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?
Using charity sector data, can we build more sustainable communities and use market forces to drive social change?
This presentation was given as part of a panel at CKX.org Nov. 2014. Also on the panel - AJAH and FLUXX
A Conversation on Making Data Driven Decisions Using Financial SCANGuideStar
Join Bunkie Righter from GuideStar as we learn how foundations and charities discover the indicators of financial health that matter most. Special guests Chris Percopo of The Leona M. and Harry B. Helmsley Charitable Trust, and Dennis Dolbee of Boys & Girls Clubs of America, will offer insight into how they use Financial SCAN to make better decisions within their organizations. Moderated by Ashley Early.
Establishing reputational resilience: How internal communications can keep yo...CharityComms
Ed Coke - founder, Repute Associates
Visit the CharityComms website to view slides from past events, see what events we have coming up and to check out what else we do: www.charitycomms.org.uk
Using charity sector data, can we build more sustainable communities and use market forces to drive social change?
This presentation was given as part of a panel at CKX.org Nov. 2014. Also on the panel - AJAH and FLUXX
A Conversation on Making Data Driven Decisions Using Financial SCANGuideStar
Join Bunkie Righter from GuideStar as we learn how foundations and charities discover the indicators of financial health that matter most. Special guests Chris Percopo of The Leona M. and Harry B. Helmsley Charitable Trust, and Dennis Dolbee of Boys & Girls Clubs of America, will offer insight into how they use Financial SCAN to make better decisions within their organizations. Moderated by Ashley Early.
Establishing reputational resilience: How internal communications can keep yo...CharityComms
Ed Coke - founder, Repute Associates
Visit the CharityComms website to view slides from past events, see what events we have coming up and to check out what else we do: www.charitycomms.org.uk
Discover Your Hidden Engagement Pyramid – Barbara Christensen, Percolator Con...NetSquared Vancouver
An engagement framework ensures you’re spending the right amount of time on the right people. Building it usually involves lots of strategy work to define your Theory of Change, audiences, and levels, plus finding the best technology track it all. Haven't yet embarked on this epic journey to being more effective organizers and fundraisers? You'd be amazed what you've already accomplished without ever having uttered the words "engagement pyramid". Let's uncover the maps you already have, clear away the mists of technical uncertainty, and help you lead the way to your hidden engagement pyramid.
BARBARA CHRISTENSEN, SENIOR PROJECT MANAGER at Percolator Consulting
Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/gardengnome/
Barbara has spent 20 years on the digital side of a nonprofit—CRM wrangling; digital organizing, fundraising, and communications; and IT and user support (and often all of those jobs at once). Her favorite campaign win was turning out hundreds of happy commenters to dull wildlife commission meetings for months. At Percolator, she empowers clients to sync their technology to their mission and is practically giddy about engagement. She believes profoundly in goals over gadgets, loves smashing bugs of the technical persuasion, and will talk to you about bats and/or chickens for far too long if you let her.
Achieving Accelerated Organisation Change through Internal NetworksOptimice
We have recently formalised our methods for using social/organisational network analysis techniques to identify critical influencers in an organisation that can help facilitate accelerated change within large and complex organisations. We are seeing that internal networks are becoming a critical resource for promulgating positive change. Our research has shown that the 'critical mass' in modern organisations are also the group most likely to be least influenced by top-down change initiatives. Using social network techniques we have been able to identify with some precision, those roles/people in the enterprise that are at highest risk of NOT being influenced by enterprise wide change initiatives. The pack provides a case study run through our approach. We welcome comments and/or feedback
Digital Teams in 2018: The New Landscape of Digital Engagement – Jason MogusNetSquared Vancouver
The state of digital teams inside our nonprofits often reflects deeper issues of culture and structure and how well adapted our institutions are to today's communications landscape. So what's going on with digital teams today? What team structures, roles, and behaviours are producing the best outcomes? Are we getting better at cross-silo and cross-channel communications? Are we set up to really deliver on the promise of digital engagement?
Jason Mogus - Digital Teams in 2018: The new landscape of digital engagement
Principal Strategist at NetChange Consulting
Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/jasonmogus/
Bio
advocacy campaign and organizational change consultant
been doing digital transformation for 22 years, his firm celebrates 25 years this summer
helped shape some of today's most successful campaigns including tar sands / pipeline work, australia's biggest campaign, $10 a day childcare in BC
What's interesting: lives on an island, is an obsessive walker; if you call him you'll likely hear the leaves crunching under feet
Secret skill: weird sound effects and made up songs for his 8 year old
How can government agencies and charities use social media to change behavior, research possible initiatives, and change behavior? Susanna has worked with the city of Vancouver and helped coordinate disaster response for hurricane Katrina — join us to hear her share the insights and best practices learned from her ample experience.
Slides from Social Media for Nonprofits- Vancouver | June 25, 2013
Presentation made with @lori19stewart at the AiP Conference in Las Vegas. Focus of this presentation is on how technology is changing the way that individuals are seeking out charity information and how this is affecting the advisor workflow.
