Tag Archives: Social Enterprise

A Guide to Social Return on Investment

published by The Office of the Third Sector, United Kingdom; 2009. How to measure organisational impact in the Third Sector is a long held conundrum. Now, however, there is a new pressure that confers an aura of urgency to the issue: the social marketplace. Advocates of the social marketplace understand the need for a universally recognised unit of measure for social returns. Given the lack of agreement in the sector, the UK government has stepped … Continue reading →

Posted in Demonstrating Social Impact, Issue 5: Summer 2010 | Tagged , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

Financial Inclusion, Market Failures and New Markets: Possibilities for Community Development Finance Institutions in Australia

by Ingrid Burkett and Belinda Drew, A Foresters Community Finance Occasional Paper; October 2008. Foresters Community Finance of Queensland argues that the lack of access to affordable capital is the major challenge to the growth of the fourth sector in Australia. In this report, authors Burkett and Drew broaden the traditional definition of financial exclusion in Australia to include not just individuals and families but also groups and organisations such as civil society organisations, social … Continue reading →

Posted in Issue 4: Spring 2009 | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , | Comments Off

The Phoenix Economy: 50 Pioneers in the Business of Social Innovation

Volans Ventures Ltd, London, UK; 2009. If you are looking for concrete examples of social enterprise, flick through this report. “The Phoenix Economy” features fifty examples of social innovation pioneers including businesses, financial investment houses, and governments. According to the report, the chosen fifty “create value blends across the triple bottom line agenda.” Some of the pioneers are household names including Google, General Electric, and GlaxoSmithKline pharmaceuticals. Many examples deal with the environment. For a … Continue reading →

Posted in Issue 4: Spring 2009 | Tagged , , , , , , | Comments Off

Social Enterprise – the fledgling fourth sector

by Chip Feiss, The Financial Times; 15 June 2009. There are signs that social enterprise, or the fledgling fourth sector, is strong and growing. The article cites the explosion of nonprofit organisations across the globe and the upsurge of socially responsible investment funds. Mainstream financial press (such as The Financial Times) has recognised the rapid growth of the fourth sector; and top tier business schools have begun to offer courses in social enterprise. Yet many … Continue reading →

Posted in Issue 4: Spring 2009 | Tagged , , , , , , , | Comments Off

Electric Evangelist – Can Shai Agassi of Better Place, An Electric-Car Company, Honour His Grand Promises?

The Economist, May 2, 2009. Shai Agassi has an idea that would radically alter the automotive industry: he’s leading the “re”-charge of the electric car. Electric cars have been around for years; however they have neither been cheap enough nor convenient enough for the mass market. So, Agassi has developed a systems integration solution for the problem. His insight is to physically separate the battery from the car, thereby allowing a network of battery swapping … Continue reading →

Posted in Issue 3: Autumn 2009 | Tagged , , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

Financing Civil Society: A practitioner’s view of the UK social investment market

by Louisa Mitchell, John Kingston, and Emilie Goodall, Venturesome; September 2008. This article is essential reading for those seeking to better understand the emerging social investment marketplace. In a nutshell, social investment aims to achieve both social and financial returns. Laden with case studies from the UK, the authors argue that social impact organisations are most effective when they strategically target social investors instead of becoming caught in the vicious cycle of short-term fundraising. Mitchell, … Continue reading →

Posted in Issue 1: Spring 2008 | Tagged , , , , | Comments Off

Book review: The Art of Public Strategy: Mobilising Power and Knowledge for the Common Good

Geoff Mulgan, Oxford University Press; 2008. Book reviewed by Peter Shergold, Chief Executive, the Centre for Social Impact Geoff Mulgan, Director of the Young Foundation in London, is well-known to Australians for his active role in promoting social innovation. Already he has spoken twice at CSI events. As befits someone who has previously served as senior policy adviser both to Gordon Brown and Tony Blair, he is also a perceptive thinker on political life. A … Continue reading →

Posted in Book Reviews, Issue 1: Spring 2008 | Tagged , , , , , , , , | Comments Off