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Creating a Caring Economics - by Riane Eisler.

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the real wealth of nations: creating a caring economics

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business & economics / economics / theory

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business & economics / economics / theory

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business & economics / economics / theory

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The Real Wealth of Nations: Creating a Caring Economics

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Adam Smith's The Wealth of Nations provided the first, most influential and lasting explanation of the workings of modern economics. But with his focus on "the market" as the best mechanism for producing and distributing the necessities of life, Smith's concepts only told part of the st...

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The Real Wealth of Nations: Creating a Caring Economics
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How Knowing the Hidden Impacts of What We Buy Can Change Everything - by Daniel Goleman.

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Ecological Intelligence: How Knowing the Hidden Impacts of What We Buy Can Change Everything

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Ecological Intelligence: How Knowing the Hidden Impacts of What We Buy Can Change Everything
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The Case Foundation

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How New Currencies Turn Scarcity into Prosperity.

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Rethinking Money: How New Currencies Turn Scarcity into Prosperity

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Rethinking Money: How New Currencies Turn Scarcity into Prosperity
~ Jacqui Dunne (author) More about this product

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What Charity Would Look Like If We Cared About Results.

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charity detox: what charity would look like if we cared about results

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community development - religious aspects - christianity

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religion / christian life / social issues

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religion / christian ministry / missions

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religious social & pastoral thought & activity

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social service - religious aspects - christianity

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religion / christian life / social issues

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religion / christian ministry / missions

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political science / public policy / social services & welfare

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political science/public policy - social services & welfare

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Charity Detox: What Charity Would Look Like If We Cared About Results

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The veteran urban activist and author of the revolutionary Toxic Charity returns with a headline-making book that offers proven, results-oriented ideas for transforming our system of giving.In Toxic Charity, Robert D. Lupton revealed the truth about modern charity programs meant to help the poor ...

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Charity Detox: What Charity Would Look Like If We Cared About Results
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Transforming How We Make Money While Making a Difference.

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impact investing: transforming how we make money while making a difference

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business & economics / investments & securities / general

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business & economics / development / business development

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business & economics/development - business development

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business & economics/investments & securities - general

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Impact Investing: Transforming How We Make Money While Making a Difference

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A ground-breaking book on the transformative power of impact investing This is the first book to chart the catalytic path of this new industry, explaining how it is and can be a positive disruptive force. It shows how impact investing is a transformational vehicle for delivering "blended val...

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Impact Investing: Transforming How We Make Money While Making a Difference
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Collaborative Capitalism and the Rise of Impact Investing.

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Collaborative Capitalism and the Rise of Impact Investing

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Collaborative Capitalism and the Rise of Impact Investing
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Lessons in Leadership and Strategy for Collaborative Capitalism.

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the impact investor: lessons in leadership and strategy for collaborative capitalism

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business & economics / investments & securities / general

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business & economics / finance / general

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business & economics/investments & securities - general

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business & economics / investments & securities / general

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business & economics / finance / general

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business & economics/investments & securities - general

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business & economics / investments & securities / general

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business & economics / finance / general

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business & economics/investments & securities - general

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The Impact Investor: Lessons in Leadership and Strategy for Collaborative Capitalism

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Your money can change the world The Impact Investor: Lessons in Leadership and Strategy for Collaborative Capitalism offers precise details on what, exactly, impact investing entails, embodied in the experiences and best and proven practices of some of the world's most successful impact investors...

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The Impact Investor: Lessons in Leadership and Strategy for Collaborative Capitalism
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Measuring and Improving Social Impacts (Book)

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Measuring and Improving Social Impacts (Book)

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A Guide for Nonprofits, Companies, and Impact Investors.

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measuring and improving social impacts: a guide for nonprofits

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business & economics / development / sustainable development

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business & economics / nonprofit organizations & charities / general

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business & economics/development - sustainable development

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nonprofit organizations & charities - general

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political science / ngos (non-governmental organizations)

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Measuring and Improving Social Impacts: A Guide for Nonprofits, Companies, and Impact Investors

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The world is beset with enormous problems. And as a nonprofit, NGO, foundation, impact investor, or socially responsible company, your organization is on a mission to solve them. But what exactly should you do? And how will you know whether it's working? Too many people assume that good in...

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Measuring and Improving Social Impacts: A Guide for Nonprofits, Companies, and Impact Investors
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A Guide to the New Tools and New Actors that Are Reshaping Global Philanthropy and Social Investing.

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New Frontiers of Philanthropy: A Guide to the New Tools and New Actors that Are Reshaping Global Philanthropy and Social Investing

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New Frontiers of Philanthropy: A Guide to the New Tools and New Actors that Are Reshaping Global Philanthropy and Social Investing
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Using Social Impact Bonds to Spur Innovation, Knowledge Building, and Accountability

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Using Social Impact Bonds to Spur Innovation, Knowledge Building, and Accountability

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A vision for SIBs that moves beyond saving money -Community Development Investment Review (p. 57-62). | MDRC

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Using Social Impact Bonds to Spur Innovation, Knowledge Building, and Accountability

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How Do We Avoid A Bubble? - by Paul Carttar. | The Bridgespan Group

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Social impact bonds (SIB's) are substantive innovations with distinctive potential to add meaningful value to our society. But, then, so were Dutch tulips, early railroad stocks and, of course, dot com startups.

History counsels that genuine bubbles are identified not by their inflation but by their bursting. So it's premature to pass judgment on the global enthusiasm surrounding social impact bonds-the funding vehicle that enlists private funders to support evidence-based social interventions, with government paying only if "successful."