Better Board Engagement - Break Through the Low Engagement BarrierAprio
A common frustration of board chairs is that only two or three directors are really engaged. How can the chair and executives of an organization make the shift to a progressive board with solid strategic understanding, good meeting attendance, and valuable board contribution? Strong governance leadership and convenient technology both play a roll. Learn how to best assess your current board, recruit wisely, and make the shift to a board that is informed, efficient and engaged.
Watch this presentation to learn:
• How do you assess current board directors and board performance?
• How do you re-engage directors that aren’t contributing?
• How can technology improve board attendance, director preparedness, and recruitment?
• What’s the right focus for a progressive board?
Presented originally by webinar, hosted by North West Credit Union Association (www.nwcua.org) in partnership with DDJ Myers.
Friendship, Courtship, Partnership: Why Canadian nonprofits need to think abo...Marina Dawson
While collaboration may be a buzzword that's bandied about by organizations and funders, what does it actually look like? Patricia Evans and Barbara Grantham provide insights on the various ways that organizations can collaborate to achieve their organizational objectives and explore the spectrum of options available to organizations that are interested in working together differently.
To view the full one-hour webinar, including audio, visit: https://charityvillage.com/elearning/webinars/past-webinars/friendship-courtship-partnership.aspx.
Presentation made to Canadian Association of Gift Planners (CAGP) Calgary chapter.
Looking at how wealth transfers and self-made women are influencing and will influence the charitable market in the coming decade(s).
Discover Your Hidden Engagement Pyramid – Barbara Christensen, Percolator Con...NetSquared Vancouver
An engagement framework ensures you’re spending the right amount of time on the right people. Building it usually involves lots of strategy work to define your Theory of Change, audiences, and levels, plus finding the best technology track it all. Haven't yet embarked on this epic journey to being more effective organizers and fundraisers? You'd be amazed what you've already accomplished without ever having uttered the words "engagement pyramid". Let's uncover the maps you already have, clear away the mists of technical uncertainty, and help you lead the way to your hidden engagement pyramid.
BARBARA CHRISTENSEN, SENIOR PROJECT MANAGER at Percolator Consulting
Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/gardengnome/
Barbara has spent 20 years on the digital side of a nonprofit—CRM wrangling; digital organizing, fundraising, and communications; and IT and user support (and often all of those jobs at once). Her favorite campaign win was turning out hundreds of happy commenters to dull wildlife commission meetings for months. At Percolator, she empowers clients to sync their technology to their mission and is practically giddy about engagement. She believes profoundly in goals over gadgets, loves smashing bugs of the technical persuasion, and will talk to you about bats and/or chickens for far too long if you let her.
Achieving Accelerated Organisation Change through Internal NetworksOptimice
We have recently formalised our methods for using social/organisational network analysis techniques to identify critical influencers in an organisation that can help facilitate accelerated change within large and complex organisations. We are seeing that internal networks are becoming a critical resource for promulgating positive change. Our research has shown that the 'critical mass' in modern organisations are also the group most likely to be least influenced by top-down change initiatives. Using social network techniques we have been able to identify with some precision, those roles/people in the enterprise that are at highest risk of NOT being influenced by enterprise wide change initiatives. The pack provides a case study run through our approach. We welcome comments and/or feedback
Digital Teams in 2018: The New Landscape of Digital Engagement – Jason MogusNetSquared Vancouver
The state of digital teams inside our nonprofits often reflects deeper issues of culture and structure and how well adapted our institutions are to today's communications landscape. So what's going on with digital teams today? What team structures, roles, and behaviours are producing the best outcomes? Are we getting better at cross-silo and cross-channel communications? Are we set up to really deliver on the promise of digital engagement?
Jason Mogus - Digital Teams in 2018: The new landscape of digital engagement
Principal Strategist at NetChange Consulting
Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/jasonmogus/
Bio
advocacy campaign and organizational change consultant
been doing digital transformation for 22 years, his firm celebrates 25 years this summer
helped shape some of today's most successful campaigns including tar sands / pipeline work, australia's biggest campaign, $10 a day childcare in BC
What's interesting: lives on an island, is an obsessive walker; if you call him you'll likely hear the leaves crunching under feet
Secret skill: weird sound effects and made up songs for his 8 year old
How can government agencies and charities use social media to change behavior, research possible initiatives, and change behavior? Susanna has worked with the city of Vancouver and helped coordinate disaster response for hurricane Katrina — join us to hear her share the insights and best practices learned from her ample experience.
Slides from Social Media for Nonprofits- Vancouver | June 25, 2013
Presentation made with @lori19stewart at the AiP Conference in Las Vegas. Focus of this presentation is on how technology is changing the way that individuals are seeking out charity information and how this is affecting the advisor workflow.
Better Board Engagement - Break Through the Low Engagement BarrierAprio
A common frustration of board chairs is that only two or three directors are really engaged. How can the chair and executives of an organization make the shift to a progressive board with solid strategic understanding, good meeting attendance, and valuable board contribution? Strong governance leadership and convenient technology both play a roll. Learn how to best assess your current board, recruit wisely, and make the shift to a board that is informed, efficient and engaged.
