tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-20189469079889015752024-03-13T14:12:09.770+00:00Social EffectDesigning, Implementing and Scaling Social ImpactRThttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01887662440039980353noreply@blogger.comBlogger52125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2018946907988901575.post-37110266085083187922016-06-26T10:29:00.000+01:002021-05-06T00:52:38.144+01:00Scaling Social Impact - The PATRI Framework<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
Over the years one of the most common areas I've been requested to help with is scaling, and having advised now nearly 60 Ashoka Fellows and numerous other impact projects, I was asked by Ashoka's Globalizer team to develop a toolkit for scaling social impact based on the frameworks I'd built for assessing, planning, designing and implementing scale for projects around the world.<br />
<br />
While there are plenty of reports, articles and case studies on how different organisations have scaled, we have few practical frameworks specifically designing to guide scaling in the social sector, so it seemed like a worthwhile endeavour. I therefore put together a step by step guide that leads practitioners through the journey of scaling, from taking the initial decision all the way through to implementation.<br />
<br />
<h3 style="text-align: left;">
Scaling vs. Growth</h3>
Scaling essentially refers to a form of growth. However, there is an important distinction.<br />
<br />
Growing typically involves adding resources at around the same rate as adding impact or revenue. The implications are primarily operational. If you've already increased reach to more people, more cities or even more countries, but your operating costs have gone up in a generally correlated way, then what you've really done is grown rather than scaled.<br />
<br />
Scaling differs in that it involves adding impact at an exponential rate while adding resources at only an incremental rate. Although scaling is also commonly approached from an operational perspective, it typically has significant implications for design, not only in terms of the solution being scaled, but also for the way it is delivered.<br />
<br />
In a sector where resources are scarce and very large numbers of people are affected by social issues, it is rarely practical to increase resources at the same rate as reach of impact. Hence why the sector focuses on scaling rather than growth, and why this framework does the same.<br />
<br />
Growth is typically the first stage on the path to scaling. Once you've developed and proven a solution, then the next stage is to grow your reach in a direct and controlled manner in order to understand the process as well as the transferability of your solution.<br />
<br />
Only when you've grown to a stable operational size and have understood what does and doesn't work in terms of both impact and operation, should you really start to think about scaling. This isn't necessarily what all organisations do, and many have scaled without taking this position, but the result is typically messier, less impactful and harder work than expected.<br />
<br />
<h3 style="text-align: left;">
Scaling Challenges</h3>
Scaling is a critical shift in your ability to make a difference, and one that has significant implications for your organisation. There is a current trend towards rushing into scale, with a focus on quick wins, but this is a misleading and high risk approach in terms of both impact and organisational stability. Planning to scale should not be taken lightly, and it is important to put the right foundations in place if you want to ensure your ability to generate impact on a large scale without putting your organisation or the outcome at risk of failure.<br />
<br />
The general assumption is that the main barrier to scaling lies with access to funding, when in fact financing challenges are often just a symptomatic outcome of underlying readiness and scalability issues.<br />
<br />
There are actually five key reasons why organisations struggle to address the real scale of need around the world.<br />
<ol style="text-align: left;">
<li>Lack of outcome oriented purpose with poor problem definition, which leads to failures in design and decision making</li>
<li>Inapplicable/Non-scalable impact methodology (solution), which limits the flexibility needed to address the varying needs of new environments and demographics </li>
<li>Non-systematic approaches to set-up and implementation, which limits replicability and decreases both efficiency and effectiveness</li>
<li>Inflexible organisational design and lack of operational readiness, which limits ability to deliver at scale</li>
<li>Poor implementation planning, and hence inadequate cost modelling, leading to challenges with raising funds or finance.</li>
</ol>
The goal of the PATRI framework is to help you scale your impact more effectively while avoiding these pitfalls. <br />
<br />
<h3 style="text-align: left;">
The PATRI Framework for Scaling Social Impact</h3>
At its highest level, the Framework consists of a corresponding set of five key questions that will help you scale successfully<br />
<ol style="text-align: left;">
