Tag Archives: Change Capital

Social impact investment and the failure of imagination

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Do you know what you don't know?

Do you know what you don’t know?

Domestic social impact investment is stuck.  Each year a few deals trickle through, but despite the potential and promise, impact investments in the US are rare, complex, and entirely bespoke. To be sure, there are structural challenges to growing the market in the US – just look at Tracy Palandjian’s recent SSIR article on the state of the social impact bond sector – but I can’t help feeling that we’re suffering as much from a failure of imagination as infrastructure. The problem is, few social entrepreneurs can clearly describe their impact capital needs, while few potential investors understand how to place impact capital into deals. I mean, if neither side really knows how to go about its business, how can we expect them to do business with each other?

But I have an idea…. Continue reading →

Are You TED Talk Ready?  The Importance of Conceptual Capital

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Marie And Donny Osmond

It used to just take two. Those days are over.

In the callow youth of the nonprofit sector, you needed two kinds of capital: (1) financial capital, because money does, after all, grease the wheels of change, and (2) social capital, because proving you could fill the courthouse steps or get the Governor to answer your call was a way to make up for not having enough money.  But the NPO sector is burgeoning, the capacity for evaluation is still limited, and the power of social media has grown.  Now there’s a new kind of resource you need: conceptual capital.  It’s the stuff that drives your visibility in a crowded marketplace.  So what is it, why do you need it, and where do you get it?

Continue reading →

What do LISC, Enterprise, NFF and CSH Have in Common with the Dodo? Nothing. (Part II of VI)

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This picture of a feisty dodo has nothing to do with this blog. – Image by Michael Kutsche

Dear reader, as part of a special report for Shelterforce I sat down with the heads of four of the largest community development intermediaries in the country and asked a simple question:  Are you still relevant?

This six part series looks at the evolution of their role in the community development sector and their strategies for the future.

To binge-read the full report, click here. Continue reading →

What If Someone Gave You $5 Million (…and then asked for it back)? – Part II

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It can be hard to not feel frazzled.

As I was saying, there are plenty of people who want to give your organization money.  Seriously.  Lots of it.  There is, of course, a catch: you have to give it back.

With interest.

Understandably, this stops most nonprofit executive directors in their tracks.  It’s no mean feat to raise the prodigious amounts of grant funding needed to run one of these juggernauts as it is.  It requires stamina, persistence, a LOT of friends, and just a touch of maniacal charm.  Now, the frazzled ED asks, you want me to spend a huge amount of time raising money I have to pay back?

Well, yes. And here’s why: Continue reading →

What If Someone Gave You $5 Million (…and then asked for it back)? – Part I

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Money, baby!

So here’s the deal: there are wealthy people and institutions out there in the world right now who are willing to give your nonprofit a lot of money.  As a matter of fact, that number appears to be growing.  It’s getting to be such a hot topic that even stodgy Forbes is talking about it, KMPG is staking its claim in the Social Impact Bond market, and David Cameron is all up in the G8’s business.  You know that when the Harvard Business Review says that Social Impact Investing Will Be the New Venture Capital, well, it’s all over but the crying.

There’s just one problem:  the sector needs deals.  Badly.  And they really want nonprofits to take the lead on proposing and structuring those deals.  That’s right, you.

So, what if someone gave you $5 million, and then asked for it back?  What would you use it for?  How would you advance your organization’s mission?  How would you insure repayment?  Perhaps most importantly, how could you use this opportunity to grow?

Well, I have some ideas for you.   Continue reading →