Watch this presentation to learn:
• How do you assess current board directors and board performance?
• How do you re-engage directors that aren’t contributing?
• How can technology improve board attendance, director preparedness, and recruitment?
• What’s the right focus for a progressive board?
Presented originally by webinar, hosted by North West Credit Union Association (www.nwcua.org) in partnership with DDJ Myers.
Friendship, Courtship, Partnership: Why Canadian nonprofits need to think abo...Marina Dawson
While collaboration may be a buzzword that's bandied about by organizations and funders, what does it actually look like? Patricia Evans and Barbara Grantham provide insights on the various ways that organizations can collaborate to achieve their organizational objectives and explore the spectrum of options available to organizations that are interested in working together differently.
To view the full one-hour webinar, including audio, visit: https://charityvillage.com/elearning/webinars/past-webinars/friendship-courtship-partnership.aspx.
Presentation made to Canadian Association of Gift Planners (CAGP) Calgary chapter.
Looking at how wealth transfers and self-made women are influencing and will influence the charitable market in the coming decade(s).
Testes unitários como ferramentas de design de códigoPaula Grangeiro
Por vezes, testes unitários que deveriam ser simples acabam consumindo mais tempo do que o esperado, o que faz com que muitas vezes sejam deixados para trás. Você sabia que estes simples testes podem ser um indicativo de qualidade de código? Através dessa talk vamos discutir as principais falhas de design que são facilmente identificadas através de testes unitários.
SUN Civil Society Learning Route: innovation plan submitted by the National Civil Society alliance. More info: http://suncivilsocietynet.wixsite.com/learningroute/rwanda-learning-route or contact C.Ruberto@savethechildren.org.uk
A presentation on how data can be used to strengthen North America's charity sector and some of the questions we are asking at Place2Give and in Dexterity Consulting.
peer1 Analyze and explain the ethical considerations associated wi.docxbartholomeocoombs
peer1
Analyze and explain the ethical considerations associated with managing information.
Technology can pose to be a blessing and a curse at the same time. The information provided is quick and efficient but unethical considerations can take place easily. This past decade, there has been numerous attempts by many different governments, countries, states, people, who have potential of breaking the law and violating the rights of citizens for selfish gain. according to an online article, "Ethics refers to the principles of right and wrong that individuals, acting as free moral agents, use to make choices to guide their behaviors" (Zheng, 2013).
The first concern with managing information is ensuring the information cannot be manipulated. Ethical issues would be considerations to privacy and inappropriate use of information, global access to these systems and control of these systems. Managers would have to ensure safety guards are in place to protect the privacy of their clients, financial information and other important information for the organization. Per an article in Colorado edu, "The broad issues relating to electronic information systems include control of and access to information, privacy and misuse of data, and international considerations. All of these extend to electronic networks, electronic databases, and, more specifically, to geographic information systems. Specific problems within each of the three areas, however, require slightly different kinds of ethical decisions" (Lynch, 1994).
Cause-related marketing has become a controversial issue among potential donors and funders. What are the potential pitfalls associated with cause-related marketing?
Cause-related marketing is a nonprofit organization networking with a well known company and the well known company promoting and supporting the nonprofit organization. While this seems to be an excellent idea, because this sheds light on the cause of the nonprofit organization, the potential problems this can cause is the one of the organizations could make bad decisions, which will make the other one look bad. Companies have to protect their reputation and we can see many companies affected, due to bad business practices from the other company.
Another issue is according to an article in Wealth Group, "Cause-related marketing triggers issues under Federal and state laws governing false or misleading advertising, state commercial co-venture laws, and Better Business Bureau Standards" (Mathis, 2015). Large organizations may advertise they may donate to a cause, without disclosing the specifics of their donation, misleading the population and causing for the company to be investigated.
Consider yourself as a volunteer hired to develop a template for gathering information about major gift prospects. What information would be the most important? Why?
Knowing who your major supporters are, is key to the survival of a nonprofit organization. The first important informa.
You’ve probably heard about Open Data and Open Government. But have you ever considered the radical idea of Open Philanthropy? What would happen if you applied the principles of open data to philanthropic institutions such as foundations, funders and grant-makers?
In this session you’ll be introduced to three open data initiatives that are doing just that.
Join Jake Hirsch-Allen (Partner, Functional Imperative & Lighthouse Labs) Michael Lenczner (CEO, Ajah and Director, Powered By Data) and Gena Rotstein (CEO and Advisor in Philanthropy - Dexterity Ventures Inc./Place2Give) for an interactive showcase that will answer this question and unpack the benefits of Open Philanthropy for grantmakers, community organizations and donors.
Similar to Relating systems thinking and design within the charitable sector final (20)
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.
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.
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.
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.