<li>Is your goal valid and well defined? (Purpose)</li>
<li>Is your design applicable at scale? (Applicability)</li>
<li>Is your model systematised and transferable? (Transferability)</li>
<li>Is your organisation ready to scale? (Applicability)</li>
<li>Is your implementation planning robust? (Implementation)</li>
</ol>
These questions form the core components that give the Framework its name<br />
<ol style="text-align: left;">
<li>P = Purpose</li>
<li>A = Applicability</li>
<li>T = Transferability</li>
<li>R = Readiness</li>
<li>I = Implementation</li>
</ol>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-OaDpaBXZJ84/VP3bE28pxiI/AAAAAAAA11U/3KmXeMhNjOM/s1600/00.%2BPATRI%2BFramework.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="640" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-OaDpaBXZJ84/VP3bE28pxiI/AAAAAAAA11U/3KmXeMhNjOM/s1600/00.%2BPATRI%2BFramework.jpg" width="451" /></a></div>
<div>
<br /></div>
<div>
<br /></div>
The result is a quality improvement and risk management approach to scaling that should help you on two fronts<br />
<ol style="text-align: left;">
<li>Improve ability to address or eradicate issues on a large scale/systemic level</li>
<li>Reduce risk of mission drift/organisational failures caused by overstretching</li>
</ol>
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpLast" style="mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; text-indent: -18pt;">
<o:p></o:p></div>
The 5 components can be applied to any scaling context, and the Framework breaks down into detailed step by step decision-tree infographics. Even if you choose not to explore the detail, simply ensuring that you have these five pieces reasonably well considered should be enough to improve your likelihood of scaling successfully.<br />
<br />
If you aren't sure quite how to do this yourself, then each of the main Framework questions has been further broken down into more detailed questions, instructions and guidelines. These will lead you through a journey that covers the most important factors you will need to consider and evaluate when scaling.<br />
<br />
<div style="-x-system-font: none; display: block; font-family: Helvetica,Arial,Sans-serif; font-size-adjust: none; font-size: 14px; font-stretch: normal; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; font: 14px Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; line-height: normal; margin: 12px auto 6px;">
<a href="http://www.scribd.com/doc/215438214/PATRI-Framework-for-Scaling-Social-Impact-Rizwan-Tayabali" style="text-decoration: underline;" title="View PATRI Framework for Scaling Social Impact - Rizwan Tayabali on Scribd">PATRI Framework for Scaling Social Impact</a><br />
<br /></div>
<iframe class="scribd_iframe_embed" data-aspect-ratio="0.7066666666666667" data-auto-height="false" frameborder="0" height="800" id="doc_51493" scrolling="no" src="//www.scribd.com/embeds/215438214/content?start_page=1&view_mode=scroll&access_key=key-224uobgau0ykdnd2h29&show_recommendations=false" width="600"></iframe></div>
RThttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01887662440039980353noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2018946907988901575.post-41561809762770011182016-01-05T13:41:00.001+00:002020-05-02T12:02:41.375+01:00Impossible Change - TEDx<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
<iframe allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="315" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/yvO83Lz9mT8" width="560"></iframe>
<br />
<div>
<br />
Video not working? Watch it on the TEDx Youtube channel <a href="https://youtu.be/yvO83Lz9mT8" target="_blank">here</a>.<br />
<br />
Alternatively, if you haven't the time to watch it here's the full transcript, which also contains some detail and anecdotes I skipped while delivering it on stage.<br />
<br />
-------<br />
<h3 style="text-align: left;">
(im)Possible Change</h3>
<a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-eneazGMekig/Vovd8Lp-xwI/AAAAAAAA9J0/JAv81CkSWmY/s1600/imPossible%2BChange.png" imageanchor="1"><img border="0" height="400" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-eneazGMekig/Vovd8Lp-xwI/AAAAAAAA9J0/JAv81CkSWmY/s400/imPossible%2BChange.png" width="560" /></a><br />
<div>
<br /></div>
Let's start by considering seemingly impossible challenges. </div>
<br />
In sub-Saharan Africa 1 in 8 children dies before their first birthday <br />
<br />
More than 30 million people are living with HIV or AIDS around the world <br />
<br />
Globally more than a 100 million women are estimated to be missing - which is a soft way of referring to the gender bias in mortality due to abortion, female infanticide or insufficient care given to girls. India by itself accounts for nearly 50 million of these. That’s not even talking about the frightening numbers that have been trafficked or married off before they have even had time to finish childhood. <br />
<br />
I could go on, but instead let’s pause for minute and do a quick two step exercise.<br />
<div style="text-align: left;">
<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
<b>Step 1</b> - Take a moment to think of one big issue that really pains you. Something widespread or pervasive.<br />
