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	<title>Social Velocity &#187; Mission-Related Investing</title>
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	<link>http://www.socialvelocity.net</link>
	<description>Accelerating Social Innovation</description>
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		<title>The Next Generation of Philanthropy: An Interview with Jessamyn Lau</title>
		<link>http://www.socialvelocity.net/2012/01/the-next-generation-of-philanthropy-an-interview-with-jessamyn-lau/</link>
		<comments>http://www.socialvelocity.net/2012/01/the-next-generation-of-philanthropy-an-interview-with-jessamyn-lau/#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Thu, 05 Jan 2012 15:41:30 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>Nell Edgington</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[Convergence]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Financing]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Foundations]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[impact investing]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Innovators]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Mission-Related Investing]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Nonprofits]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[outcomes]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Philanthropy]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[PRI]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Social Entrepreneurship]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Social Investing]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[social media]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Ashoka U]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Jessamyn Lau]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Peery Foundation]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Peery Social Entrepreneurship Program]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[PFWhiteboard]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Silicon Valley Community Foundation]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[social entrepreneurs]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Toniic Network]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[University Impact Fund]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://www.socialvelocity.net/?p=4641</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[<div><a class="addthis_button" href="//addthis.com/bookmark.php?v=250" addthis:url='http://www.socialvelocity.net/2012/01/the-next-generation-of-philanthropy-an-interview-with-jessamyn-lau/' addthis:title='The Next Generation of Philanthropy: An Interview with Jessamyn Lau '><img src="//cache.addthis.com/cachefly/static/btn/v2/lg-share-en.gif" width="125" height="16" alt="Bookmark and Share" style="border:0"/></a></div>In this month’s Social Velocity blog interview, we’re talking with Jessamyn Lau. As Program Leader of the innovative Peery Foundation, Jessamyn helps shape the foundation’s strategy, develops programs, strengthens the foundation’s portfolio, and supports existing grantees. Jessamyn’s MBA from Brigham Young University and time spent with Ashoka U have given her the perspective and skill-set [...]<p><br /><br />
<b>About the Author</b>: Nell Edgington is President of Social Velocity (<a href="http://www.socialvelocity.net" target="_blank">www.socialvelocity.net</a>), a management consulting firm leading nonprofits to greater social impact and financial sustainability. Social Velocity helps nonprofits grow their programs, bring more money in the door, and use resources more effectively. For more information, check out Social Velocity <a href="http://www.socialvelocity.net/consulting/" target="_blank">consulting services</a> and <a href="http://www.socialvelocity.net/clients/" target="_blank">clients</a>.<br /><br />

<a href="http://www.twitter.com/nedgington" target="_blank">Follow me on Twitter</a> | <a href="http://www.facebook.com/home.php?#/pages/Social-Velocity/132066740696?ref=ts" target="_blank">Find us on Facebook</a> | <a href="http://visitor.r20.constantcontact.com/d.jsp?llr=qpx94scab&p=oi&m=1102296473072"  target="_blank">Sign up for our E-Newsletter</a></p>
<BR>
<strong>Related posts:<ol>
<li><a href='http://www.socialvelocity.net/2011/09/next-generation-of-high-engagement-philanthropy-an-interview-with-carol-thompson-cole/' rel='bookmark' title='Next Generation of High Engagagement Philanthropy: An Interview with Carol Thompson Cole'>Next Generation of High Engagagement Philanthropy: An Interview with Carol Thompson Cole</a></li>
<li><a href='http://www.socialvelocity.net/2010/08/data-and-the-future-of-philanthropy-an-interview-with-lucy-bernholz/' rel='bookmark' title='Data and the Future of Philanthropy: An Interview with Lucy Bernholz'>Data and the Future of Philanthropy: An Interview with Lucy Bernholz</a></li>
<li><a href='http://www.socialvelocity.net/2011/12/the-future-of-financing-social-change-an-interview-with-antony-bugg-levine/' rel='bookmark' title='The Future of Financing Social Change: An Interview with Antony Bugg-Levine'>The Future of Financing Social Change: An Interview with Antony Bugg-Levine</a></li>
</strong></ol>]]></description>
			<content:encoded><![CDATA[<div><a class="addthis_button" href="//addthis.com/bookmark.php?v=250" addthis:url='http://www.socialvelocity.net/2012/01/the-next-generation-of-philanthropy-an-interview-with-jessamyn-lau/' addthis:title='The Next Generation of Philanthropy: An Interview with Jessamyn Lau '><img src="//cache.addthis.com/cachefly/static/btn/v2/lg-share-en.gif" width="125" height="16" alt="Bookmark and Share" style="border:0"/></a></div><p><img class="alignleft size-full wp-image-4645" style="margin: 0px 15px 10px 0px;" title="jessamyn" src="http://www.socialvelocity.net/wp-content/uploads/2011/12/jessamyn.jpg" alt="" width="150" height="150" />In this month’s Social Velocity blog interview, we’re talking with Jessamyn Lau. As Program Leader of the innovative <a href="http://www.peeryfoundation.org/" target="_blank">Peery Foundation</a>, Jessamyn helps shape the foundation’s strategy, develops programs, strengthens the foundation’s portfolio, and supports existing grantees. Jessamyn’s MBA from Brigham Young University and time spent with <a href="http://ashokau.org/" target="_blank">Ashoka U</a> have given her the perspective and skill-set to help the foundation develop new methods to support and build the field of social entrepreneurship. Jessamyn is currently working with BYU’s Ballard Center to create the <a href="http://peeryfellows.org/PSEF_Pilot/Home.html" target="_blank">Peery Social Entrepreneurship Program (PSEP)</a>, a cross campus initiative providing opportunities for students and faculty to engage with social entrepreneurship through curriculum, experiential learning, and research.</p>
<p>You can read past interviews in our Social Innovation Interview Series <a href="../services/social-velocity-interview-series/" target="_blank">here</a>.</p>
<p><strong>Nell: At the Peery Foundation you have done some really interesting experiments with social media, even adding an element of crowd-sourcing via Twitter to your strategic planning process. But recently you have gone back and forth about whether you want to continue your <a href="http://www.peeryfoundation.org/pfwhiteboard" target="_blank">PFWhiteboard blog</a>. What has your thinking been about how social media fits into the overall work of the Peery Foundation?</strong></p>
<p><strong>Jessamyn</strong>: One thing we know about social media is that it’s a good tool for is spreading the word about our partners and their work. 90% of what we post/tweet is about our portfolio partners. Every now and then we try to figure out how else to deliberately use social media. We’ve tried stuff that hasn’t worked (so we stopped doing it), and we’ve tried stuff that did seem to yield value for us and others. In general it’s still throwing spaghetti at a wall and seeing what sticks. Intuitively we think social media is a good thing for our creativity, learning, and listening, however, we don’t feel tied to it as a core part of our strategy or practice. When it makes sense we use it, when it doesn’t we don’t.</p>