Senior Project and Engineering Leader Jim Smith.pdfJim Smith
I am a Project and Engineering Leader with extensive experience as a Business Operations Leader, Technical Project Manager, Engineering Manager and Operations Experience for Domestic and International companies such as Electrolux, Carrier, and Deutz. I have developed new products using Stage Gate development/MS Project/JIRA, for the pro-duction of Medical Equipment, Large Commercial Refrigeration Systems, Appliances, HVAC, and Diesel engines.
My experience includes:
Managed customized engineered refrigeration system projects with high voltage power panels from quote to ship, coordinating actions between electrical engineering, mechanical design and application engineering, purchasing, production, test, quality assurance and field installation. Managed projects $25k to $1M per project; 4-8 per month. (Hussmann refrigeration)
Successfully developed the $15-20M yearly corporate capital strategy for manufacturing, with the Executive Team and key stakeholders. Created project scope and specifications, business case, ROI, managed project plans with key personnel for nine consumer product manufacturing and distribution sites; to support the company’s strategic sales plan.
Over 15 years of experience managing and developing cost improvement projects with key Stakeholders, site Manufacturing Engineers, Mechanical Engineers, Maintenance, and facility support personnel to optimize pro-duction operations, safety, EHS, and new product development. (BioLab, Deutz, Caire)
Experience working as a Technical Manager developing new products with chemical engineers and packaging engineers to enhance and reduce the cost of retail products. I have led the activities of multiple engineering groups with diverse backgrounds.
Great experience managing the product development of products which utilize complex electrical controls, high voltage power panels, product testing, and commissioning.
Created project scope, business case, ROI for multiple capital projects to support electrotechnical assembly and CPG goods. Identified project cost, risk, success criteria, and performed equipment qualifications. (Carrier, Electrolux, Biolab, Price, Hussmann)
Created detailed projects plans using MS Project, Gant charts in excel, and updated new product development in Jira for stakeholders and project team members including critical path.
Great knowledge of ISO9001, NFPA, OSHA regulations.
User level knowledge of MRP/SAP, MS Project, Powerpoint, Visio, Mastercontrol, JIRA, Power BI and Tableau.
I appreciate your consideration, and look forward to discussing this role with you, and how I can lead your company’s growth and profitability. I can be contacted via LinkedIn via phone or E Mail.
Jim Smith
678-993-7195
jimsmith30024@gmail.com
The case study discusses the potential of drone delivery and the challenges that need to be addressed before it becomes widespread.
Key takeaways:
Drone delivery is in its early stages: Amazon's trial in the UK demonstrates the potential for faster deliveries, but it's still limited by regulations and technology.
Regulations are a major hurdle: Safety concerns around drone collisions with airplanes and people have led to restrictions on flight height and location.
Other challenges exist: Who will use drone delivery the most? Is it cost-effective compared to traditional delivery trucks?
Discussion questions:
Managerial challenges: Integrating drones requires planning for new infrastructure, training staff, and navigating regulations. There are also marketing and recruitment considerations specific to this technology.
External forces vary by country: Regulations, consumer acceptance, and infrastructure all differ between countries.
Demographics matter: Younger generations might be more receptive to drone delivery, while older populations might have concerns.
Stakeholders for Amazon: Customers, regulators, aviation authorities, and competitors are all stakeholders. Regulators likely hold the greatest influence as they determine the feasibility of drone delivery.
Specific ServPoints should be tailored for restaurants in all food service segments. Your ServPoints should be the centerpiece of brand delivery training (guest service) and align with your brand position and marketing initiatives, especially in high-labor-cost conditions.
408-784-7371
Foodservice Consulting + Design
A presentation on mastering key management concepts across projects, products, programs, and portfolios. Whether you're an aspiring manager or looking to enhance your skills, this session will provide you with the knowledge and tools to succeed in various management roles. Learn about the distinct lifecycles, methodologies, and essential skillsets needed to thrive in today's dynamic business environment.
Employment PracticesRegulation and Multinational CorporationsRoopaTemkar
Employment PracticesRegulation and Multinational Corporations
Strategic decision making within MNCs constrained or determined by the implementation of laws and codes of practice and by pressure from political actors. Managers in MNCs have to make choices that are shaped by gvmt. intervention and the local economy.
Public Speaking Tips to Help You Be A Strong Leader.pdfPinta Partners
In the realm of effective leadership, a multitude of skills come into play, but one stands out as both crucial and challenging: public speaking.
Public speaking transcends mere eloquence; it serves as the medium through which leaders articulate their vision, inspire action, and foster engagement. For leaders, refining public speaking skills is essential, elevating their ability to influence, persuade, and lead with resolute conviction. Here are some key tips to consider: https://joellandau.com/the-public-speaking-tips-to-help-you-be-a-stronger-leader/
Integrity in leadership builds trust by ensuring consistency between words an...Ram V Chary
Integrity in leadership builds trust by ensuring consistency between words and actions, making leaders reliable and credible. It also ensures ethical decision-making, which fosters a positive organizational culture and promotes long-term success. #RamVChary
Comparing Stability and Sustainability in Agile SystemsRob Healy
Copy of the presentation given at XP2024 based on a research paper.