<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
<b>Step 2</b> - Consider whether you genuinely believe that you personally could do something to fundamentally impact or eradicate that issue within your own lifetime? </div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
More often than not, the answer to the second question is a less than confident 'maybe', or an outright 'no'. In essence this reflects the difference between what you know could potentially be achievable, but on a practical level for you feels pretty much impossible. </div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
<br />
----</div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
<br />
What if I told you however, that it actually might be more doable than you think? <br />
<br />
See, the interesting thing about the human brain is that if it doesn't understand something, it thinks it's impossible. People are typically able to work really hard on things within their comfort zone, but they often get paralysed when they have to work hard at things they don't understand. They simply don't know where to start and so they either give up, procrastinate or default to whatever it is they feel able to cope with. <br />
<br />
Take a Rubik’s cube for example. We all know they are possible to solve, but for most of us it only takes a couple of attempts to conclude that there’s probably some kind of magic involved that’s completely beyond us. But the fact is there are people out there who can solve them in under 10 seconds. Some can even do this one handed. The thing is they understand what they are doing. It is not complicated for them. <br />
<br />
And just like the Rubik’s cube, solving our biggest social challenges can actually be straightforward for all of you too, once you understand what you’re doing, and if you are willing to put in the time in to get that understanding. </div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
<br />
---</div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
<br />
If it's so simple why don't we do this as a matter of course? <br />
<br />
The trouble is that understanding the problem takes a lot of leg work and time, and we live in a world of ideas and instant gratification. We are looking for magical fixes and quick solutions. The urgency of the problems we see drives us to rush in and get started. <br />
<br />
The result is that many solutions and approaches are built almost entirely on assumption. For the most part we get close enough to make a difference, but it isn't enough to fundamentally dismantle the really big challenges. <br />
<br />
Fortunately, in order to really the understand any given social challenge you actually only need to do two things <br />
<br />
<ol style="text-align: left;">
<li>Investigate the problem</li>
<li>Immerse yourself in it </li>
</ol>
To investigate the issue involves primary and secondary research as well as understanding existing theory and best practice. <br />
<br />
Immersing yourself in it however involves making it part of your life experience. Being at the coalface, getting on the ground and observing or helping deal with the issue over a significant period of time. </div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
---<br />
<br />
A great example of what it takes to really understand the dynamics of a social situation can be found in a book called The Corner by David Simon and Ed Burns. If you’ve ever watched The Wire you’ll know the one I mean. It chronicles the life of poverty on the drug riddled corners of West Baltimore in the United States, and took years to write. <br />
<br />
The authors rarely offer their own opinion, but in the few pages that they do, it is enlightening. You're left in no doubt that they have fully understood both the ecosystem and root causes of the outcomes they document. <br />
<br />
If they chose to address these issues, no doubt they would develop powerful solutions that actually might work, as compared to those of us who pile in with lightly considered interventions. <br />
<br />
The point is that they didn't do anything special, complicated or impossible. All they did was invest the time both to investigate and immerse themselves in a social situation that moved them. <br />
<br />
---<br />
<br />
The key here is the amount of time. By the time The Corner was published, David Simon had been immersed in that reality for 13 years. If you're serious about tackling a systemic issue, the first building block of success is whether or not you're in it for the long run. <br />
<br />
If you are, then the good news is that when it comes to tackling big social issues, all you really need is three things to make the impossible possible<br />
<br />
<ol style="text-align: left;">
<li>A solution that works – i.e. An approach, methodology or solution that works, and by works I mean is capable at least in theory of achieving your vision at an individual or local scale.</li>
<li>An infrastructure that can deliver it effectively (and for long enough to prove transformational impact) – i.e. An organisation, network or coalition that can deliver it effectively, and by this I mean an organisation that is capable of consistently delivering this impact.</li>
