Hoosick NY is starting an exciting community planning campaign and recruitment strategy. This presentation was used to kick off the project and discuss trends in rural economic development.
Social Entrepreneurship and the 21st Century MueseumPaul Rogers
This talk provides a basic introduction to the potential value of social entrepreneurship for museum professionals. For more information on the strategic execution framework check out http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Bg-ypS5p7-E
This presentation was part of the Growing Entrepreneurial Communities Summit, a practitioner-focused summit designed to help economic development and small business practitioners effectively create economic growth through entrepreneurship in local communities. The 2018 Summit, subtitled Entrepreneurship on the Edges, focused on providing information and practitioner insight in how to effectively develop disadvantaged urban and rural communities using entrepreneurship-led development strategies.
This presentation was part of the Growing Entrepreneurial Communities Summit, a practitioner-focused summit designed to help economic development and small business practitioners effectively create economic growth through entrepreneurship in local communities. The 2018 Summit, subtitled Entrepreneurship on the Edges, focused on providing information and practitioner insight in how to effectively develop disadvantaged urban and rural communities using entrepreneurship-led development strategies.
Intro to Social Enterprises (Webinar 1 18 12)Kristin Wolff
Intro to Social Enterprises Webinar for people/programs offering services to ex-offenders.
Social Policy Research Associates team:
Vinz Koller, Haydee Cuza, Kristin Wolff, David Mitnick, Chandra Larsen, Annie Nyborg, Nancy Box, Jan DeYoung
Hoosick NY is starting an exciting community planning campaign and recruitment strategy. This presentation was used to kick off the project and discuss trends in rural economic development.
Social Entrepreneurship and the 21st Century MueseumPaul Rogers
This talk provides a basic introduction to the potential value of social entrepreneurship for museum professionals. For more information on the strategic execution framework check out http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Bg-ypS5p7-E
This presentation was part of the Growing Entrepreneurial Communities Summit, a practitioner-focused summit designed to help economic development and small business practitioners effectively create economic growth through entrepreneurship in local communities. The 2018 Summit, subtitled Entrepreneurship on the Edges, focused on providing information and practitioner insight in how to effectively develop disadvantaged urban and rural communities using entrepreneurship-led development strategies.
This presentation was part of the Growing Entrepreneurial Communities Summit, a practitioner-focused summit designed to help economic development and small business practitioners effectively create economic growth through entrepreneurship in local communities. The 2018 Summit, subtitled Entrepreneurship on the Edges, focused on providing information and practitioner insight in how to effectively develop disadvantaged urban and rural communities using entrepreneurship-led development strategies.
Intro to Social Enterprises (Webinar 1 18 12)Kristin Wolff
Intro to Social Enterprises Webinar for people/programs offering services to ex-offenders.
Social Policy Research Associates team:
Vinz Koller, Haydee Cuza, Kristin Wolff, David Mitnick, Chandra Larsen, Annie Nyborg, Nancy Box, Jan DeYoung
At Vikasa share your Innovative Ideas that tackle social problems and promote the spirit of social entrepreneurship to reduce poverty and inequality by supporting them with necessary skills.
Social enterprise: What is it and what to considerNICVA
A presentation by Amanada Johnston from Social Enterprise NI helping participants understand more about what social enterprise is, what you need to consider if thinking about starting a social enterprise, what support is available and gave some examples of local social enterprises.
This presentation was part of the Growing Entrepreneurial Communities Summit, a practitioner-focused summit designed to help economic development and small business practitioners effectively create economic growth through entrepreneurship in local communities. The 2018 Summit, subtitled Entrepreneurship on the Edges, focused on providing information and practitioner insight in how to effectively develop disadvantaged urban and rural communities using entrepreneurship-led development strategies.
Presentation at CSR Symposium in #yyc. This slide deck explores the evolution of corporate engagement in community and three distinct case studies of the new face of corporate citizenship.
A social entrepreneur is someone who recognizes a social problem and uses entrepreneurial principles to organize, create, and manage a venture to make social change (a social venture).