Still, the signs are concerning, and it may be time for major players in this market to consider action that dampens expectations and aligns them better with what this innovative but as yet unproven tool is actually likely to deliver. While challenging in the short-term, this might be the best way to ensure their success in the long-term.

Why the concern that this exuberance over SIBs is what Alan Greenspan might call "irrational?"

In recent months, at conferences in the U.S., India, China, and Europe, I've witnessed the intense interest and excitement growing around these instruments. This enthusiasm appears to center on three main perceptions about what SIBs are: a "free" way for governments to test innovative social services, an alternative source of scaling capital to grow worthy nonprofits, and an attractive opportunity for impact investors to make money while also generating social impact.

It seems increasingly apparent, though, that these propositions are questionable. SIBs are only free to governments if they fail to yield intended results (bad outcome) or actually generate significant direct savings (good outcome but very challenging-more on this below.) Further, SIBs are unlikely ever to be an alternative source of capital for scaling proven programs (as opposed to testing promising ones) since when they work, governments will probably not keep paying premiums to private investors to buy "de-risked" programs when they could buy them at cost. Finally, these deals all carry substantial risks to investors: Where SIBs fail, investors lose; where they succeed, financial returns will probably be one-time and at best modest.

The experience of the first U.S. SIB, the Riker's Island deal in New York City, has provided a chilling reminder of these realities. Three years into a four-year project, it was terminated on the basis of unfavorable outcomes, costing Goldman Sachs $1.2 million and Bloomberg Philanthropies $6.0 million.

Nevertheless, in the U.S. and worldwide, there is a rush to do deals, with the total number increasing from just a couple in 2011 to more than 50 today. As the numbers have grown, so has the range of issue areas on which these SIB's are focused, from the early concentration on reducing recidivism rates among ex-offenders to subjects such as early childhood education, homelessness, teen pregnancy and maternal health, workforce development, asthma, and foster care.

What can be done to maximize the likelihood that SIBs deliver compelling, documented value, thereby avoiding the creation of a bubble?

I believe the answer begins with rigorously focusing all SIBs on what appears to be their "highest and best use"-creating the optimal conditions for governments to test the effectiveness of discrete, preventive programs or services with the potential to generate significant, direct budgetary savings to the public.

Three specific features of SIB's make them uniquely well-suited to this function:

The assumption by private funders of the risks of the program trial, which should reduce resistance by government officials plagued by near-term budget pressures and/or the political consequences of failure;

The creation of strong, time-bound incentives for successful trial, which should increase the motivation of all parties to overcome barriers to collaboration, to select the very best programs and to ensure rigorous implementation and evaluation; and

The emphasis on generating significant, on-going budgetary savings, which should create an objective platform for judging success and-even more critical-a dedicated funding source for sustaining effective programs. While this may sound obvious, the temptations to stray from this focus evidently are strong. However, with each deviation, the risks of failure grow, as do the possibilities of widespread disillusionment with SIBs.

In this context, I see three keys to realizing the potential value of SIBs:

Key #1: Target problems that lend themselves to the generation of significant, documentable government savings.

The early emphasis on recidivism in both the UK (Petersborough) and U.S. (New York City, New York State, and Massachusetts) made sense in this regard, but the prospective budget savings of several recent SIBs are doubtful. Homelessness and early childhood education, for example, yield potential impacts that are less directly measurable (at least in the near-term) with looser causal links to government outlays. While that doesn't diminish their importance as social priorities, it does reduce the chances that the SIBs will result in clear success.

Key #2: Ensure that the deals are structured first and foremost to deliver the desired social benefits of the project.

While financial incentives and reliance on private capital have enormous potential benefits, the essential purpose of SIBs is to advance social goals, not reward investors (either for-profit or social.) Negotiators must ensure that technical aspects of SIB deals, such as payout formulas and provisions for early termination, reflect the realities of how social value and savings to governments are actually created.

Key #3: Secure good-faith commitment by the sponsoring government to adopt and continue to implement programs that are proven to generate impact and savings.

The most compelling way in which SIBs become "free" to governments is where the cost of reimbursing the investors is offset by direct, on-going budgetary savings. Indeed, the Petersborough SIB in the UK was terminated early by the government, which then embraced the program. Accordingly, before endorsing SIB deals, citizens should demand that sponsoring governments unambiguously commit to adopt proven programs and hold themselves accountable for realizing the expected benefits. This, after all, is what good government is all about.

Bottom line, SIBs have strong potential to generate significant, distinctive value. Yet they are unproven and, under the best of circumstances, challenging to structure and execute, with highly uncertain prospects for success. As a result, it is important that SIB supporters act decisively to focus SIBs where they have the greatest potential to deliver early, confidence-boosting wins. As many generations of investors have learned the hard way, the best way to avoid bursting bubbles is to be careful about how they become inflated in the first place.

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Social Impact Bonds: How Do We Avoid A Bubble?

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Social impact bonds (SIB's) are substantive innovations with distinctive potential to add meaningful value to our society. But, then, so were Dutch tulips, early railroad stocks and, of course, dot com startups. History counsels that genuine bubbles are identified not by their inflation but by their bursting.

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A Guide to Social Impact Bond Investing. | MDRC

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Learning from Experience - Social Impact Bond Investing

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Infographic of Findings from the 2016 National Financial Capability Study. | FINRA Investor Education Foundation

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Investors in the United States 2016 - Infographic

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Report of Findings from the 2016 National Financial Capability Study. | FINRA Investor Education Foundation

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Guide to Business Schools for Social & Environmental Impact

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Guide to Business Schools for Social & Environmental Impact

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The guide to graduate programs - for students by students. |
Net Impact