<p><strong>Nell: What do you think holds foundations back from using social media and embracing greater transparency? What do you think will make that change?</strong></p>
<p><strong>Jessamyn</strong>: The tricky thing with social media is it’s really hard to link it to outcomes. Even when tangible examples of outcomes are illustrated it’s often a first-mover advantage and not something that will produce the same results if everyone did the same thing. If foundations could see how social media directly led to more impact it would be an easier sell. It’s a similar story with transparency. Being transparent requires change, time, dedication and a certain amount of risk. Without a clear and strong argument for how that leads to more impact it’s easier not to take the risk and stay quiet.</p>
<p>Another issue is strategic planning, which, at times, can become more of a bane than a boon to foundations. When it comes to social media many foundations think they need a strategy and a full blown plan before they will start using it. As with many things it’s hard to know exactly how Twitter or Facebook will be useful until you give it a go and play around a<br />
little.</p>
<p>For the most part I think the change will only come with an increase of millennial philanthropists, foundation ED’s and program officers who come with a share-as-default mentality and bias towards creative experimentation in public.</p>
<p><strong>Nell: You recently did a fascinating blog post about how the social entrepreneurship movement is encouraging young people to think they can solve the world&#8217;s problems, without much real world experience. How do we balance Generation Y&#8217;s zeal to find solutions with their youth and lack of experience?</strong></p>
<p><strong>Jessamyn</strong>: I don’t think I know the full answer to that, yet. My opinions on this point are still developing as the Peery Foundation works closely with BYU to build a cross-campus social entrepreneurship program. I’m not sure the overall problem is too much zeal or youth, or even too little experience -all of these things provide incredible value in the right context. I think what’s lacking are clearer expectations and support for students to build self-awareness and deliberate preparation in their development as social innovators. As I said, I’m still figuring it out -watch the PF Whiteboard over the coming months for more on this.</p>
<p><strong>Nell: The Peery Foundation is one of few foundations that do mission-related investments. How did you decide to move into that realm and what do you think holds other foundation back from MRIs?</strong></p>
<p><strong>Jessamyn</strong>: Our primary function is to support and serve the social entrepreneurs we work with. We try to keep our funding as flexible as possible. Peery Foundation funding is generally unrestricted and the structure of a grant is often co-crafted with the entrepreneur. We have come to realize that entrepreneurs with differing business models, or at differing life-cycle stages, need different types of capital. Once we believe in a SE and their model for addressing poverty we want to always be open to providing the type of capital that they need at the time they need it.</p>
<p>We’re still at an early stage in developing our capacity to provide debt and other funding outside of philanthropy. In our philanthropic funding we’re not paper heavy and our agreements are very trust-based. It was definitely daunting to explore this new realm of traditional investment due diligence and contractual agreements. So far we’ve found the kind of support we need to help us make the leap fairly painlessly through the <a href="http://toniic.com/" target="_blank">Toniic Network</a>, and from sources such as <a href="http://www.siliconvalleycf.org/" target="_blank">Silicon Valley Community Foundation</a> and <a href="http://www.uimpactfund.com/" target="_blank">University Impact Fund</a>, and still feel like we’re able to retain our low-paper, trust based partnership approach to the extent that makes sense.</p>
<p><strong>Nell: In some ways philanthropy has been a bit left behind by the impact investing movement. Why do you think that is and do you think philanthropic giving and impact investing will become more integrated?</strong></p>
<p><strong>Jessamyn</strong>: The potential of impact investing is huge, though I’m not sure I agree with the statement that impact investing (ii) has left behind philanthropy (charitable giving from individuals, corporations and foundations totaled over $290B in the US alone for 2010, impact investing is estimated at $50-100B in 2011). Though there is a lot of attention and discussion surrounding impact investing, there are still relatively few organizations actively channeling dollars to ii. Even in the future (when I think ii will absolutely eclipse philanthropy by the numbers), I see ii and philanthropy as very complimentary. In many cases philanthropic capital prepares the way for ii dollars, or continues to fund pieces of a model (overhead or continuing innovation) that ii capital can not.</p>
<p>Indeed, there are many incredibly efficient and effective models of social entrepreneurship with models not conducive to impact investment capital &#8211; they will probably always rely on philanthropic dollars. There will always be an important role for philanthropy to play. Philanthropy is the ultimate risk-taking capital. We should not lose sight of this or think that ii is here to replace philanthropy.</p>
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<p><br /><br />
<b>About the Author</b>: Nell Edgington is President of Social Velocity (<a href="http://www.socialvelocity.net" target="_blank">www.socialvelocity.net</a>), a management consulting firm leading nonprofits to greater social impact and financial sustainability. Social Velocity helps nonprofits grow their programs, bring more money in the door, and use resources more effectively. For more information, check out Social Velocity <a href="http://www.socialvelocity.net/consulting/" target="_blank">consulting services</a> and <a href="http://www.socialvelocity.net/clients/" target="_blank">clients</a>.<br /><br />

<a href="http://www.twitter.com/nedgington" target="_blank">Follow me on Twitter</a> | <a href="http://www.facebook.com/home.php?#/pages/Social-Velocity/132066740696?ref=ts" target="_blank">Find us on Facebook</a> | <a href="http://visitor.r20.constantcontact.com/d.jsp?llr=qpx94scab&p=oi&m=1102296473072"  target="_blank">Sign up for our E-Newsletter</a></p>
<BR><p><strong>Related posts:<ol>
<li><a href='http://www.socialvelocity.net/2011/09/next-generation-of-high-engagement-philanthropy-an-interview-with-carol-thompson-cole/' rel='bookmark' title='Next Generation of High Engagagement Philanthropy: An Interview with Carol Thompson Cole'>Next Generation of High Engagagement Philanthropy: An Interview with Carol Thompson Cole</a></li>
<li><a href='http://www.socialvelocity.net/2010/08/data-and-the-future-of-philanthropy-an-interview-with-lucy-bernholz/' rel='bookmark' title='Data and the Future of Philanthropy: An Interview with Lucy Bernholz'>Data and the Future of Philanthropy: An Interview with Lucy Bernholz</a></li>
<li><a href='http://www.socialvelocity.net/2011/12/the-future-of-financing-social-change-an-interview-with-antony-bugg-levine/' rel='bookmark' title='The Future of Financing Social Change: An Interview with Antony Bugg-Levine'>The Future of Financing Social Change: An Interview with Antony Bugg-Levine</a></li>
</strong></ol></p>]]></content:encoded>
			<wfw:commentRss>http://www.socialvelocity.net/2012/01/the-next-generation-of-philanthropy-an-interview-with-jessamyn-lau/feed/</wfw:commentRss>
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		</item>
		<item>
		<title>Unlocking Philanthropic Capital: An Interview with Sean Stannard-Stockton</title>