<li>A way to reach everyone who needs it - Once you’ve got the solution and infrastructure in place you need a practical way to reach everyone that needs it. In other words you need to a practical way to meet the real scale of the problem you are trying to address. </li>
</ol>
Success or failure in all three is decided by the same building block, which is your understanding of the problem itself. <br />
<br />
---</div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
To help you understand what I mean lets use an example of a great organisation I worked with in Chile. <br />
<br />
Most people don’t genuinely believe that we can address real poverty, but Rodelillo is doing it, and doing it well. <br />
<br />
<ol style="text-align: left;">
<li>They have a solution that works: It was developed through deep understanding of the problem, based on the founder Maca Currin’s personal life experience, and targeted at a vision of completely transitioning families out poverty. And by this I don’t mean increasing income by some small percentage, but real outcomes that achieve stable employment, home ownership, and the ability to send children to university.</li>
<li>They have an organisation that can deliver it effectively: Over 25 years, 30 full time staff and an army of volunteers have directly impacted 35,000 families and thus proved that the solution is capable of achieving this vision with a success rate of more than 90% of families transferring out of poverty.</li>
<li>They are now working on ways to reach all the people who need it and they are doing it through government adoption. The Ministry of Development and Planning (MIDEPLAN) recently designed a program modelled on Rodelillo's approach. Called the Bridge Program, it will serve 250,000 families over the next three years. </li>
</ol>
As the Rodelillo example demonstrates even the hardest challenges are in fact doable, so why is it that we don’t regularly come up with similarly powerful solutions? <br />
<br />
---</div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
<br />
The answer is that we start with ideas instead of starting by understanding the problem, and the ideas we have are commonly driven by solutions we are already familiar with.<br />
<br />
So effectively we start with solutions and then try and fit them to whatever we know about have of the issue we are concerned about. I call these “<strong><i>solution based solutions</i></strong>”. <br />
<br />
Here’s an example: <br />
<br />
We see children playing on the street in a village near us and figure they'd be better off in school. We build a school, grab the state curriculum, find some teachers and away we go. Our friends think we’re amazing, and funders give us money because everybody 'knows' that education is a good thing. However if we had stopped to immerse ourselves in their life we might have realised that what they really needed to learn is not covered in the average state curriculum and isn’t transferable through classroom based learning. They need to know how to use their land, and the assets available to them. However, instead of teaching them about irrigation we teach them about rainfall in Russia. <br />
<br />
Had we investigated further, we might have realised that they needed a range of other forms of developmental support that extend beyond technical education. If we followed them past school, we’d probably see them migrate to unfamiliar urban environments needing life skills that our school didn’t prepare them for. We might even look for solutions to stem that migration, instead of realising that we were the ones causing it with an educational solution that disconnected them from their home environment. <br />
<br />
Effectively then, when it comes to tackling big issues people usually start with the solution, strategies, vision, or mission, instead of where they should start, which is by understanding the problem. The reason is that most of us are excited by the creativity and challenge behind these ideas and solutions, and not the grunt work and time required to immerse ourselves in issues. <br />
<br />
---<br />
<br />
In reality without a sensible problem definition you can’t establish a meaningful vision, because your vision should be a detailed picture of what the problem looks like when it’s fixed. </div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
Instead you end up with solution oriented one-liners - things like "One day all children will get an education that matters." What does 'matters' even mean? And education isn't a vision anyway. It's just a strategy. If your vision was a world where children are free from persecution, that would at least make more sense as a vision. But then you'd have to clarify what you mean by persecution. Is it child labour, sexual abuse, bullying, harassment, domestic violence? Where do you draw the lines between harmless teasing for example and harassment or bullying? Either way you can see where I'm going. You need detail and clarification. And you can only get that detail if you understand the problem you are trying to fix. </div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
<br />
