Transcript Value for Your Dollar: - Social Capital Partners

Value for Your Dollar:
The Social Enterprise Impact Assessment Project
Introduction
 Joanne Norris – Social Capital Partners
 David LePage – Enterprising Non-Profits
 Liz Lougheed Green – Potluck Café Society
 Deanne Ziebart – Developmental Disabilities Assoc
Presentation Timing
• Introduction (5 mins)
• Canadian Social Enterprise Context (5 mins)
• Project context and history (5 mins)
• Key learnings (40 mins)
• Next steps: phase 2 (5 mins)
• Facilitated discussion (30 mins)
Social Enterprise – Community Investment Markets Spectrum
Funding options for social initiatives can be arrayed along a spectrum
depending the degree of focus on social vs. financial outcome
Grant
Funding
Investment
Funding
Social Service
Social Enterprise
Increasing focus on financial outcomes
Focus on social mission
Success defined more qualitatively
Difficult outcome measurement
Uses of funding restricted
Focus on ROI
Success defined more quantitatively
Established measurement criteria
Relatively Unrestricted funding
Canadian Social Enterprise – Community Investment Context
 Access to risk capital for social entrepreneurs in Canada has been limited to
traditional non-profit relative to entrepreneurs in other countries (the US in
particular)
Social Service
Government
Funding
Traditional
Foundations
Social Enterprise
Venture
Philanthropy
Community
Loans
CDVC
Venture Capital /
Private Equity
Canada
Area of Strength
UK
Area of Strength
United States
Area of Strength
Because risk capital is essentially non-existent in Canada, entrepreneurship and
creativity are stifled
Project Context and History
• Potluck working on issues not addressed by
Canadian social policy
• Wanted to show impact with a view to building:
– Supportive Policy
– Partnerships with government and other funders
• Searched for partnerships with both funders and
practitioners to develop a universal SIA Tool
• Set goal to develop SIA tool proposal
• Built structure to guide proposal
Alignment with Funder
• Three key points:
• Contributes to creation of 'blended value'
businesses [Vancity]
• Expands support for social enterprises [Vancity
and ENP]
• Collaboratively generates research and evaluation
tools for investors and funded groups [ENP]
Need for a Shared SEIA
Measurement Framework
• Desire and need to develop similar understanding
among operators and investors
• Get operators and investors speaking the same
language
• Establish commitment to measuring what both
stakeholder groups value
Why Are We Here?
Building shared vision and goals amongst stakeholders
• Generating Common goals
– Why Social Impact Assessment
– What did the major stakeholder groups want to achieve
• Developing common language e.g. definitions and terms
–
–
–
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Social Enterprise Definitions
Typology
Canadian Social Economy framework development
Blended value
• Build collaborative process with outcomes that satisfy all
stakeholders.
– Undertaking the stakeholder interviews
– Literature review
– Proposal development process
Key Research Learnings
Social Enterprise Operators: Stakeholder Interviews (17)
•
Currently multiple definitions of success
•
Wide range in current organizational success measurement
•
Purpose often to generate revenue for parent organization and to fulfill at
least one aspect of the social mission e.g. employment.
•
Reporting focused on financials rather than social outcomes.
•
Frustration at not having methods and tools for reporting and assessing the
scope and impact of their social activities.
•
A standardized SIA framework used by both social enterprises and
investors is a good idea.
•
Most SE organizations are interested in assessing social impact.
Key Research Learnings
Social Enterprise Investors: Stakeholder Interviews (10)
•
Success defined in various ways. Often based on reported achievements of
investee
•
No consistent process to assess potential or achieved impact
•
Current short-term, grant funding acknowledged as inadequate
•
Want shared and consistently used methods and metrics to:
– Inform and influence strategies and goals
– Create awareness of investment impacts
– Advocate for the work being done
•
Vision for a standardized SIA framework that different types of SE investors
can use
•
Acknowledge that SIA will have to come out of the organizational goals of
both SE operators and investors and are eager to collaborate
Phase 1 – Outputs
•
Literature Review
– Extensive review of the literature provided proposal and interview foundation
– SIA Project Literature Review now complete and will soon be available online
•
Stakeholder Interviews
– With representatives from 16 Social Enterprise orgs and 9 social investors
– Phase 2 project proposal built on interview data
– Stakeholder interview proposal completed and will be available online...
•
Phase 2 Proposal
– Used literature review, stakeholder interviews and advisory committee input to
build comprehensive proposal for implementation of Phase 2 SIA Tool pilot:
• Target group and project beneficiaries – social enterprise operator and investor
organizations.
• Project location will be primarily British Columbia, with national participants
• Project Duration is one year
•
Literature Review and Stakeholder Interview Report will both be available
at www.enterprisingnonprofits.ca on May 15, 2006
Phase 2 – Going Forward
• Where is Phase 2 is at now
– Proposal going forward
– Additional funders engaged
– Phase 2 underway in 2006
• Why this phase has engaged additional funders
– Thoughtful process that funders will more clearly see the full
impacts of their investments
• Anticipated outcomes
– Long-term learning process that begins with developing the pilot
with SE’s and funders/investors
– Vision to establish an impact measurement tool that is
universally recognized and used across Canada
Discussion
Questions?
• Costs: Social costs, business costs, performance
measurement costs – who should pay for what?
• How to develop ownership and support among key
stakeholder groups in the quest to create a universal
impact assessment tool?
• Hurdles to implementation?