		<link>http://www.socialvelocity.net/2010/10/unlocking-philanthropic-capital-an-interview-with-sean-stannard-stockton/</link>
		<comments>http://www.socialvelocity.net/2010/10/unlocking-philanthropic-capital-an-interview-with-sean-stannard-stockton/#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Thu, 28 Oct 2010 15:20:32 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>Nell Edgington</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[Foundations]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[growth capital]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Innovators]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Mission-Related Investing]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Nonprofits]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Philanthropy]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Social Investing]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[builders vs. buyers]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Charity Navigator]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Chronicle of Philanthropy]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[GIIRS]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[GiveWell]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Grantmakers for Effective Organizations]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[impact investing]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[nonprofit accounting]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[nonprofit growth capital]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[philanthropic capital]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[philanthropic equity]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Sean Stannard-Stockton]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[SoCap]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Social Innovation Fund]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[social responsible investing]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Tactical Philanthropy]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Woody Tasch]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://www.socialvelocity.net/?p=2501</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[<div><a class="addthis_button" href="//addthis.com/bookmark.php?v=250" addthis:url='http://www.socialvelocity.net/2010/10/unlocking-philanthropic-capital-an-interview-with-sean-stannard-stockton/' addthis:title='Unlocking Philanthropic Capital: An Interview with Sean Stannard-Stockton '><img src="//cache.addthis.com/cachefly/static/btn/v2/lg-share-en.gif" width="125" height="16" alt="Bookmark and Share" style="border:0"/></a></div>In this month’s Social Velocity blog interview, we are talking with Sean Stannard-Stockton, one of my favorite people in the social innovation world. Sean is a visionary leading the charge to transform philanthropy. He is CEO of Tactical Philanthropy Advisors, a philanthropy advisory firm. He is also the author of the very popular Tactical Philanthropy [...]<p><br /><br />
<b>About the Author</b>: Nell Edgington is President of Social Velocity (<a href="http://www.socialvelocity.net" target="_blank">www.socialvelocity.net</a>), a management consulting firm leading nonprofits to greater social impact and financial sustainability. Social Velocity helps nonprofits grow their programs, bring more money in the door, and use resources more effectively. For more information, check out Social Velocity <a href="http://www.socialvelocity.net/consulting/" target="_blank">consulting services</a> and <a href="http://www.socialvelocity.net/clients/" target="_blank">clients</a>.<br /><br />

<a href="http://www.twitter.com/nedgington" target="_blank">Follow me on Twitter</a> | <a href="http://www.facebook.com/home.php?#/pages/Social-Velocity/132066740696?ref=ts" target="_blank">Find us on Facebook</a> | <a href="http://visitor.r20.constantcontact.com/d.jsp?llr=qpx94scab&p=oi&m=1102296473072"  target="_blank">Sign up for our E-Newsletter</a></p>

No related posts.]]></description>
			<content:encoded><![CDATA[<div><a class="addthis_button" href="//addthis.com/bookmark.php?v=250" addthis:url='http://www.socialvelocity.net/2010/10/unlocking-philanthropic-capital-an-interview-with-sean-stannard-stockton/' addthis:title='Unlocking Philanthropic Capital: An Interview with Sean Stannard-Stockton '><img src="//cache.addthis.com/cachefly/static/btn/v2/lg-share-en.gif" width="125" height="16" alt="Bookmark and Share" style="border:0"/></a></div><p><a href="http://www.socialvelocity.net/wp-content/uploads/2010/10/sean.jpeg"><img class="alignleft size-medium wp-image-2502" title="sean" src="http://www.socialvelocity.net/wp-content/uploads/2010/10/sean-400x400.jpg" alt="" width="202" height="202" /></a>In this month’s Social Velocity blog interview, we are talking with Sean Stannard-Stockton, one of my favorite people in the social innovation world.</p>
<p>Sean is a visionary leading the charge to transform philanthropy. He is CEO of <a href="http://www.tacticalphilanthropy.com/" target="_blank">Tactical Philanthropy Advisors</a>, a philanthropy advisory firm. He is also the author of the very popular <a href="http://www.tacticalphilanthropy.com/blog" target="_blank">Tactical Philanthropy blog </a>and writes <a href="http://philanthropy.com/section/Sean-Stannard-Stockton/372/" target="_blank">a monthly column</a> for the  Chronicle of Philanthropy. He is a member of the World Economic Forum’s  Council on Philanthropy &amp; Social Investing and his insights on philanthropy have been referenced in The New York Times, Wall Street Journal, Washington Post,  and Financial Times.</p>
<p>You can read our past interviews with <a href="../2010/06/a-revolution-in-nonprofit-finance-an-interview-with-clara-miller/" target="_blank">Clara Miller</a>, <a href="../2010/05/the-future-of-financing-impact-an-interview-with-kevin-jones/" target="_blank">Kevin Jones</a>, <a href="../2010/08/data-and-the-future-of-philanthropy-an-interview-with-lucy-bernholz/" target="_blank">Lucy Bernholz</a>, <a href="../2010/07/funding-social-innovation-an-interview-with-paul-tarini/" target="_blank">Paul Tarini</a>, <a href="/?p=2231" target="_blank">George Overholser</a>.</p>
<p><strong>Nell: At the first Social Capital Markets Conference (SoCap) in 2008 one of the keynoters said “we’re not here to talk about nonprofits.” We’ve come a long way from there to this year’s devoted track around philanthropic capital and the nonprofit space at SoCap. Where do you think the initial hesitance to connect philanthropic and impact investing came from? And how do we continue to integrate the two worlds?</strong></p>
<p><strong>Sean: </strong>I think that one of the segments of people who are attracted to impact investing are people who think philanthropy doesn’t work. While I view philanthropic and for-profit social capital to be part of a single continuum of capital, many people seem to feel that they are fundamentally different. Like most new ideas, early adopters often think it is a silver bullet that will “change everything”. Some early adopters of impact investing or other forms of for-profit social capital wrongly believe that impact investing will replace philanthropy. I think this is a fundamental misunderstanding. Continuing to integrate the two worlds will require helping the various points on the capital spectrum better understand each other. At the end of the day, capital shouldn’t be viewed through an ideological lens, but should simply be deployed based on what sort of capital fits the situation.</p>
<p><strong>Nell: The SoCap session on nonprofit rating systems like Charity Navigator and GiveWell demonstrated that there is still quite a divide between GIIRS (the impact investing rating system) and nonprofit rating systems. What is your sense of this? Do you think there is potential to somehow combine GIIRS (or something else) and nonprofit rating systems so that there is one comparable impact measurement system?</strong></p>