Scaling Social Entrepreneurship MIT Sloan Lectures 2014Robert H. Hacker
This PPT is the class notes from a four day class at MIT Sloan School of Management that I taught on how to scale a social entrepreneurship venture (SEV). The class defines social entrepreneurship and then explores two models for how to scale an SEV. The two cases and the final evaluation of One Laptop per Child, where I served as CFO for 3.5 years are not included here.
By Babou Olengha-Aaby , The Next Billion. Presented at Crowdsourcing Week Global 2015. Learn more and join us at our next event: www.crowdsourcingweek.com
At Vikasa share your Innovative Ideas that tackle social problems and promote the spirit of social entrepreneurship to reduce poverty and inequality by supporting them with necessary skills.
Social enterprise: What is it and what to considerNICVA
A presentation by Amanada Johnston from Social Enterprise NI helping participants understand more about what social enterprise is, what you need to consider if thinking about starting a social enterprise, what support is available and gave some examples of local social enterprises.
This presentation was part of the Growing Entrepreneurial Communities Summit, a practitioner-focused summit designed to help economic development and small business practitioners effectively create economic growth through entrepreneurship in local communities. The 2018 Summit, subtitled Entrepreneurship on the Edges, focused on providing information and practitioner insight in how to effectively develop disadvantaged urban and rural communities using entrepreneurship-led development strategies.
Presentation at CSR Symposium in #yyc. This slide deck explores the evolution of corporate engagement in community and three distinct case studies of the new face of corporate citizenship.
A social entrepreneur is someone who recognizes a social problem and uses entrepreneurial principles to organize, create, and manage a venture to make social change (a social venture).
Scaling Social Entrepreneurship MIT Sloan Lectures 2014Robert H. Hacker
This PPT is the class notes from a four day class at MIT Sloan School of Management that I taught on how to scale a social entrepreneurship venture (SEV). The class defines social entrepreneurship and then explores two models for how to scale an SEV. The two cases and the final evaluation of One Laptop per Child, where I served as CFO for 3.5 years are not included here.
By Babou Olengha-Aaby , The Next Billion. Presented at Crowdsourcing Week Global 2015. Learn more and join us at our next event: www.crowdsourcingweek.com
Strategic Philanthropy | Jerold E. NovackJerry Novack
Jerry Novack, CFO-SEVP of Bluerock Real Estate in New York, NY, is a seasoned, experienced, and successful businessman. He's passionate about sharing his wealth with others, as seen through his philanthropic endeavors. In this presentation, he spotlights how to best invest your money in philanthropic ventures.
Workshop around NextGen and Family philanthropy and the changing charitable landscape in Canada for the Alberta Family Business Institute at University of Alberta.
Includes activities and discussion points from the Johnson Center and 21/64.
guest lecture for students on the MA in Social Entrepreneurship programme at Goldsmiths University to introduce, and begin to explore, the growth strategy of social franchising
How can Catholic Social Teaching be applied to investment strategies? A presentation given by Theos' director, Elizabeth Oldfield, at the annual Catholic Charity Conference, 11 May 2016
Focusing on three areas essential to nonprofit success in the era of online giving: participatory programs, new younger donors, and communicating one's story. Produced as a training by Reggie Woolery of 'Arts4Good' for participants in "Give Big San Bernardino County 2015" campaign.
Bringing strength to social enterprise finalJodieMitch3ll
This workshop presented in conjunction with Mark Daniels, Social Traders (VIC), Joanne McNeill, Parramatta City Council (NSW) and Matt Noffs, Street University and Gideon Shoes (NSW) on Tuesday, 24 April 2012 explored social enterprise as a sustainable community building tool and shared information on how they operate sustainably.
Suzanne Smith, principal of Social Impact Architects, gives an overview of the Social Enterprise Alliance Summit 13 conference, sharing the how-tos of building an economy on purpose, at a mini-workshop hosted by SEA North Texas Chapter in June 2013 at KERA.