So to reiterate, without a good understanding of the problem you can't establish a clear vision, and the trouble is that without a detailed vision you can't establish meaningful targets. <br />
<br />
Without targets you have nothing concrete to aim for, and your strategies consequently lack focus. You're doing a lot of stuff but it isn't necessarily going anywhere. Like the baseball legend Yogi Berra once said – “If you don't know where you're going, you might end up someplace else.” <br />
<br />
The reality is that everything related to delivering impact is interlinked, and all of it sits upon a foundation of good problem definition. <br />
<br />
What you need then is true "<b><i>problem based solutions</i></b>".<br />
<br />
---<br />
<br />
Here's a framework I use to show it all fits together. Think of it as a full stack meta-model for solution design. I’m not going to explore it here, but I’ve put up a video online that talks you through it. You can find it <a href="http://www.socialeffect.org/2012/11/solution-design-connecting-dots.html" target="_blank">here</a> with a full transcript or just the video on <a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aRcox743Dfg" target="_blank">Youtube</a> if you’re interested to know more. <br />
<br />
You can see not only how solution design starts from understanding the problem, but also how organisational structure and roadmaps for the future are tied to it too. <br />
<br />
The other interesting outcome of understanding the problem is that it actually simplifies the solutions we need. There may be lots of surface characteristics and apparent nuances, but once you can see how they fit together, you often find there’s only a small number of root causes. <br />
<br />
---</div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
At Make A Difference after 8 years we've learnt this the hard way. We are familiar with the experience of children in shelters, but we don't really know what happens to them after they've grown up. Nobody out there seems to be tracking this. Without that baseline we will have no idea if our interventions are actually making a difference in the long run. We've therefore embarked on a journey to really understand the problem we are dealing with, and are changing our solutions to make them capable of adapting as we learn. <br />
<br />
Trying to find out what has happened to adults who grew up in shelters isn't easy. There's no database to use, no telephone lists or email addresses. Our research teams are doing the leg work to find people and are then immersing in their reality by investing the time to build relationships with them. As we do this, we're finding that what initially seemed like an impossible task of overwhelming complexity, is actually full of manageable patterns that we can wrap our heads around. There's only so many routes of entry into shelters. Only so many types of shelters, and only so many outcomes we need to worry about. For any given aspect, there are already focused interventions that have been developed by others. We don't even need to reinvent the wheel. We just need to tie them together. <br />
<br />
In the end they all boil down to a handful of drivers which can loosely be clustered into two groups <br />
<ol style="text-align: left;">
<li>The child’s ability to cope and flourish </li>
<li>The impact of institutions or agents that affect their development and progression </li>
</ol>
These clusters give us our high level strategies which are to <br />
<ol style="text-align: left;">
<li>Empower children and </li>
<li>Enable the institutions that impact them. </li>
</ol>
Within these we have a number of key intervention points. <br />
<br />
For empowering children we need to consider emotional health, life skills, education, work readiness and after-care. Of these after-care is probably the most unintuitive. You really need to understand the trajectory of the lives of disadvantaged children to know that they need personal and logistical support well into early adulthood. We take this for granted with our families, but because it isn’t a familiar solution most interventions don’t cater for this. At Make A Difference we are looking at support systems all the way up to the age of 28. <br />
<br />
When it comes to enabling institutions, there are five key ones that impact children in shelters. The shelters themselves, school, family, state and society. <br />
<br />
As an organisation we are faced with a choice. Either we try and do it all ourselves, or we specialise in one or more of the pieces, while partnering or outsourcing to others who can fill in the gaps. </div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
Conventional wisdom suggests that focusing is more practical approach, but however we do it, we need to ensure that one way or another the children we work with receive the full complement of interventions they need to break poverty and abandonment cycles. As we understand the problem better we will also understand how to prioritise and focus better, but at the very least we see this as a long term challenge, with a goal of making a lasting difference on a collective macro scale over the next 25 years. </div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