<p><strong>Sean: </strong>I would guess that any truly effective impact measurement system should be functional across both for-profit and nonprofit activity. A good impact assessment system wouldn’t care about the tax status of the entity producing results, it would just care about the results and the cost of obtaining them. That being said, I think evaluating a nonprofit organization is really quite different from evaluating a for-profit organization. So even if we have a unified impact assessment framework some day, I would guess that organizational assessment will utilize different systems and approaches for nonprofit and for-profit organizations.</p>
<p><strong>Nell: How would you like to see the conversation about connecting philanthropy and impact investing evolve at SoCap11? What are your hopes for next year’s conference?</strong></p>
<p><strong>Sean: </strong>I’d like to work to profile more examples of ways that for-profit and philanthropic capital worked together to produce social impact. Our session on Evergreen Lodge at this year’s conference looked precisely at this question, but I’d like to see more examples. I’d also like to see examples of ways philanthropic entities have used for-profit investments or subsidiaries well or for-profits have effectively used philanthropic activities to drive profit and social results. However, one of the most important goals is simply getting the different players into the same room and getting them to come to understand each other better. While Kevin Jones and I had a good time talking about the Social Capital Markets as a meeting ground for the Barbarians and Byzantine, in reality none of us are barbarians.</p>
<p><strong>Nell: Beyond SoCap where do you think the important conversations about unlocking philanthropic and government capital for social impact are happening?</strong></p>
<p><strong>Sean:</strong> This is an interesting question. SoCap is special because it is one of the only (the only?) conference that is specifically about capital for social impact without regard for sector. But versions of this conversation are happening around Grantmakers for Effective Organizations, The Social Innovation Fund, online and in a different sort of way at the PopTech conference.</p>
<p><strong>Nell: At the last general session of SoCap Woody Tasch of the Slow Money movement said he doesn’t think mission-related investing will ever be adopted by the majority of foundations. What are your thoughts on that? </strong></p>
<p><strong>Sean: </strong>Social Responsible Investing, the practice of screening out stocks of tobacco companies, defense contractors and the like from investment portfolios, is not practiced by a majority of investors. Yet, SRI is very mainstream and has significantly altered the behavior of publicly traded companies. Today, SRI mutual funds are one of the fastest growing areas in money management. So I don’t think that the majority of funders have to adopt mission related investing for the concept to be deemed a success. It should be noted that SRI took a good 20 years or so to go mainstream. So it could be some time before mission related investing is considering mainstream.</p>
<p><strong>Nell: And more broadly, what do you think it will take to change how philanthropists (both foundations and individual donors) use money to support social impact? How do we make more donors builders instead of just buyers?</strong></p>
<p><strong>Sean:</strong> Today, I think that very few people in the social sector really understand what “philanthropic equity” is and how capital differs from revenue. Nonprofit accounting does not acknowledge that capital even exists in the sector. Nonprofits can only book cash coming into their business as revenue or a loan. There’s no official way to account for equity-like capital. So I think that there needs to be a pretty major education effort to get the whole sector very clear on how fundamentally different it is for a funder/donor to “invest” philanthropic equity in a nonprofit vs paying a nonprofit revenue to execute programs. Personally, I don’t think much progress will be made until nonprofit accounting changes. Until that happens, it doesn’t matter much what we call “growth capital”, it is all just revenue to the nonprofit.</p>
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<p><br /><br />
<b>About the Author</b>: Nell Edgington is President of Social Velocity (<a href="http://www.socialvelocity.net" target="_blank">www.socialvelocity.net</a>), a management consulting firm leading nonprofits to greater social impact and financial sustainability. Social Velocity helps nonprofits grow their programs, bring more money in the door, and use resources more effectively. For more information, check out Social Velocity <a href="http://www.socialvelocity.net/consulting/" target="_blank">consulting services</a> and <a href="http://www.socialvelocity.net/clients/" target="_blank">clients</a>.<br /><br />

<a href="http://www.twitter.com/nedgington" target="_blank">Follow me on Twitter</a> | <a href="http://www.facebook.com/home.php?#/pages/Social-Velocity/132066740696?ref=ts" target="_blank">Find us on Facebook</a> | <a href="http://visitor.r20.constantcontact.com/d.jsp?llr=qpx94scab&p=oi&m=1102296473072"  target="_blank">Sign up for our E-Newsletter</a></p>
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		<slash:comments>2</slash:comments>
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		<title>A Watershed for the Social Capital Market?</title>
		<link>http://www.socialvelocity.net/2010/03/a-watershed-for-the-social-capital-market/</link>
		<comments>http://www.socialvelocity.net/2010/03/a-watershed-for-the-social-capital-market/#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Fri, 05 Mar 2010 16:28:00 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>Nell Edgington</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[Innovators]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Mission-Related Investing]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[PRI]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Social Entrepreneurship]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Social Investing]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Entrepreneurs Foundation of Central Texas]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Gates Foundation]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[PRIs]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[RISE]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Scott Collier]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[social entrepreneurs]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Triton Ventures]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://www.socialvelocity.net/?p=1583</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[<div><a class="addthis_button" href="//addthis.com/bookmark.php?v=250" addthis:url='http://www.socialvelocity.net/2010/03/a-watershed-for-the-social-capital-market/' addthis:title='A Watershed for the Social Capital Market? '><img src="//cache.addthis.com/cachefly/static/btn/v2/lg-share-en.gif" width="125" height="16" alt="Bookmark and Share" style="border:0"/></a></div>One of the sessions of the RISE Social Entrepreneurship track was a panel of investors who fund social entrepreneurs (both nonprofit and for-profit).  One of the panelists was Scott Collier, Managing Director of Triton Ventures.  Scott has been a venture capital investor since 1991, serves on the board of the Entrepreneurs Foundation of Central Texas, [...]<p><br /><br />
<b>About the Author</b>: Nell Edgington is President of Social Velocity (<a href="http://www.socialvelocity.net" target="_blank">www.socialvelocity.net</a>), a management consulting firm leading nonprofits to greater social impact and financial sustainability. Social Velocity helps nonprofits grow their programs, bring more money in the door, and use resources more effectively. For more information, check out Social Velocity <a href="http://www.socialvelocity.net/consulting/" target="_blank">consulting services</a> and <a href="http://www.socialvelocity.net/clients/" target="_blank">clients</a>.<br /><br />