Webinar: Institutional Philanthropy & Grassroots Fundraising: A Match Made fo...EPIPNational
With so many complex social and political forces impacting philanthropy and the third sector today, it’s more important than ever for social justice fundraisers of every stripe to find purpose and meaning in their toil. The Grassroots Institute for Fundraising Training (GIFT) suggests that the distinction between donor and recipient is fleeting and that the transformational power of philanthropy lies in discovering and sharing our inner fundraiser with the world around us. Join us for this engaging webinar as we explore GIFT’s work to cultivate intention, craft, and pride in the role of the fundraiser as part of a broader effort to redefine philanthropy and help construct a shared vision of resource mobilization across the sector. We’ll learn about GIFT’s programs, in particular the biennial Money for Our Movements: A Social Justice Fundraising Conference, hear about impact from partners who’ve experienced GIFT’s transformative programming, and consider some strategic philanthropic responses to current trends in the sector.
Presented by Karen Luttrell and Kim Lear at the Editing Goes Global 2015 conference for writers and editors at the Metro Toronto Convention Centre on June 14, 2015. Covered opportunities for working with nonprofits and charities in Canada and tips for doing so successfully.
In the summer of 2022 Converge Mental Health Coalition hosted a design sprint across diving into the barriers in the mental health space. This report highlights what came from this event and what mental health orgs might want to take on to advance their initiatives.
Converge Mental Health Coalition is reimagining what Canada's mental health ecosystems could look like. It is a network of technologists, charities, funders, government agencies, business owners, researchers, and medical practitioners that are moving this conversation forward.
We are often told of how Next of Kin and Executors don't know where to find family member's passwords, account information, banking details and computer login information when the pass away. This checklist helps organize these items.
This presentation focuses on how women's control of North American wealth is changing the way that money is flowing into the financial and philanthropic sectors.
Giving can be hard work. Having the right tools is critical to managing how to disburse funds effectively. This chart breaks down the differences between Donor Advised Funds, Private Foundations, Community Foundations and hybrid institutional vehicles.
What is the value of a BCorp to family business and family enterprises? What does it mean to integrate Social Purpose into your family's business operations and corporate mandate?
A sample set of questions for you to ask family members and friends as you set up your legacy plan. These questions can also be used as part of a video or audio interview.
RSD4 summit at the Banff Centre
Redesigning the charitable sector to answer the following system questions at micro and macro levels:
- What would society look like of a charity X didn't exist?
- What would the cost to a community be?
- Can this be measured?
- What would it look like if everyone had access to all the informaiton about the charities they were supporting? What info is relevant and what is noise?
- Could we reduce the duplication in the marketplace? Could we create a marketplace?
- Can charity data support urban planning and smart cities? Can we use this info to predict the next social issue far enough in advance that policy makers and solution creators have enough time to manage the issue?
- Should we restructure the way that we incentivize donors beyond the charitable tax receipt and what about for-profit social impact investors, is there a way to incentivize their early-stage investments to encourage a social marketplace?
- Can we change a funding model from financing problems to rewarding executives and managers for coming up with solutions that push the needle on issues?
Gwen Becker, RBC and Allison Maher, Family Wealth Coach lead you through the critical questions to empower you to take ownership of your financial future.
2. To Be Covered
• Charity sector 101 – Why do we have it,
why do we need it and how has it
changed?
• The industrialization of philanthropy
• Social Enterprise and the new way of
doing an old business
• Role of technology
• Case studies & discussions
3. Learning
Objectives
• What is the Social Enterprise marketplace
• How traditional philanthropy and social
enterprise intersect
• What does this mean for your organization
4.
5. A Short History of Philanthropy
Green Innovation (2007)
Society & Religion Government & Legislation Corporate Models
6.
7. A systemic view
of innovation.
Source: After
Westall, A. 2007.
How can
innovation in
social enterprise
be understood,
encouraged and
enabled? A social
enterprise think
piece for the
Office of the Third
Sector. Cabinet
Office, Office of
The Third Sector,
UK, November.
