe such as: Participatiemaatschappij Vlaanderen (www.pmv.eu), Participatiefonds Vlaanderen (www.pmv.eu/nl/participatiefonds-vlaanderen), MicroStart (www.microstart.be), Crédal (www.crédal.be), Qredits (www.qredits.nl) etc..
Hefboom is also a member of organisations such as Febea (www.febea.org), European Microfinance Network (www.european-microfinance.org), Kenniscentrum Sociaal Europa (www.kcse.eu), etc..
For the microcredit activity (Impulskrediet) Hefboom has an important partnership with the Flemish government, Agentschap ondernemen (local agency for entrepreneurship funded by the government), SIFO (social investment fund) and Waarborgbeheer (a guarantee fund).
Market (target group, position, demand & competitors)
Hefboom provides financing and advice to organizations and initiatives in Flanders and Brussels that strive to create a society with equal opportunities and that are environmentally-conscious and strive for sustainability.
Our target group is highly diverse, ranging from small-scale initiatives to companies with 1.000 employees or more, from highly professional companies to projects that mainly work with volunteers, cooperatives, non-profit organizations and other social enterprises.
Clients of Hefboom are social economy actors active in domains such as social and shelter workshops, local service economy and cooperatives. Other clients are active in welfare, health, equal opportunities, employment care, insertion companies, social-cultural sector, ecology and sustainability.
Some market figures
· There are more than 14 million jobs in the social economy across Europe or about 6,5% of the working population of the EU[1].
· Social economy enterprises represent 2 million enterprises (i.e. 10% of all European businesses) Social economy enterprises are present in almost every sector of the economy, such as banking, insurance, agriculture, craft, various commercial services, and health and social services etc.[2].
· In Flanders about 51.000 people are estimated to work in social economy[3].
In Flanders Hefboom is the number one provider of funding for social enterprises and organizations. In 2014 Hefboom had 23 million euro of outstanding credits and participations or about 285 funded projects, including 63 microcredits via Impulskrediet. Our main competitors our traditional banks. Organizations such as Trividend and Triodos Bank are partners (Hefboom is shareholder) and the have a different focus but are also active in social economy. A new possible competitor are crowdfunding platforms.
[1] The Social Economy in the European Union - http://www.eesc.europa.eu/resources/docs/qe-31-12-784-en-c.pdf
[2] http://ec.europa.eu/enterprise/policies/sme/promoting-entrepreneurship/social-economy/index_en.htm
[3] Monitor Werk en Sociale Economie – 2012 - https://wse-cijfers.vlaanderen.be/analytics