Social Change in the Face of Austerity
The increasing popularity of social financeSocial Finance is an approach to managing money that delivers social and/or environmental benefits, and in most cases, a financial return. and social enterpriseA social enterprise is an organization that applies commercial strategies to maximize improvements in human and environmental well-being, rather than maximising profits for external shareholders. may be symptomatic of a growing impatience with government response rates in making essential changes. It also is a sign of a modern societal...
read moreCapitalism 2.0 in the advent of the growing income gap
There is something in the air; collaborative working spaces, social innovation, crowdsourcing and crowdfunding, impact investing, social impact bonds, venture-philanthropy, social enterprises, triple-bottom lines, social return on investment, and social entrepreneurialism are all on the rise. Organizations like the Hub and the Centre for Social Innovation are flourishing with social entrepreneur memberships and incubating various startups or social enterprises; IndieGogo and Kickstarter are just two of the dozens of crowdfunding platforms now...
read moreThe Pioneer Gap and Philanthropy
Approximately one year ago, the Monitor Group (now called Monitor Deloitte) published a report titled, “From Blueprint to Scale: the Case for Philanthropy in Impact Investing.” The research they conducted painted a clear picture that “impact capital alone will not unlock the potential of impact investing.” They declared that in order to address the current challenges, “philanthropic support” would be required to obtain the necessary returns and demonstrable impact. The report concluded with six recommendations, of which four are...
read moreSports and recreation as an instrument for social inclusion
With the Harper government’s recent adjustments to Canada’s immigration policy, it will be important for nonprofits working in the field of ethnic groups, visible minorities, and immigrants to adapt and innovate during these times of change. With modern restrictions on access to funding and the rising prevalence of immigration in Canada, the sector needs to be open to new opportunities. I would argue there is an opportunity in working more collaboratively with other nonprofits that are not focused on immigration per se, but could...
read more3 Triangles to Fundraising
Money lives with people, thus in order to raise funds for your organization, you will need to raise donors. Before you can do this, you need to demonstrate creditability. A common way to demonstrate credibility is by partnering with others who have already established themselves in the community. Then, if you can write a compelling proposal to get your idea off the ground, and have brought all the right people to the table, your next step will be to raise the resources (fundraising) necessary to sustain your program or...
read moreWhat to consider when forming a partnership
There are many articles covering partnership development available on the internet, however few are cited with examples beyond personal experiences. This article attempts to provide a higher-level analysis of partnership development by incorporating my own experiences with that of what is represented in the literature. I believe this is important to cover because collaborative partnerships are a prominent strategy for community development in today’s modern world, and relying on merely personal experiences is often not enough for...
read moreThe consequences of impact investing on philanthropy
As the investment culture expands from simply the bottom-line of profit to an increased focus on the triple bottom-line of social enterprise (social, environment & profit), philanthropy will continue to be an essential catalyst in unlocking the potential of impact investing. However, these game-changing funding models may not achieve the necessary scale to produce a profit without some initial subsidies. In this new climate, it is difficult at times to keep up with the jargon and modern nomenclature. Many articles interchangeably refer to...
read moreImpact Investing: Who has the Last Word?
Impact investing transfers risk from the government to the investor. With this shift, is the decision-making from the public being handed over to the wealthy few? Impact investing (through social impact bonds) has an amazing potential for tackling social issues. Essentially how it works is a private investor provides money to fund a social intervention, which is then implemented by a non-profit organization. If and when that intervention produces previously established outcomes, the government then reimburses the private investor with a...
read morePhilanthropy is what sustains the charitable sector, not money
What does it mean to be a philanthropist? It appears that Philanthrôpía first entered the English language as a term to describe plants whose seeds stick rather too readily to people (Sulek, 2010). Philanthropy was then modernized by Sir Francis Bacon (1561–1626), who is largely credited with preventing the word from being owned by horticulture. Bacon considered philanthropia to be synonymous with “goodness,” which correlated with the Aristotelian conception of virtue, as consciously instilled habits of good behavior (Aristotle &...
read moreCanadian Definition of Social Enterprise
A distinctly Canadian narrative is needed for the growing conversation around social enterprise. Canada presents a unique ecosystem to this sector. Canada has differing procurement policies across multiple market-influencers, a history rooted in a $100 billion dollar nonprofit industry and a range of different social, environmental, historical, political, and cultural factors. What are the moving forces of social enterprise in the Canadian context? As an introduction to the question, I would argue that the concept of social enterprise serves...
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Latest References
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Ariel Charney: Something on my mind...“@adelinde70: Social Change in the Face of Austerity http://t.co/7GMlrk66NA: Agreed , but how to implement change..”
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GoldenKite Solutions: Social Change in the Face of Austerity http://t.co/B5vnANqopO #socent
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Alessandro Fabris: Capitalism 2.0 in the advent of the growing income gap http://t.co/aq4FN79mG3
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