Available at
http://www.eura.or
g/pdf/westall_new
s.pdf
15. Show me the
Money
Revenue Model
• How you plan on making money
Business Model
• How you plan to continue to make money
YES CHARITIES CAN MAKE MONEY
20. New Models
• The Sharing Economy Latitude
Research
• The Creative Economy Richard Florida
• New Wealth The Emergence Collective
• The App Store Economy Digital Buzz
Blog
• Social Media is Shaping Consumer
Decision Making Digital Buzz Blog
• Idea Economy iGenTribe.com
21. Policy & Corporate
Structures
• GIIRS B-Corp
• L3C (US – state-by-state)
• Part 9 charity companies (Alberta)
• Community Interest Companies (UK)
• Co-Ops
• Social Impact Bonds (UK, US state-by-
state)
22. Technology
• Value of connections Social Network
– Facebook causes
• Strategic partnerships Joint Ventures
– LinkedIn
• Village capital Cohort
– SI Hubs and Co-Location Spaces
24. How do I know
Discussion
• Is philanthropy still relevant today?
– What are some of the social perceptions of
charity and philanthropy?
– How do I know?
• What does philanthropy really look like in
my organization?
– How am I currently supporting donors in this
new landscape?
– Who are my competitors?
– How do I know?
25. Discussion on
Sustainability
• A business based on fundraising… is this
sustainable?
– How do I know?
• How do I scale a business built on
fundraising revenue?
• What would a new revenue model look
like?
– What influences this model?
– How do I find out?
26. Book List
• Philanthrocapitalism • The Creative Class
• Giving 2.0 • The Blue Sweater
• Giving Well • Soul of a Citizen
• The Art of Giving • The HIP Investor
• End of Fundraising • Harvard Business
• Impact Assets Review, Stanford
• Uncharitable Social Innovation
Review
• MFG Change,
Generating Social
Capital, Charity Hive -
Blogs
Good morning.It’ lovely seeing such a large crowd and I am really excited to spend the next little while with you exploring a topic that is shifting, what seems to me, on a weekly basis.I started exploring the social-profit economy shortly after 9-11. The tipping point for me was when President Bush was asked what we should do following the fall of the towers, and he said, “go shopping.” What is it about how we have structured society that retail therapy is an acceptable solution to major social problems?I left New York a year later, returned to Calgary and started consulting to small, local charities on fundraising best practises and organizational management. Eventually I ended up at CentrePoint and tapped into the knowledge resources there. What I learned, reinforced my perception of just how broken our system is, and the role that I was playing in this system. I knew there was a better way, a different way, and I wanted to learn as much as I could so that we didn’t keep repeating the same mistakes when I would work with my clients.What followed was the launch of a new company – Canada’s first philanthropic brokerage firm and it’s web-based software, Place2Give.com. I presented my idea at TEDxCalgary the concept of Philanthropy 3.0. This concept was was influenced by how Web 2.0 and how technology enabled people to interact with each other in real time. Over the past year and half technology has changed the social connectivity of people that philanthropy 3.0 is no longer an idea, but is how our sector operates on a daily basis. It is more than online giving and “liking” a cause on Facebook. Philanthropy 3.0 is really the validation of a social profit economy based on a philanthropic industry. I would love to say that I coined the term social profit, but that goes out to Globe & Mail special reporter Paul Alofs.
The high level learning objectives are three-fold:What is social enterpriseHow does social enterprise and philanthropy intersect and co-exist within the charitable marketplace?How do I make this practical for my organization?The more in-depth learning objective is around a new way of doing an old business. The old business being the business of philanthropy.I would like this to be a conversation, so please interrupt, ask questions, challenge assumptions... This is a space that is evolving very rapidly. Policy decisions are being made at all levels of government in several different countries around how this new economy fits within the old system. Or if it doesn’t, how do we create a space for this new economy to flourish.
So here is the first premise influencing today’s presentation.All societies around the world are comprised of three sectors:Public Private CharitableNot all of these sectors are balanced and not all of them are working harmoniously. But they are all influencing the day-to-day operations of any given society. We are seeing an emergence of a fourth leg to this stool – the social business/social enterprise space. It’s those organizations that are using the profit motive to drive social change. How will this new sector affect the traditional charity model? This is something that I am exploring further, from the perspective of the consumer-donor.How people are investing their money – both in the long and short terms, how they are making consumer decisions and voting will directly impact the charitable sector.