It will take a while, but we believe that with the right foundations and a sensible time-frame, transforming adult outcomes for the millions of children in shelters across India is actually an achievable mission. <br />
<br />
--</div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
<br />
Which brings us back around to the question of whether or not individuals like you or me can fundamentally impact or eradicate the biggest and most pervasive challenges of our times. </div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
The truth is if someone had told me when I first started out as a volunteer working with inner city teenagers while at university, that some day it might be possible for me personally to think about eradicating the inequalities faced by the millions of children currently in shelters in India, I would probably have thought they were crazy. </div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
But after nearly two decades of working with impact projects all over the world I've started to understand the patterns in the social problems we face, and it all seems eminently more achievable than I imagined back then. All you need is to put in the effort to really understand the issue, and then be prepared for the real time-frames needed to make change on a systemic level.</div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
<br />
If we put in the effort and time to build and deliver true 'problem based solutions', I firmly believe that we can eliminate many of these challenges in our own lifetimes. <br />
<br />
I hope this talk has made you rethink your ability to make a difference to that one big issue that pains you. It won't be easy, but certainly it isn't impossible!<br />
<br /></div>
</div>
RThttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01887662440039980353noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2018946907988901575.post-87803196001947038912012-11-29T08:09:00.004+00:002022-03-16T13:16:52.245+00:00Social Change By Design<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
One of the most common issues I've seen on the ground is clarity of, and coherence between, Vision, Mission and Strategy. This is often the root cause behind poor solution design, difficulties in achieving lasting outcomes, and challenges with raising money.<br />
<div>
<br /></div>
<div>
To make it easier to explain how they fit together and the order in which they should be developed, I've put together a short video that connects the dots for you.<br />
<br />
The video is based on learnings from my work with more than 100 projects around the world. I'll try and address common issues, myths and challenges faced by social organisations in both designing for outcomes as well as delivering them.<br />
<br /></div>
<iframe allowfullscreen="allowfullscreen" frameborder="0" height="360" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/aRcox743Dfg?rel=0" width="640"></iframe>
<br />
<div>
[Note: If the video doesn't play in your browser, view on YouTube at <a href="http://youtu.be/aRcox743Dfg">http://youtu.be/aRcox743Dfg</a>]<br />
<b><br /></b>
<b>Here's the transcript with a downloadable graphic in case it makes the video easier to process:</b><br />
<br />
Very simply, with social change, direction is laid down by your vision, and your mission is to achieve that vision. The trouble is that if your vision isn't clear or sensible, you end up without proper direction, and consequently without a proper basis for design. Your strategies end up all over the place, and you become very susceptible to mission drift. Outcomes lose coherence, and impact becomes a random pick n mix. Donors struggle to connect with unclear goals, and shy away from disconnected strategies. The end result as I mentioned earlier, is a struggle for survival, but more importantly a struggle to achieve the impact that is needed on the ground.<br />
<br />
After addressing this issue a number of times, I've put together an easy DIY toolkit to help you visualise how all the pieces connect together. <br />
<br />
Let's call it a Metamodel of Solution Design. A blueprint for your organisation. To keep it short, I'll focus here on a high level overview to show how everything connects, but I'll explore each piece and provide working examples in later posts to help make it a little more real.<br />
<div>
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-jLPxy40LtX0/ULcS2XO7bAI/AAAAAAAAEP8/VfCursjF6I4/s1600/Metamodel-of-Solution-Design-v1.1a.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="537" src="https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-jLPxy40LtX0/ULcS2XO7bAI/AAAAAAAAEP8/VfCursjF6I4/s640/Metamodel-of-Solution-Design-v1.1a.jpg" width="640" /></a></div>
<br />
People tend to start with either vision or mission, and sometimes even with strategies. In actual fact the first place to start is with the <b>Problem Definition</b>.<br />
<br />
Without a good characterisation and deep understanding of the problem, none of the other aspects of solution design have any hope of being effective.<br />
<br />
Contrary to general assumption, the problem definition is not a one-line statement. What we're talking about here is a detailed picture of the problem at hand, with data that validates and benchmarks the outcomes that indicate there is a problem that needs addressing.<br />
