Gordon Hunter thinks the best finance option for pushing the Big Society could reside next door. 

The sixty odd UK community development finance institutions loaned about £200m last year to business, charities and individuals. Of this, civil society organisations borrowed just £32m. Meanwhile, state contributions to the charity sector are something like £12bn a year, three quarters in contracts, the rest as grant.

You can see that the loan market is tiny. (Although there is a real gap in micro loans to marginalised business start ups)

So, what’s all the fuss about loans? Why are we so fixated on social investment bonds? Why is the Lottery diverting grant aid into 'social finance'? It’s a bit much: the public pays a betting tax, then borrows the money back!
 
Realistically, the loan engine will not drive Big Society.
The smart money is on the “neighbourhood management” approach (see Jim Diers’ work in Seattle) which challenges local people to generate and co-fund practical projects. We can add some practical ingredients like digital media, citizen journalism, local management of dormant accounts, payroll giving, planning concessions, impact reporting and many more. That way, with small amounts of seedcorn funding, we can galvanise local communities (see NESTA 'mass localism') to make a big, sustainable difference.