<a href="http://www.twitter.com/nedgington" target="_blank">Follow me on Twitter</a> | <a href="http://www.facebook.com/home.php?#/pages/Social-Velocity/132066740696?ref=ts" target="_blank">Find us on Facebook</a> | <a href="http://visitor.r20.constantcontact.com/d.jsp?llr=qpx94scab&p=oi&m=1102296473072"  target="_blank">Sign up for our E-Newsletter</a></p>

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			<content:encoded><![CDATA[<div><a class="addthis_button" href="//addthis.com/bookmark.php?v=250" addthis:url='http://www.socialvelocity.net/2010/03/a-watershed-for-the-social-capital-market/' addthis:title='A Watershed for the Social Capital Market? '><img src="//cache.addthis.com/cachefly/static/btn/v2/lg-share-en.gif" width="125" height="16" alt="Bookmark and Share" style="border:0"/></a></div><p><em>One of the sessions of the <a href="http://www.riseaustin.org/sessions_search/results/field_track%3A%22Social%20Entrepreneurship%22" target="_blank">RISE Social Entrepreneurship track</a> was a panel of investors who fund social entrepreneurs (both nonprofit and for-profit).  One of the panelists was Scott Collier, Managing Director of <a href="http://www.tritonventures.com/" target="_blank">Triton Ventures</a>.  Scott has been a venture capital investor since 1991, serves on the board of the <a href="http://www.givetoaustin.org/" target="_blank">Entrepreneurs Foundation of Central Texas</a>, and is working to engage Austin&#8217;s funding community in social innovation.  In the RISE panel Scott was on, a conversation began around mission-related investing, the missed opportunity currently facing foundations, and how a new move by the Gates Foundation may be opening up a whole new pool of funds to social entrepreneurs.  I asked him to write a post on this. It follows here.</em></p>
<p>I was recently fortunate to be on a RISE panel with a great mix of entrepreneurs and venture investors turned philanthropists, private foundation founders and social investors, all talking about investment in social enterprises.  The discussion emphasized the grant-making functions of the foundations represented on the panel and the exciting ventures that these grants were supporting. However, as often happens, there was no discussion about the potential for social impact investing by the investment functions of these organizations if they were to allocate a portion of their investment capital to activities that could produce both a financial return and a social impact.</p>
<p>I mentioned that this seemed to be a missed opportunity since the investment function of U.S. foundations manages about $550 billion whereas the grant-making function manages a much smaller amount: about $45 billion a year.  This would seem to imply that small program-related or mission-related investment allocations out of the $550 billion under management could represent much greater impact investing potential than would similar allocations of grant funds.  I also mentioned a cautionary tale as revealed in an <a href="http://articles.latimes.com/2007/jan/07/nation/na-gatesx07" target="_blank">LA Times article in 2007</a>, where it was pointed out that the <a href="http://www.gatesfoundation.org/Pages/home.aspx" target="_blank">Gates Foundation</a>, the world&#8217;s largest private foundation, was investing for a financial return in companies whose business practices were causing harm to individuals that were at the same time receiving benefits from NGOs supported by Gates Foundation grant funding.  Given that investment dollars comprise such a much larger sum, such returns-only investment practices could be undermining the value of grants, resulting in questionable net positive impact if viewed holistically.</p>
<p>What I failed to add to this conundrum is that the Gates Foundation has now <a href="http://www.gatesfoundation.org/about/pages/program-related-investments-faq.aspx" target="_blank">recognized the opportunity</a> to be a thought leader in making social enterprise investments out of their investment capital.  Below is an excerpt from the Gates Foundation website explaining features of their pilot $400 million PRI initiative.</p>
<blockquote><p><strong>Q. What is the [Gates] foundation’s new approach to Program-Related Investments? </strong><br />
A. We are working with a range of partners to use Program-Related Investments (PRIs) to deepen the impact of our work. We believe that investments are the right instruments to use in situations in which our program strategies are best served by partnering with revenue-generating enterprises, such as NGOs, financial institutions or companies. These entities may not be able to access investment capital from the private markets because the markets or entities that serve the poor may be perceived as too risky or costly to serve, or investors don’t have good information to assess the opportunities. By providing investment capital directly or by reducing risk to investors, we can help our partners access the capital they need to grow and demonstrate to the market that financially viable opportunities exist that serve the needs of poor or otherwise disadvantaged persons.  We know we can’t solve all problems with these types of investments – grant-making remains critical for those sectors that can never generate revenues or be addressed by market forces.</p>
<p>We have established a pilot program with an envelope of $400 million to invest in a range of investment opportunities. The capital for PRI investments or guarantees will be provided by this special $400M pool which will be managed by the CFO’s office of the foundation. Out of this pool, we will invest in PRIs that directly and meaningfully contribute to the achievement of the foundation’s charitable purposes.</p>
<p><strong>Q. What types of investments will the foundation do? </strong><br />
A. We will evaluate a full range of investment opportunities that could include:</p>
<ul>
<li>Debt investments such as loans to NGOs, financial institutions or companies;</li>
<li>Equity investments such as investments in venture capital funds or (less commonly) purchases of shares in companies;</li>
<li>Guaranty investments such as bond back-stops, credit guarantees, or insurance.</li>
<li>Any PRI opportunity must closely align with our program strategies, from increasing financing for agricultural smallholders in Africa, to supporting charter school facilities expansion, to increasing investment in global health technologies.</li>
</ul>
</blockquote>
<p>I spoke with a colleague who is close to Gates Foundation CFO Alex Friedman, who launched this PRI program, and he told me that a key part of the pilot launch was to organize a new group whose financial returns would not impact the performance objectives of the office of the CIO.  This was intended to free the new PRI group to focus more on social return than on financial return.</p>
<p>It is certainly exciting news that this $400 million, representing roughly 1% of the Gates Foundation&#8217;s capital under management, is now available for both financial and social return when invested in partnership with social entrepreneurs.  However, what may be even more exciting is that the intention of the move is to encourage other private foundations to do likewise and for Gates to thus be a catalyst for multiples of the $400 million to show up in the market as risk capital for social enterprises.  Could this be the beginning of large pools of capital available for direct impact investing, social venture funds and private equity funds, and the creation of a true continuum of capital availability in what is today a very nascent social capital market?</p>
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<p><br /><br />