<br />
Once you've got these, you need to understand the root causes behind those characteristics; in other words, understand what drives the problem. <br />
<br />
The benchmarks in your problem definition will allow you to identify <b>Macro Indicators</b>, and thus the outcomes to aim for. These should be lasting % point changes on a regional level over a mid to long time-frame. Over time they will also tell you if your strategies are actually achieving anything useful, and whether or not you need to rethink.<br />
<br />
Critically, the problem definition defines why you care, and why you set up your organisation in the first place. It is the fundamental basis for your existence as a social entity, so invest the time to get it right. <br />
<br />
---- <br />
<br />
Once you have the problem well defined - you can then move on to <b>Vision</b>. <br />
<br />
Your vision is what the problem looks like when it's fixed. Again, what is needed here is a detailed picture rather than a single statement. With this, you have the potential to inspire, and you have a proper target to aim for. You can later summarise this into a one-liner for communication purposes.<br />
<br />
The vision also helps you define your targets. I recommend splitting it into at least three phases - a short term realistic vision, a mid-term challenging vision, and a long term aspirational one. <br />
<br />
Overall your vision provides goals and direction. It is the fundamental basis for design and decision making.<br />
<br />
---- <br />
<br />
Once you've got this in place, your <b>Mission </b>is then to address the problem and achieve the goals and targets set by your vision. <br />
<br />
---- <br />
<br />
Your <b>Strategies</b> are how you will achieve the mission. In other words, <i>how </i>you aim to fix or eradicate the problem altogether. Focus your strategies on the root causes identified in the problem definition. <br />
<br />
---- </div>
<div>
<br />
<b>Roadmaps </b>are how those strategies will be applied over the <i>timeframes </i>you set to achieve the mission. This is where you identify short and long term programmes, and understand dependencies and priorities. <br />
<br />
---- <br />
<br />
<b>Tactics </b>are how your strategies breakdown into actions and delivery planning along the phases of your roadmap. <br />
<br />
You are free to focus maximum detail on the short term, because the roadmap lets you understand what needs to come next. Keep your planning light for the later stages, because your blueprint will evolve as you go along.<br />
<br />
---- <br />
<br />
Strategies and roadmaps together help define <b>Organisational Design</b> and operational structure, along with how they will need to scale or evolve over time.<br />
<br />
---<br />
<br />
Roadmaps and tactical programmes provide your <b>Micro Indicators</b>. These are numerical increases in size, impact or reach in short timeframes. Many organisations use these as actual impact indicators, but this is a flawed approach. All they do is tell you if you're on track with your plan. They don't necessarily mean that your plan or strategies are solving the problem in the long term, which is what your design should be aiming for. <br />
<br />
----<br />
<br />
Finally, your detailed tactical planning enables you to <b>Cost </b>your work, which then allows you to raise the appropriate financing or funding. <br />
<br />
----<br />
<br />
I recommend reviewing the whole conceptual framework about 9 months into an annual cycle. You should aim to adjust targets, strategies and roadmaps based on learnings and/or how the environment is changing. <br />
<br />
Then repeat the detailed tactical planning for the next year with higher level adjustments across the rest of the time-frame where needed.<br />
<br />
If you've taken the time to really understand the problem, your core vision and mission on the other hand should remain constant until data on macro outcomes indicates that the problem has been resolved or that it is no longer an issue. <br />
<br />
At this point you and your organisation are ready to exit that particular space. You can then choose to close down, or switch attention to another issue. With human transformation work, you're typically looking at between 8 and 15 years as a sensible time-frame to really start seeing impact on a macro level. Resolving an embedded issue altogether will likely take you even longer. Regardless of what anyone tells you, there are no quick fixes and no magic bullets.<br />
<br />
<i>Many thanks to Akshay Cherian for helping me put this together, and credit to Barbara Holtmann for coining the phrase 'what it looks like when it's fixed', although I've used it here in a slightly different context.</i><br />
<i><br /></i>
<i>Thanks for tuning in. Please share if you found it useful.</i></div>
</div>
</div>
RThttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01887662440039980353noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2018946907988901575.post-69526743161359362722012-11-20T11:35:00.000+00:002020-05-02T12:03:56.723+01:00Impact Financing Challenges and 7 Potential Solutions<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