In this paper we explain wat overwork is and the physical and mental health risks associated with it.
We then explore how overwork relates to system stability and inventory.
Finally there is a call to action for Team Leads / Scrum Masters / Managers to measure and monitor excess work for individual teams.
Org Design is a core skill to be mastered by management for any successful org change.
Org Topologies™ in its essence is a two-dimensional space with 16 distinctive boxes - atomic organizational archetypes. That space helps you to plot your current operating model by positioning individuals, departments, and teams on the map. This will give a profound understanding of the performance of your value-creating organizational ecosystem.
Enriching engagement with ethical review processesstrikingabalance
New ethics review processes at the University of Bath. Presented at the 8th World Conference on Research Integrity by Filipa Vance, Head of Research Governance and Compliance at the University of Bath. June 2024, Athens
Enriching engagement with ethical review processes
Relating systems thinking and design within the charitable sector final
1.
The System of Giving
Relating Systems Thinking and Design within the charitable sector
Gena Rotstein, CEO &
Advisor in Philanthropy
grotstein@dexterityventures.com
www.dexterityventures.com
www.place2give.com
3. What is systems thinking and design?
“Systems thinking is a way of thinking about, and a
language for describing and understanding, the forces
and interrelationships that shape the behavior of
systems. This discipline helps us to see how to change
systems more effectively, and to act more in tune with
the natural processes of the natural and economic
world.” Peter Senge, The Fifth Discipline Field Book
“System configuration that meets an identified or
required set of requirements.”
http://www.businessdictionary.com/definition/system-
design.html#ixzz3ivbZz0Cn
4. The Systems
About DVI
can measure social change,
use big data, and
map the emotional
experience of charitable
giving
Systems
Charities & Non-Profit
System
Financial system
Needs of the Community
5. The Eco-system of Giving
Social Issue/
Problem
Charities
Government
Funder’s desires
& timing
Suppliers/
Vendors/
Employees/
Clients
Needs of the
community
Users of the services offered by
the charity Policies
Emotional, social, financial
benefits
6. We are harnessing the frontier of charity data
... To make charitable giving a part of every person’s banking
experience, retain assets under management across generations
and positively influence $1Billion in charitable transactions by
2015.
Photo credit: Steve Jurvetson/Flickr
7.
8. Case Studies:
Policy shifts around funding models (financing
solutions instead of funding problems)
Charity and Donor reporting standards (Charitable
stock exchange)
15. Creating a Paradigm Shift
legislation change around how charities are created
and audited,
legislation change around how we recognize and
credit donations
an operational shift in how charities process
donations and
building an exchange platform that allows for
trading of social impact and connecting people and
organization
18. Charity Data and the New Frontier
New policies that govern how charities are
regulated
The ability for social change to be clearly monetized
and financed
The disruption of investment regulatory bodies
The reshaping of traditional umbrella agencies and
New policies around how companies can be
structured
19. Sources & Resources
Philanthrocapitalism
Blended Value
Place2Give/DVI data
Giving 2.0
The Blue Sweater
Stanford Social Innovation Review
Harvard Business Review
Title Slide: Good morning. Thank you for joining me in an exploration around the messiness of financing social change.
Before we get started, I would like to quickly introduce Wade Walker. He is an advisor to my company and a data guru. During the Q&A of this presentation if you have any specific questions about my company and the technology we have developed, Wade will happily try to answer your questions.
It’s always nice to be presenting at the Banff Centre where we are surrounded by beauty and the natural wonder of the Bow Valley. It is fitting that we should be talking about system thinking and design in this geographic location; heart of the Bow Valley where we have a confluence natural wonders,the history of political strategies surrounding Treaty 7 first nations and the global footprint of international and domestic tourism. We are meeting on sacred land of the Blackfoot, Sarcee, and the Stoney-Nakoda nations, who all still hold a strong presence after tens of thousands of years. Where cultures, people and traditions have moved along the rapids of this mighty Bow river as explorers paddled their canoes, shared their stories, their goods and their technologies and where we see how new communities established themselves and organized their social systems.
Just like Don Norman indicated with his keynote, I too have adjusted my presentation based on discussions I have had over the past twenty-four hours.
Slide 2: I grew up in Calgary, in a middle-class Jewish family and part of a very strong ethnic community. The tribal-ness of my family and its role within my community as a pioneers in Alberta was my first known exposure of a system - a web of interconnectedness built on genetics and religion.
On top of this web, there is also the web of how I operate within the world. Whether it is how I commute to work, connect with clients, source my food, or power my home. Within each of these aspects are other webs, and so on and so forth. I have always seen the world through this lens - of how we are all connected. So it is only natural that I ended up pursuing a masters in non-profit management and making a career in the charitable sector, where I felt I could positively influence the web of interconnectedness. It took fifteen years for me to realize that the way we have set up our charitable and non-profit system is fundamentally flawed.