<b>About the Author</b>: Nell Edgington is President of Social Velocity (<a href="http://www.socialvelocity.net" target="_blank">www.socialvelocity.net</a>), a management consulting firm leading nonprofits to greater social impact and financial sustainability. Social Velocity helps nonprofits grow their programs, bring more money in the door, and use resources more effectively. For more information, check out Social Velocity <a href="http://www.socialvelocity.net/consulting/" target="_blank">consulting services</a> and <a href="http://www.socialvelocity.net/clients/" target="_blank">clients</a>.<br /><br />

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		<title>Foundations Can Lead the Charge Toward a New Philanthropy</title>
		<link>http://www.socialvelocity.net/2009/06/foundations-can-lead-the-charge-toward-a-new-philanthropy/</link>
		<comments>http://www.socialvelocity.net/2009/06/foundations-can-lead-the-charge-toward-a-new-philanthropy/#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Tue, 16 Jun 2009 17:14:31 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>Nell Edgington</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[Foundations]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[growth capital]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Nonprofits]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Philanthropy]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Social Investing]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Venture Philanthropy]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Ford Foundation]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Gates Foundation]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Giving USA]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Mission-Related Investing]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[PRIs]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Robert Wood Johnson Foundation]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://www.socialvelocity.net/?p=807</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[<div><a class="addthis_button" href="//addthis.com/bookmark.php?v=250" addthis:url='http://www.socialvelocity.net/2009/06/foundations-can-lead-the-charge-toward-a-new-philanthropy/' addthis:title='Foundations Can Lead the Charge Toward a New Philanthropy '><img src="//cache.addthis.com/cachefly/static/btn/v2/lg-share-en.gif" width="125" height="16" alt="Bookmark and Share" style="border:0"/></a></div>The news in the philanthropy world this week is not good.  It seems that our fears about the effect of the economic downturn on philanthropy are being confirmed in spades.  The Ford Foundation and Robert Wood Johnson Foundations, two of the largest in the country, are both reducing their staffs by 30%+ and making other [...]<p><br /><br />
<b>About the Author</b>: Nell Edgington is President of Social Velocity (<a href="http://www.socialvelocity.net" target="_blank">www.socialvelocity.net</a>), a management consulting firm leading nonprofits to greater social impact and financial sustainability. Social Velocity helps nonprofits grow their programs, bring more money in the door, and use resources more effectively. For more information, check out Social Velocity <a href="http://www.socialvelocity.net/consulting/" target="_blank">consulting services</a> and <a href="http://www.socialvelocity.net/clients/" target="_blank">clients</a>.<br /><br />

<a href="http://www.twitter.com/nedgington" target="_blank">Follow me on Twitter</a> | <a href="http://www.facebook.com/home.php?#/pages/Social-Velocity/132066740696?ref=ts" target="_blank">Find us on Facebook</a> | <a href="http://visitor.r20.constantcontact.com/d.jsp?llr=qpx94scab&p=oi&m=1102296473072"  target="_blank">Sign up for our E-Newsletter</a></p>
<BR>
<strong>Related posts:<ol>
<li><a href='http://www.socialvelocity.net/2008/12/foundations-role-in-a-tough-economy/' rel='bookmark' title='Foundations&#8217; Role in a Tough Economy'>Foundations&#8217; Role in a Tough Economy</a></li>
<li><a href='http://www.socialvelocity.net/2011/09/next-generation-of-high-engagement-philanthropy-an-interview-with-carol-thompson-cole/' rel='bookmark' title='Next Generation of High Engagagement Philanthropy: An Interview with Carol Thompson Cole'>Next Generation of High Engagagement Philanthropy: An Interview with Carol Thompson Cole</a></li>
<li><a href='http://www.socialvelocity.net/2009/05/resetting-philanthropy/' rel='bookmark' title='Resetting Philanthropy'>Resetting Philanthropy</a></li>
</strong></ol>]]></description>
			<content:encoded><![CDATA[<div><a class="addthis_button" href="//addthis.com/bookmark.php?v=250" addthis:url='http://www.socialvelocity.net/2009/06/foundations-can-lead-the-charge-toward-a-new-philanthropy/' addthis:title='Foundations Can Lead the Charge Toward a New Philanthropy '><img src="//cache.addthis.com/cachefly/static/btn/v2/lg-share-en.gif" width="125" height="16" alt="Bookmark and Share" style="border:0"/></a></div><p>The news in the philanthropy world this week is not good.  It seems that our fears about the effect of the economic downturn on philanthropy are being confirmed in spades.  The Ford Foundation and Robert Wood Johnson Foundations, two of the largest in the country, are <a href="http://philanthropy.com/news/updates/8570/robert-wood-johnson-offers-buyout-to-40-percent-of-its-employees" target="_blank">both reducing their staffs by 30%+</a> and <a href="http://philanthropy.com/news/updates/8526/ford-foundation-offers-buyouts-to-one-third-of-employees" target="_blank">making other cuts in expenses</a> in order to maintain previous years&#8217; giving levels.  The <a href="http://www.givingusa.org/press_releases/gusa/GivingReaches300billion.pdf" target="_blank">report on 2008 charitable giving released by Giving USA</a> last week shows the largest percentage decline on record, although as Sean Stannard-Stockton of the Tactical Philanthropy blog <a href="http://tacticalphilanthropy.com/2009/06/how-much-did-americans-really-give-in-2008" target="_blank">wisely points  out</a>:</p>
<blockquote><p>Charitable giving behaved more or less as it normally does when the economy sours. This is, by most measures, the worst recession in a very long time and so we’re seeing charitable giving get hit. But it is only declining in line with the way it normally behaves. Things are tough, but there was no apocalypse.</p></blockquote>
<p>Still, the news is troubling.</p>
<p>Although foundation giving makes up only 13% of the charitable giving pie, their reaction to an economic crisis can have a dramatic impact on charitable giving overall.  Foundations are in some ways viewed as the philanthropic experts and can set trends that can transform the impact of philanthropy. Take the Gates Foundation for example.  Last year they received <a href="http://philanthropy.com/news/prospecting/8467/gates-foundation-raises-10-million-in-unsolicited-gifts" target="_blank">$10.4 million in unsolicited donations</a> simply because other philanthropists think that Gates is a philanthropic leader.</p>
<p>So now is the time for foundations to lead the way towards more effective philanthropy&#8211;philanthropy that builds and scales organizations rather than buys services, as Michael Selzer, writer, educator, nonprofit leader and <a href="http://pndblog.typepad.com/pndblog/" target="_blank">PhilanTopic</a> contributor, points out in <a href="http://pndblog.typepad.com/pndblog/2009/06/strategies-for-hard-times-the-case-for-sustainable-funding.html" target="_blank">his recent post</a>.  Michael argues that the economic crisis provides a natural impetus to foundations to become builders of organizations rather than buyers of services, and in fact he poses a provocative question:</p>
<blockquote><p>A growing number of foundations are beginning to think of themselves as &#8220;builders&#8221; rather than &#8220;buyers&#8221;&#8230;buyers award grants with an eye to achieving specific programmatic outcomes, while builders, always mindful of outcomes, seek to help grantees strengthen their organizational capacity so as to achieve greater impact in the future. To the extent that &#8220;buying&#8221; is limited to a relatively short-term transaction rather than a longer-term interest in the organizational well-being of the grantee, it is not an especially productive activity. Which leads me to ask: What foundation would want to be a buyer rather than a builder in today&#8217;s environment?</p></blockquote>