The business of philanthropy has been around since humankind lived in communities. Cave drawings show how tribes cared for and operated. The Greeks coined the term as “love of mankind.” Each culture has their own version of what this means. Christianity has “The golden rule”The law of one – “We are all one. When one is harmed, all are harmed. When one is helped, all are healed" The ethics of reciprocityJudaism “What is hateful to you, do not do to your neighbour. This is the whole Torah, the rest is commentary.” Buddhism “Treat not others in ways that you would not find beautiful.”As societies evolved laws began shaping the way that we interacted with each other. Policies were developed around who and how money could be transferred and a formalized approach to charity began. This is mostly because the government saw how much money was flowing from their subjects to the church and to other entities that they did not regulate.We are in another transformative space. The space of a social enterprise economy. This is not the same as saying that charities run themselves as businesses. However, the second premise is that your organization, being one with some sort of cashflow (donation revenue or fee-for-service), in conjunction with an output of a service or product and some sort of human capital, that you are a business.What I mean by a social enterprise economy is that charities are operating within a system that feeds into the local economies and national GDP. The charitable sector can no-longer be viewed as the poor step-child to the private and public sectors. I say this with confidence because of the very size of the sector. In Canada, you would have to combine agriculture, automotive, manufacturing, and retail to get the size of the charitable sector. When you layer in the new social enterprise economy this market is even larger.What results from creating a new economy is a new language, new investment strategies, new types of investors and new expectations on the relationships between the service provider, the service user and the investor.What is some of this new language – flip chart terms as people shout them outHow do these terms fit in with the industrialization of philanthropy?
Lucy Bernholtz put together a timeline of the business of philanthropy a few years ago. This chart shows the way that people are interacting in the charitable space. It is no longer seen as a repository of “good feelings and money for good.” The charitable sector is sophisticated and complex. Like any industry, the philanthropic market now includes formalized corporate structures, academic reviews, regulations and standards and ways of measuring growth and change.This leads me into my third premise:Philanthropy is dead.Charities are no longer just operating because it is the right thing to do. There is a competitive landscape. I am going to pick one type of group because they have great market visibility... Breast Cancer.Just looking at Calgary’s market there are 15 organizations that deal with breast-cancer related issues. These organizations range from pre-and post-care support, to research and development, to family support, to religious-based support groups. One way that they are trying to “compete for donor support” is by diversifying their organizations product and service offerings. Ultimately what this means is that there is duplication in the market. How donors manage this duplication moving beyond just the emotional connection, there is now a need for donors to understand difference between one support group service offered through agency Y and another support group service offered through agency X. Don’t get me wrong, emotions and who is asking is still very much an influencing factor.Because of this new competitive landscape, the exchange between those that are financing the organization (i.e. Donors), those that are benefiting from the organization, those that are regulating the organization, and those that are working within the organization is no longer ONLY goodwill based.Don’t get me wrong, people are still donating. Charitable decisions are still predominantly made based on emotions first. But long-term engagement with donors, whether they are individuals, family foundations, large corporations or small businesses are built around expectations. Those expectations include some sort of exchange. That exchange can be as simple as a thank you note or as complex as a Social Return on Investment review.This means that the way organizations approach accessing funds has to shift.
