Apply now: funding available for job-creating social impact initiatives

Is your organisation involved in work that serves the common good? Can you create part-time work for a minimum of 1,000 people for a period of at least 10 months? Does your organisation have a solid track record of community-based work?

If so, you’re invited to apply to the Social Employment Fund.

Managed by the Industrial Development Corporation (IDC), this bold and ambitious fund takes a “whole-of-society” approach to tackling the issue of unemployment in SA. It does so by supporting and funding a wide range of social and civic actors in creating impactful community initiatives.

Call for proposals

The Social Employment Fund is looking for proposals that create work that serves the common good. This covers a wide spectrum of activities, such as:

• Greening and the environment
• Community and public art
• Community safety, combatting gender-based violence
• Education support, including early childhood development
• Food security, nutrition and health
• Micro-enterprises

Thematic areas include, but are not limited to:

• Support for a social economy
• Grassroots involvement
• Social innovation

Submit your proposal now

Visit the IDC website to access application forms and terms of reference.

The closing date for applications is June 13 2025.

Need more information? 

A briefing session will be held on Thursday May 22 2025. For further details and to sign up to attend, email sefapplications@idc.co.za.

This article was sponsored by the IDC.