<p>Michael goes on to somewhat equate &#8220;building&#8221; funds with general operating support, pointing out that only 20% of all grants go to operating, whereas 50% of all grants go to specific programs or projects.  He offers a list of ways for foundations to increase their &#8220;builder&#8221; funding while still supporting specific programs. His list includes giving grantees the latitude to adequately account for indirect costs, expediting grant approval processes, expanding grant periods to more than a year, and sharing responsibility with grantees for securing remaining program costs if the foundation is only funding part of the program. Michael calls these &#8220;extraordinary measures&#8221; for &#8220;building the capacity of the nonprofit sector for the long haul.&#8221;</p>
<p>I disagree.  Nothing in his list seems extraordinary to me.  The economic crisis and the resulting effects on philanthropy and the nonprofit sector does call for extraordinary measures, a resetting of both realms: the nonprofits and the philanthropists who fund them.  And because foundations lead the charge in the philanthropic realm they have an obligation to take a hard look at how they do things and try some truly extraordinary measures.  A list of truly extraordinary measures that foundations could take includes:</p>
<ul>
<li>Increasing the <a href="/?p=656" target="_blank">use of program-related investments (PRIs</a>) to include capacity building projects like upgraded nonprofit fundraising functions.</li>
<li>Exploring <a href="/?p=741" target="_blank">mission-related investing,</a> investing part of a foundation&#8217;s corpus in social businesses that meet the foundation&#8217;s mission, to a much larger extent as a way to expand the reach and impact of the foundation.</li>
<li>Increasing the percentage of capacity building and unrestricted grants that the foundation makes. Instead of 20%, let&#8217;s bump that number up to 40%.</li>
<li>Exploring becoming a <a href="http://www.beldon.org/" target="_blank">spend-down foundation</a> that doesn&#8217;t exist in perpetuity, but rather spends their corpus in order to have a larger impact on social problems in this generation.</li>
<li>Increasing growth capital investments&#8211;large ($500K+), 3-5 year investments that pay for the infrastructure required for a proven nonprofit to scale.</li>
<li>Reducing the strings and reporting requirements placed on nonprofit grantees.</li>
<li>Decreasing the push towards funding of new programs and investing more money and time in the infrastructure of proven programs that could grow to serve more people.</li>
</ul>
<p>That&#8217;s not to say that there aren&#8217;t foundations out there that are doing these things.  There absolutely are, but they are in the minority. Foundations as a group could help transform philanthropy by becoming builders more often than buyers. These are challenging, demanding, restructuring times.  They call for bold, risky, extraordinary action.  Foundations can lead that charge.</p>
<p><br /><br />
<b>About the Author</b>: Nell Edgington is President of Social Velocity (<a href="http://www.socialvelocity.net" target="_blank">www.socialvelocity.net</a>), a management consulting firm leading nonprofits to greater social impact and financial sustainability. Social Velocity helps nonprofits grow their programs, bring more money in the door, and use resources more effectively. For more information, check out Social Velocity <a href="http://www.socialvelocity.net/consulting/" target="_blank">consulting services</a> and <a href="http://www.socialvelocity.net/clients/" target="_blank">clients</a>.<br /><br />

<a href="http://www.twitter.com/nedgington" target="_blank">Follow me on Twitter</a> | <a href="http://www.facebook.com/home.php?#/pages/Social-Velocity/132066740696?ref=ts" target="_blank">Find us on Facebook</a> | <a href="http://visitor.r20.constantcontact.com/d.jsp?llr=qpx94scab&p=oi&m=1102296473072"  target="_blank">Sign up for our E-Newsletter</a></p>
<BR><p><strong>Related posts:<ol>
<li><a href='http://www.socialvelocity.net/2008/12/foundations-role-in-a-tough-economy/' rel='bookmark' title='Foundations&#8217; Role in a Tough Economy'>Foundations&#8217; Role in a Tough Economy</a></li>
<li><a href='http://www.socialvelocity.net/2011/09/next-generation-of-high-engagement-philanthropy-an-interview-with-carol-thompson-cole/' rel='bookmark' title='Next Generation of High Engagagement Philanthropy: An Interview with Carol Thompson Cole'>Next Generation of High Engagagement Philanthropy: An Interview with Carol Thompson Cole</a></li>
<li><a href='http://www.socialvelocity.net/2009/05/resetting-philanthropy/' rel='bookmark' title='Resetting Philanthropy'>Resetting Philanthropy</a></li>
</strong></ol></p>]]></content:encoded>
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		<title>A Call for Mission Related Investing</title>
		<link>http://www.socialvelocity.net/2009/05/a-call-for-mission-related-investing/</link>
		<comments>http://www.socialvelocity.net/2009/05/a-call-for-mission-related-investing/#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Mon, 11 May 2009 15:18:54 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>Nell Edgington</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[Foundations]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Philanthropy]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Social Enterprise]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Social Investing]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[financial return]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[foundation]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Gates Foundation]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Mission-Related Investing]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[PRIs]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[social return]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Triton Ventures]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://www.socialvelocity.net/?p=741</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[<div><a class="addthis_button" href="//addthis.com/bookmark.php?v=250" addthis:url='http://www.socialvelocity.net/2009/05/a-call-for-mission-related-investing/' addthis:title='A Call for Mission Related Investing '><img src="//cache.addthis.com/cachefly/static/btn/v2/lg-share-en.gif" width="125" height="16" alt="Bookmark and Share" style="border:0"/></a></div>In order to maintain their legal status, foundations are required to distribute 5% of their earnings each year to nonprofit organizations.  This 5% is determined by a 2-5 year rolling average of earnings.  In years like these when earnings are very low foundations have less to distribute, which makes ideas like mission-related investing more appealing.  [...]<p><br /><br />
<b>About the Author</b>: Nell Edgington is President of Social Velocity (<a href="http://www.socialvelocity.net" target="_blank">www.socialvelocity.net</a>), a management consulting firm leading nonprofits to greater social impact and financial sustainability. Social Velocity helps nonprofits grow their programs, bring more money in the door, and use resources more effectively. For more information, check out Social Velocity <a href="http://www.socialvelocity.net/consulting/" target="_blank">consulting services</a> and <a href="http://www.socialvelocity.net/clients/" target="_blank">clients</a>.<br /><br />