Slide 3 - What I want to share with you today is a way of thinking around how we develop, engage and manage organizations that are traditionally defined as charities and voluntary. And to challenge the traditional view of the role and need for these types of organizations within society. To take a piece from a presentation made by Peter Senge a few years ago, “Our interdependence has grown, and our awareness of our inter-dependence has declined.” Some might say that ignorance is bliss, however if we continue down this path of the unawareness of connections, our ability to plan and build sustainable communities will continue to be challenged.
By show of hands, how many of you come from cities that have experienced a significant population boom in the past decade? What about the past five years?
Now reflect on what that experience has been like, what were some of the headaches you encountered as a result of the population boom? Did you see additional pressures put on basic infrastructure? When we look at the system of our community and the external pressures that are placed on it, if we choose to be aware, we are immediately presented with the underlying dysfunctions within the system. The first step is making the choice to gain awareness.
Slide 4 - For those of you from North America, there was a Remington Razor ad that ran in the late 90’s that featured a guy saying how he liked the product so much he bought the company. Well, I’m that guy… so to speak… My passion runs so deep on the topic I am going to share with you today that I built a company around it. Dexterity Ventures Inc. is a unique company that applies system thinking and design as it approaches the topic of strategic philanthropy. And as Don indicated yesterday, when working on system change, we are Muddling Through. Or as I have said in a few articles and past presentations, we are building an airplane while we are flying it.
To put this into design jargon, I am exploring what Riddle calls Wicked Problems.
We build charitable giving technologies and provide philanthropy consulting services that
can measure social change,
use big data,
connect different types of stakeholders with sometimes conflicting objectives, and
map the emotional experience of charitable giving
We then layer on top of these systems sub-systems and expand the network connections along a continuum of care so that we can identify the right inflection point for bringing in the right type of capital from the right type of donor to address the issue:
CLICK MOUSE
Charity system - organizations that are regulated by the government
Financial system - how money flows from donors to charities
Needs of the community - The various social, environmental, health, education, cultural, recreational and religious needs expressed by the community through formal and informal channels.
How I approach these systems is by exploring how donors articulate the emotional and tactical experiences surrounding philanthropy. I drew upon personal experiences of online dating… to which I have had varying degrees of success.
Similar to how you create a dating profile we developed a giving profile targeting individuals, families and business leaders. This profile asks a set of psychographic questions around how they engage with charities. Based on their answers the donor is then categorized as one of three donor types Maverick, Steady or Informed. At the same time, charities are profiled against six benchmarks that are reflected within the three donor types. This allows an individual or a company to be matched to organizations that best fit their giving profile. As Joshua Bloom pointed out yesterday in his presentation, there is a design inclination towards simplicity and in typical software design issues, the more data sets we drew upon for charity profiling we ended up flat-lining the donor profiling tool. So I am pleased to share a failure in our system that we are going back to the drawing board to figure out.
Slide 5 (click mouse to get animation working) - Dexterity Ventures Inc. logo is a venn diagram representing the different forces at play within the philanthropic experience. I choose this image because when you are working in the field of strategic philanthropy, there are several components that are tied together, influencing each other, and ultimately seeking harmony.
Click to get the names of spheres
Social issue/problem
Charity(ies) - mandate and leadership
Government and policy makers
Desires and timing of the Funders/Donors
Suppliers/Vendors
Clients
The spaces that overlap is where things are exciting and messy. It is in these spaces that change can happen simply by adding pressure from one direction or another. Services are accessed by clients and their lives improve creating a ripple effect long after their connection to the organization. Or perhaps new policies are proposed and adopted. Or the culture within an organization is shifted as a direct result of being exposed to a different aspect of community.
Click for image - I experienced first hand how a system can be knocked out of whack all because of good intentions around a charitable act. This happened a number of years ago when I was conducting research for a client on water projects in Africa.
This donor wanted to provide potable water to a village by investing a water pump and system so that water ran straight into into the village. The intention was to save women time, provide a healthy water source to the community, and provide a “safe” place for them to access water from the river. What we learned from the NGO charity partner as the project was being implemented, was that the water system was being sabotaged by the very women who were to be direct beneficiaries of the water.
So of course I asked the question, why?
It turned out the users of the service were being pressured by the social needs of one aspect of the community. By having the water pump in the centre of town, the women no longer had private space away from their husbands and the men of the village. The act of going out of the village to collect water was as much about the function of gathering water as it was an opportunity for women to bond, share knowledge and support each other. Layered on top of this was the need for the NGO to deliver on a promise made to government and private funders to deliver potable water. As you can see the cycle of complexity goes round and round unless we are prepared to remove or adjust an aspect within the system.
Why is it so important to map the system of the charitable sector and propose ways to redesign how it interacts with other systems?
When we explore the frontier of systemic design thinking most of us probably don’t consider the role of the non-profit and charitable sector as an equal and important player within the ecosystem. Yet it is this sector that employs over 10% of Canada’s workforce and is the second largest contributor to the GDP - combining agriculture, automotive, manufacturing and retail to get the size and influence of this market. I think there are a few reasons why we don’t consider the charitable sector as a leading contributor to design re-thinking, most probably because the philanthropic industry has positioned itself to be the “poor step-child” to other industries resulting in it being overlooked and undervalued.