Enter the social enterprise business model.Yes – I used two terms that are not common in the charitable sector. Enterprise and Business Model.An enterprise is a structure that allows for transactions to occur. Typically these transactions have a hard value base. In modern society, this value base is the Dollar. In previous societies it was gold, salt, sea shells, heads of livestock, beads and slaves.The business model is the way that revenue is generated into the enterprise.A social enterprise business model looks at the “social currency” alongside the financial currency. Social currency is commonly thought of as the societal issue that the organization is addressing. But that is only half of the social definition. The other half of social is the “social network” that is part of the agency’s asset base. Organizations that have built a social enterprise alongside their traditional fundraising revenue stream look at the monetary impact that their social network has on the issue and on their organization’s capacity to deliver on that issue.Social enterprises take on many forms because the market is still defining what a social enterprise is. The TricoFoundation, for example, says that only charities can be social enterprises. Social Capital Markets says that any business – for or non-profit, whose mandate is social change and is profit driven is a social enterprise. Social Impact Investment brokers state that social enterprises are for-profit organizations that meet certain financial benchmarks with profit motive being a balanced part of the equation thereby allowing these businesses to be traded on a market, either the exempt market (privately held companies that issue shares and can be invested in by a certain accredited investor) and the public market.At the end of the day, profit motive is a central tenant of the social enterprise business model. These types of businesses start with an entrepreneur who builds out a business that is either housed within an organization or is an independent business with strong ties to other individuals and organizations and plays within a societal system.Examples of vairous types of social enterprises:Girl Guide Cookie businessCraigsListJigsaw Blue HomesBenevityPlace2GiveKiva
The fourth premise is that we are in the beginning stages of a revolution:To quote iGenTribe.com - “Skills have been replaced by knowledge. Attitude has replaced experience. Leadership has replaced management.”For a revolution to occur there needs to be: - Improved productivity - Technology - Raw Materials - InfrastructureThe current revolution sees the internet technology is improving productivity by generating more virtual people power. The raw materials are ideas, and the infrastructure is both the public policies and the use of the basic technology. What is resulting is a new definition of community.Just look at Facebook or Google +. In Facebook, you have friends and fans. You can unfriend a friend and unlike an organization just by clicking a button. Or in Google you can create online cliques of friends by cataloguing and categorizing as you see fit.This shift in how we define community is also changing how we raise funds. Technology is allowing us to crowdsource financing either through donations, micro-loans, micro-donations, crowdfunding projects and raising start-up capital for new ventures. Technology is allowing us to move back to a village capital model where all ships rise on the collective success. This is the new economy and one that is going to shape the way that charities raise funds for the next three generations.
So in this new economy, who is influencing whom?
Social Enterprise Dictionary is a wiki-based solution to gathering and disseminating information in a market that is changing rapidly. To date we have had over 2,000 known viewers read, retweet, broadcast, and share on other blogs the dictionary. This language is what is shaping how the philanthropic industry and social enterprise marketplace is communicating with its stakeholders.At your table are copies of the social enterprise dictionary excerpts. Take five minutes to review the document and talk at your table about the definitions. Do you agree? What would you change? What would you add. Please document this with your name and twitter handle and agency so that we can include your comments.
Facing this revolution is the largest Intergenerational Wealth Transfer to occur in North American history. In Canada alone we are going to experience at least $8T change hands from the Babyboomers to generations below. Those funds can go to one of three places:Taxes The inheritor for spending/reinvesting CharityHow you position your organization to accept these funds is critical because Gen 1 treats philanthropy very differently than Gen 3 who sees these funds as community investment opportunities and has an expectation that something will visibly change as a result of their contribution.
Each year I work with 6-8 clients setting up their charitable foundations. These foundations take shape either as private entities, accounts within donor advised funds like community foundations or financial institutions, or public foundations that may or may not do front-line services.Examples of what is influencing this new economy are people like Warren Buffet who launched the Giving Pledge and has committed to donating 85% of his wealth through other people’s foundations to charities.What will it look like as more people set up foundation accounts to hold these trillions of dollars? Does this really mean that more money will be entering into the front-lines, or does it just mean that more funds will be housed in charitable foundations that spin off 3.4 – 4% each year?What if foundations could use part of their asset base to be invested in low profit (i.e. 1-5% ROI) companies that align with the foundations charitable purposes? An example could be a foundation that supports medical research invests in a new piece of technology being implemented in rural India combatting jaundice? One of the largest populations, accessing a relatively cheap piece of equipment that is manufactured and distributed in country thereby creating a more robust economy that is profitable and then can provide a positive ROI back to the foundation for them to reinvest in other charitable health care projects. If we are seeing what I think we are seeing with more private foundations and DAF accounts being set up, it would make sense that instead of that money just sitting generating interest for small donation each year, it could be actually working towards meaningful social impact.