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			<content:encoded><![CDATA[<div><a class="addthis_button" href="//addthis.com/bookmark.php?v=250" addthis:url='http://www.socialvelocity.net/2009/05/a-call-for-mission-related-investing/' addthis:title='A Call for Mission Related Investing '><img src="//cache.addthis.com/cachefly/static/btn/v2/lg-share-en.gif" width="125" height="16" alt="Bookmark and Share" style="border:0"/></a></div><p>In order to maintain their legal status, foundations are required to distribute 5% of their earnings each year to nonprofit organizations.  This 5% is determined by a 2-5 year rolling average of earnings.  In years like these when earnings are very low foundations have less to distribute, which makes ideas like mission-related investing more appealing.  Mission-related investing is when  a foundation uses part of it&#8217;s corpus (the 95%) to invest in social enterprises that are related to the foundation&#8217;s mission.  For example, a foundation interested in the environment could invest part of their 95% in wind farms, thereby receiving a social return in addition to a financial return and extending the reach of their mission despite an economic downturn.</p>
<p>Scott Collier, Managing Director of <a href="http://www.tritonventures.com/" target="_blank">Triton Ventures</a>, has thought a lot about mission-related investing, and I&#8217;ve asked him to do a guest blog on the topic.  Scott has been a venture capital investor since 1991. He has experience in all aspects of venture capital fund formation and management and the associated growth, financing and exit strategies for a diverse range of companies.  Scott serves on the board of the <a href="http://www.givetoaustin.org/" target="_blank">Entrepreneurs Foundation of Central Texas</a> and is an active participant in microfinance and social enterprise initiatives, primarily focused on financing for social business. Here is his post:</p>
<p>From the largest foundation to the smallest donor-advised fund, the philanthropic world tends to manage assets in a way designed to preserve fund corpus while generating enough growth and/or income to achieve the 5% grant level necessary to maintain tax-free status. However, what has evolved from this mindset is a bifurcated structure where grant programs are expected to be the sole means of performing the mission while the asset management function focuses on optimizing returns.  In fact, people speak of a firewall between these two activities.  Unfortunately, this leaves much of the talent (and operating expense) dedicated to investment work that does nothing to further the organization&#8217;s mission.</p>
<p>More problematic, asset managers can and do end up making investments that generate a good rate of return but support companies that happen to work at cross purposes to the mission.  This sort of problem was brought to light a couple of years ago when the LA Times questioned why the Gates Foundation would invest hundreds of millions of dollars in companies generating toxic pollution blamed for sickening people living in communities receiving tens of millions in Gates-funded medical aid. Setting aside the moral implications of this situation, it&#8217;s irrational to allow the two parts of any organization to work at such obvious cross purposes.</p>
<p>What seems to make sense is a holistic view of foundation management that considers all investing to be mission related investing with the result that all cash outflows balance risk, return and mission impact. This approach implies five categories of investment along the continuum of philanthropy:</p>
<ol>
<li><strong>Program Grants</strong>: Currently maintained at a nominal 5% of total assets, these investments are absolutely certain to produce a negative 100% financial return.  So perhaps it would make sense to take this allocation to a lower percentage to make room for other investments that carry better returns (you can&#8217;t do any worse after all) and a different type of impact.  Perhaps even a more lasting and healthy impact.</li>
<li><strong>Program Related Investments</strong>: Nell had <a href="/?p=656" target="_blank">an excellent post</a> on this topic.  Deployed as loans at below-market yields, the risk-adjusted returns over time might be zero or negative but still better than the negative 100% generated by Program Grants.  Structured correctly, a PRI is counted by the IRS in the required 5% and if it were taken to a level of just 10 or 20 percent of the Program Grant spend it could transform the relationship that foundations have with their investees.  After all, in the right situation, a loan to support a move to self-sufficiency can be healthier for the recipient than a handout that creates a cycle of dependency.</li>
<li><strong>Mission Related Investments</strong>: This category comprises mission-directed investments that fall outside the limits of what can be considered part of a foundation&#8217;s 5% qualifying distributions.  In aggregate these MRIs would target, on a risk-adjusted basis, just a return of capital or perhaps a small return beyond that, but still a below market return in exchange for driving a substantial mission impact.  Investments in this category could provide a tremendous boost to the nascent social business space.</li>
<li><strong>Mission Aligned Investments:</strong> After evaluating for ROI potential, investments would get priority in this segment given the degree to which they enhance the mission.  A good corporate citizen in a country where the foundation does work might be enough to tip the balance in favor of investment.  Over time this could become a significant percentage of the income-producing portfolio and given the magnitude of dollars involved it could encourage corporate behavior to move in positive directions.</li>
<li><strong>Mission Neutral Investments</strong>: The lowest social standard of the five, investments in this category would be held after ensuring that a reasonably sound &#8220;doing no harm&#8221; standard is upheld.  Verification of the standard would of course be subjective and based on limited insight into the business, but perhaps even such a sniff test is better than no test at all.</li>
</ol>
<p>So consider a typical foundation that during the course of a year has 95% of its assets spread among the usual allocation of bonds, equities, and a smattering of alternative assets, leaving 5% to be distributed as grants.  If this allocation produced a 9% blended return on the investment portfolio, then net of Program Grants the overall annual rate of return would be 3.55%.</p>
<p>Now consider what happens if this foundation makes 2 small changes:</p>
<ol>
<li>Program Grants are reduced to 4% with 1% going to PRIs that generate a negative 10% annual rate of return, and</li>
<li>2% of the 95% portfolio goes into MRIs that only return capital.  The remaining 93% remains allocated in the same proportions as the 95% was before with the same 9% rate of return.  These changes produce a 4.27% rate of return: an overall improvement of about 70 basis points.</li>
</ol>
<p>Starting with a $10 million foundation and compounding this difference over 10 years, this new allocation would mean the foundation would end up about $1 million larger than if it had stuck with the traditional 95/5 split.  More importantly, such a foundation would have been deploying 7% of its assets in mission-focused work instead of 5%, a $3 million aggregate difference over 10 years.  About 40% of that money would have been in the form of loans which, properly chosen and structured, enable local ownership and sustainable employment capable of going beyond where charity too often ends.  Replicated gradually across the trillions of dollars locked up in philanthropic corpus, such a rethinking of foundation asset management and mission investing could produce dramatic results.</p>
<p><br /><br />
<b>About the Author</b>: Nell Edgington is President of Social Velocity (<a href="http://www.socialvelocity.net" target="_blank">www.socialvelocity.net</a>), a management consulting firm leading nonprofits to greater social impact and financial sustainability. Social Velocity helps nonprofits grow their programs, bring more money in the door, and use resources more effectively. For more information, check out Social Velocity <a href="http://www.socialvelocity.net/consulting/" target="_blank">consulting services</a> and <a href="http://www.socialvelocity.net/clients/" target="_blank">clients</a>.<br /><br />

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