Here’s where I get really passionate…
Slide 6 - We have tasked our charitable sector with managing our society’s most complex and complicated challenges – addressing poverty issues, educating our children, conducting leading edge research, environmental protections, providing us with access to arts and culture, sports and recreation opportunities and health care support. Yet, we continue to undervalue their work by under-resourcing them and asking them to report on what they spend on the problem, instead of investing in solutions that are built on understanding the cost of not solving the problem.
I started my company with a modest objective, to harness the power of charity sector data to positively influence $1Billion in charitable transactions. I chose $1Billion because that was the number that was published by the chronicle of philanthropy in 2003 as to the amount lost to fraud each year.
Slide 7 - What I realized as we began pulling information from a variety of sources was that we could create new products, influence policy development and ultimately disrupt a system.
Slide 8 - I have three case studies that I want to share with you today. The first is one that I was an external observer to and the second and third are directly connected to my business.
Urban planning using charity data (YYC Cycle Track)
Policy shifts around funding models (financing solutions instead of funding problems)
Charity and Donor reporting standards (Charitable credit exchange)
Slide 9 - As I began exploring the charitable sector and looking at as a formal system, I asked the following questions:
At a micro level:
What would society look like if charity X didn’t exist?
What would the cost to a community be?
Can this be measured?
At a macro-level:
What would it look like if everyone had access to all the information about the charities they were supporting? What information is relevant, and what is noise?
Could we reduce the duplication in marketplace? Even more, could we actually create a marketplace?
Can charity data support urban planning and smart cities? Can we use this information 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?
Slide 10 -
Case Study #1 - Urban planning using charity data
I am involved with an organization called Data for Good. Each year they hold a data-thon for charities to help them figure out what to do with the myriads of information that they have collected on their programs and services.
One of these data-thons sticks out in my mind because it led to a presentation to the City of Calgary ultimately influencing the discussion around the YYC Cycle Track and bike commuting pathway improvements. The data collected by the Commuter Challenge organization showed the starting and ending points of cycling commuters as well as the volume of traffic generated by those commuters. These raw numbers were then crunched into a data flow visualization that made it really easy for politicians and urban planners to identify the congestion points and bike traffic flow patterns for better planning and design.
In this case, we see several systems at play all that started with using a non-profit organization’s data set. In this very simple example a small organization was able to make huge in-roads into a car-based culture that has nudged a behaviour shift within a commuting community.
Slide 11 -
Case Study #2 - Financing Solutions instead of Funding Problems
The current funding model looks something like this -
Charity goes to donor, either corporate, private or public and asks, “Please sir can I have some more?” and donor either says yes or no and funds are transferred accordingly. In some cases, there is some follow-up and evaluation done on the project. Yet, year after year we see the same pattern of fundraising going on and yet poverty rates have stayed flat, literacy rates have gone down, childhood obesity has increased and any number of other social, environmental, and economic ills have yet to be solved or even managed.
Which begs the question, is this really a money problem?
What if we switched the way that charities receive funding.
I have chosen to use poverty as the example, because there is so much data out there about programs and funding and reporting metrics. In order to switch our model we would have to look back at our core system - that upon which our values have been shaped, and decide what level of poverty we are okay with.
Slide 12 -
Let’s assume that we, as a society would be happy with 3% poverty levels in Alberta. Currently our poverty level is around 8% according to the Action to End Poverty. In order to reduce poverty by 5% several systems need to be brought into the fold:
Health care
Education
Housing
Urban planning
Immigration
Social services
Justice system
Human services (gov’t)
Business community
With all these systems at play, it’s no wonder we why can’t fund our way out of the poverty problem. We need to look at how we finance the poverty system and acknowledge the implications of putting pressure in one area that will be affect the balance within other areas.
Let’s say instead of funding the problem, we start financing a solution. Using the same data and expertise found in each one of these spheres, is there a way to identify a solution and right-size it both for resources invested in and outputs generated.
We have precedent in this regard.
Slide 13 - We bonus corporate executives for hitting their targets and sometimes not even getting close to target, so why not the same for charities? Instead of funding homeless shelters to keep beds open, let’s look at rewarding those front line workers who are mandated to work themselves out of a job, yet we don’t hear of too many organizations successfully accomplishing their mandate and closing.
Playing this case out further:
Slide 14 - If we, as a society agree that our poverty level should be at 3% and according to last year’s report from the Alberta government the province is currently spending between 8 and 9 Billion dollars on the poverty problem annually, then we should be able to finance organizational infrastructure to a base level of $7.2Billion, or 80% of the total spend (what is currently being spent outside of fundraising and marketing costs) on managing the poverty problem. The remaining 20% to be set aside for bonuses to be given out to those who actually achieve the intended outcomes on the back-end of the project for successfully influencing an inflection point, be that people placed in permanent housing over temporary shelters, and more importantly breaking the cycle of poverty between generations within a family.