Larry Ellison states that the profit motive is what should be driving social change. Regardless of what you think of him as a businessman, philanthropic entrepreneurs and entrepreneurial philanthropists are looking at how profits can augment revenues within organizations.So far, it has been my experience and one that Malcolm Burrows from Aqueduct validated in a recent presentation on trends from his foundation, that donors have kept two distinct piles of money. One that is purely for charitable purposes – i.e. The emotions are influencing the decision and there is not ROI beyond what was stated by the charity. And the other as an investment tool, so a financial return is expected and shares are issued.The competition between for-profit and non-profit social ventures is not playing out in the market as it pertains to investment dollars. What is playing out is who is achieving what ends faster. This depends on what is being measured and what success is about.Playing out in contrast to this is the way that technology companies grow. Collaboration and cross-polinization of ideas is how new businesses and innovation emerges. Think back to the slide about social enterprises. Social innovation only happens when there are people to socialize with. Just like the extraction of carbon resources moved the industrial revolution forward, the creation of tech-based social ideas is what will move this next revolution forward. And we are seeing it play out in the Silicon Valley, in Austin, in Vancouver and even Alberta.
Charitiestypically focused on the social side of the business and avoid the profitable side, in large part because public perception is supported by bad government policies. Charities are told that they can generate a reasonable profit. Reasonable not being defined in the tax code. The challenge with reasonable profit may be around how scalable and ultimately sustainable an organization can be if they can eventually become self-sufficient on revenue generation rather than on the unsustainable financing model of “Please sir, can I have some more?” that traditional fundraising leads to.When companies invest in overhead we see that as a good thing because it leads to operational effectiveness. When charities invest in overhead we see that as a bad thing because there some crazy idea that it means less money is going to programs and services. But wouldn’t it be better to have a more effectively run organization than one that may be seen as cost savings, but doesn’t have as good a social impact?At the end of the day it is up to charities to explain to donors why investing in overhead is important, and then prove to them that this investment was a good use of the funds. It is up to donors to start asking about operational effectiveness and not just what is the cost of raising a dollar.
We are all familiar with the Rosso concentric circles and the donor pyramid.Each year, charities go after their donors to move them up the pyramid. That means that each year, money is left on the table because the donor knows that they will be asked for an increase in the following year. It also means that charities are can only budget to the previous year’s fundraising instead of actually projecting out a sustainable revenue flow.
2008 stats
By integrating those who want a financial return with those who want to experience more of an emotional return we are actually able to drive larger social change and tap into a combined resource base that is always large. There is no more need for moving people up a pyramid, because the question that a donor stewardship officer would ask, “is not what can you do for us as a charity?” but rather, “what we can do as a charity to support your social investment expectations.” We are talking about moving from the hands out of “please sir can I have some more.” To an integrated or BLENDED financial model.This of course means that we would have to revisit the whole charity tax process. But perhaps that’s a good thing. When donors are incentivized to donate through a tax receipt they should also be incentivized to invest in for profit social enterprises. This will give your organization more flexibility in being able to achieve your social mission.
And there are models that are out there. Social Impact bonds in the UK or the Kickstarter model for seed investors in US based for profit businesses (not all are social enterprises), or what Oiko Credit is doing in the micro-lending space in international development.
Local examples:DIRTTConscious BrandsBenevity
LinkedIn Labs – social networking image… what’s your organizations value?Self reflection exercise.
At your tables I would like you spend 20 minutes talking about how you see this new economy playing into your organization. I suggest going around, introducing yourself and your agency as well as your role. Does your organization currently have a social enterprise business model? If so, what is it? This is what I call the “How Do I Know” discussion. It’s a way for you and your peers to self-reflect on how your organization is positioned in this market. What questions would you ask in order to develop a strategy for the new investor space? What have you already done to be strategic in this space?Based on this background – let’s have a discussion on moving forward
Does everyone know what an info-graphic is?Activity using flip charts – have tables draw out what they envision a revenue model that is a combination of donation and other revenue.CREATE AN INFO GRAPHIC ON THE NEW FUNDRAISING MODEL