From 80 to 788: The First Year of the CIC Association

A year ago, an unlikely group of around eighty CIC founders and supporters gathered in Vauxhall. We’d come together because we shared a conviction that the CIC legislation was the most important development in social enterprise law in a generation — and a frustration that almost nothing was being done to support it.

Out of that meeting, the CIC Association was born. We incorporated in September 2009 with an £8,000 grant from the Regulator — barely enough to build a basic website and cover the cost of a few coffees at meetings. We had no office, no staff, no budget. What we had was a network of people who believed in the CIC model and were prepared to put their time and energy into building something.

One year on, we have 788 members. That growth — from 80 to nearly 800 in twelve months — tells me that the need for a CIC-specific support organisation was real. It also tells me that we’ve barely scratched the surface.

The membership spans every region of the UK and every sector you can imagine. Healthcare providers, community transport schemes, renewable energy projects, arts organisations, social care enterprises — the diversity of CIC activity is astonishing, and it’s reflected in the Association’s membership base.

What have we achieved in that first year? We’ve built an online platform that connects CICs with each other. We’ve started gathering data on CIC creation rates, survival rates, and sector distribution — work that has already been used by academics and policymakers. We’ve established a media partnership with Social Enterprise Magazine that will run CIC content over ten issues. We’ve agreed to work with KnowHow Nonprofit and Cass Business School on charity effectiveness. And we’ve started developing the practical tools — CPD modules, template documents, case studies — that CICs need to operate effectively.

But let’s be honest about the challenges too. We’ve done all of this on a shoestring. The £8,000 grant from the Regulator is long spent. Everything since has been funded by goodwill, pro bono contributions, and the occasional personal cheque. I’ve been paying for the platform’s hosting out of my own pocket.

We’re now working on transitioning the Association to a company limited by guarantee, which will make us eligible for foundation funding. We’ve got a draft memorandum and articles ready for member consultation. We’re building a stronger board and looking for experienced bid writers to help us access the resources we need.

The message I keep coming back to is this: we’ve proved the model. We’ve shown that CICs will organise themselves if given the platform. What we need now is the investment to take that platform to the next level.

From 80 to 788 in twelve months. Not bad for an organisation with no budget and a lot of passion.