Much like the standard Social Impact Incentives (SIINC) model, Reimbursable/ Convertible SIINC also reward impact enterprises with time-limited premium payments for achieving social impact. By linking public or philanthropic funding to pre-defined and proven social outcomes, high-impact enterprises can earn extra revenue, and scale both in terms of income and impact. This in turn, helps them to attract additional repayable investment – a pre-condition for receiving any kind of SIINC payments.

The main difference to traditional SIINC is that if an impact enterprise proves to be (commercially) successful beyond a certain level, SIINC payments will be partially or fully reimbursed or converted (e.g. into debt). While conditions can be freely negotiated, the most obvious scenario is to tie reimbursement/conversion to the commercial success of the enterprise, e.g. using pre-defined profitability or revenue triggers. This allows outcomes funders to “recycle” their resources and to generate additional impact. Reimbursable or Convertible SIINC are best suited for impact enterprises that are expected to be commercially strong and profitable in the mid-/long term, e.g. tech-based companies. Reimbursable/ Convertible SIINC are less viable for impact enterprises tilting towards slower growth and/or scale, as the burden of repayment or conversion could undo the progress made.