Slide 15 - Using publicly available data we can map out the financial flow generated to charities across Canada. This information can then be overlaid against government and other third party reports to start identifying those projects that are actually pushing the needle on this issue. The image that you see on the screen is a money flow map using data pulled from Place2Give on the different sub-charities in a specific postal code addressing the poverty question. We have all the information we need to make these types of decisions, it just depends on how and when we choose to act on this information.
Where this could lead is a way to figure out how to bonus the collective - the entire ecosystem of agencies addressing poverty.
Slide 16 - Case Study #3 - Charity and Donor reporting standards
This leads me to my final case study, and the one that has yet to be developed - Creating a Charitable Credit Exchange. If there is anyone in the audience who wants to explore this concept with me, I am very open to that discussion.
Here’s the concept - we have a bunch of data on charities. 1.5Million to be exact. Each one of those charities is broken down into sectors and sub-sectors. Within each of these records we have simple data ranging from registration numbers and names to more complex information around key performance indicators and volunteer hours. All of this information comes in different formats and from different points of view. We can track this data and how it moves across the eco-system.
Slide 17 - Of course for this to become a reality we would need several things to occur:
legislation change around how charities are created and audited,
legislation change around how we recognize and credit donations
an operational shift in how charities process donations and
adopting a consistent method of reporting on social benefit
building a platform that allows for trading of charity credits and connecting people and organizations
Slide 18 - What would it look like if we didn’t issue a tax receipt at the point of the donation? Rather, the tax receipt is issued at the end of the charity’s fiscal year, after the organization has done its filing. A receipt is issued for plus or minus the social and economic impact generated by the organization as calculated by an industry adopted metric and regulated by the government through their annual reporting process.
In this model, the reporting standards would be set, not based on cost of dollars raised and salaries to CEO’s, rather it would be measured against an agreed upon set of metrics set out by a third party to the system and managed by the industry.
As the charitable sector stands now, organizations are siloed and turf issues are rampant. In large part because we have conditioned organizations to see financing opportunities as finite. This limit view forces organizations to put up walls to protect their programming and services turf. Instead, if we as funders and society overall, started to demonstrate to these same organizations that financing is abundant when it can be leveraged across organizations then the need to carve off a little piece of the pie isn’t necessary, because the pie itself grows as more people add to it.
We already have standardized reporting models in other industries. One comparable that I can think of is a Credit Rating Agency that financial institutions put on companies and/or individuals. Another example would be the ISO9000 that has become an adopted best practice for quality supply chain management reporting starting in the automotive industry and moving outward to other types of companies.
We could even take this one step further and look at a hedge fund model whereby an issue's life cycle is tracked and an organization’s value is based on forecasts of where social issues are predicted to go thereby influencing and supporting decision makers and implementers in creating the change that will be needed at a local, regional, national and international level.
Each sub-industry would have its own standard that could be rolled up into the higher level so that we can compare apples to apples. And we can use already validated social measurement systems, like the Millenium development goals or Grameean Bank valuations, or Global Giving metrics.
Once a value has been placed on the social and economic impact, the filing has been complete and approved by the CRA or the IRS then a tax receipt is issued by the charity to the donor for the real value of their donation.
Slide 19 - Here is where the exchange comes in…
If I invest in a charity that exceeds market performance my tax receipt reflects this difference. I know how much tax credits I am going to need in a given year, and if I have a surplus I might want to trade my surplus with those donors who invested in charities that underperformed in the market and who might need additional tax credits.
Similar to how carbon credits are traded today between companies and countries.
Taking it one step further, we now have a community of donors who are connected with each other around an issue or issues they are passionate about. They will see which charities perform well and which don’t and they can then leverage each others’ contributions by encouraging program and organizational shifts.
What this could mean is a decrease in duplication of programs and services, and perhaps charities outright. Better reporting and a leveling of the playing field so it isn’t just the large, wealthy charities getting the lion’s share of the donor pie, and also it will increase the pie from being a finite, scarcity based proposition to an abundance model where collective impact could be garnered.
So where do we go from here? What I am proposing is a fundamental shift in how we do the business of philanthropy. We need to stop looking at charities as the poor step-child to the business community, and explore how we can take the front-line knowledge that is housed in these agencies to shift the solution space from solving problems to investing in solutions. This will require us to:
Slide 20 -
Create new policies that govern how charities are regulated
Have an industry standard for measuring social change that will lead to the ability to monetize and finance solutions and not just individual organizations or problems.
Create new investment regulatory bodies around a social impact exchange
Reshape the role of traditional umbrella agencies and
Establish a new
It will require a groundswell from grassroots up to politicians and corporations. It will require us, as a society, to hold the mirror up to us and speak the truth to the effectiveness or ineffectiveness of the organizations and projects that we are supporting. And it will require us to experiment and take risks as we build a new system for addressing these complex social problems.
Slide 21 - The good news is that others are thinking and writing about this. Here are just a few of the resources that you might be interested in checking out:
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Slide 22 - Thank you for your time and I would be happy to answer any questions you might have or defer any of the data and tech based questions to my colleague Wade.