This post is about new alternative financing options and the challenges they present to social entities around the world. <br />
<br />
Along my journeys around the world, I worked with more than a hundred social organisations of all types. From ‘first storey’ ones running programmes to secondary and tertiary social institutions like funding intermediaries and foundations. The full list is <a href="http://www.socialeffect.org/p/past-projects.html"><em>here</em></a>. Given the financial stresses that the world is currently under, I’m sure you can imagine that much of my time was spent in helping design new structures and approaches for reducing dependency on traditional fund-raising. <br />
<br />
<h4>
Traditional Fundraising</h4>
<ol>
<li>Donations from Friends and Family </li>
<li>Street level and online collection campaigns and donation drives </li>
<li>Larger scale hand-outs and Endowments from High Net Worth Individuals </li>
<li>Grants from Foundations and Funding Intermediaries </li>
<li>International Development Funds – Governmental (eg USAID) / Trans-Governmental (eg WorldBank) </li>
<li>Corporate Social Responsibility </li>
</ol>
<div align="left">
<a href="http://lh4.ggpht.com/-k3wjdd1pZo4/TqDFznAhxpI/AAAAAAAADkc/GgpVmeWCpik/s1600-h/P10002573.jpg"><img alt="Discussing sustainability with Sustentavia at Ashoka in Mexico" border="0" src="https://lh6.ggpht.com/-UgYKtmYU2QA/TqDF0xhKeQI/AAAAAAAADkk/-Roef7c7-TA/P1000257_thumb1.jpg?imgmax=800" height="379" style="border-bottom-width: 0px; border-left-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-top-width: 0px; display: inline;" title="Discussing sustainability with Sustentavia at Ashoka in Mexico" width="504"></a> </div>
<br />
The big challenge that non-profits, intermediaries and social entrepreneurs have been facing is that traditional funding has dried up with the recession, while at the same time the number of entities effectively vying for the same funds is increasing as the internet levels the global playing field. Couple this with the fact that most funders haven’t really got a clue what they’re doing and you’ve got a situation where organisations are forced into a pied piper situation. Follow the funder into whatever hole they dictate. This is both demoralising and unproductive en-route to any desired social impact.<br />
<br />
In most countries around the world, there is also limited or no Government funding for social or non-profit enterprises, so organisations are having to consider other alternatives. <br />
<br />
<h3>
Alternative Financing Options</h3>
The following in no order of priority are rapidly growing in take-up all over the world<br />
<ol>
<li>Revenue Streams </li>
<li>Sponsorship from large corporate or multinational entities </li>
<li>Crowd-funding </li>
<li>Social Loans </li>
<li>Social Investment </li>
<li>Hybrid Value Chains (Inclusive Business Models) </li>
<li>Self Financing Business Models (Social Enterprise) </li>
</ol>
<h4>
<strong>1. Revenue Streams </strong></h4>
Most people would have you believe that non-profit entities generally have no financial or business acumen. This is not true at all. Many mid-sized and large non-profits operate a range of activities that generate income. Social organisations can directly or indirectly monetise a range of things from Products to Services to Advice, Brand, Data and I.P. (knowledge, learning, methodology, tools). Thinking along business principles brings a range of operational benefits including agility and efficiencies. This is the option I usually recommend, but organisations have to be watchful to maintain priorities.<br />
<br />
The simple reality is that transformative work can rarely be funded by revenue generating activities alone. It takes between 8 and 15 years to really transform the lives and environments of people and communities and that kind of intensive support and interaction can rarely be funded by peripheral revenue streams. If a social organisation in the transformation space is able to cover 15 or 20% of its operating cost through its own revenue streams, it’s usually doing pretty well. <br />
<br />
The danger of revenue streams is that they often feel like high priority even though they are not the primary finance source. This means that they can often drain the time and energy of the leaders of the organisation away from the social mission, or worse still result in significant mission drift. The best way to take on revenue streams is to ensure that they have their own dedicated people and that they spin off from work that the organisation already does in delivering its social mission.<br />
<br />
<h4>
<strong>2. Sponsorship from large corporate or multinational entities </strong></h4>
As social networks continue to humanise and change the face of brand perception, companies are ramping up their connections with social change. This presents an increasing opportunity to leverage sponsorship for social movements and campaigns. They can also provide a range of value from expertise to connections but often need exclusivity and/or adherence to their own set of conditions. The sponsor is usually looking for three things to make it worth their while: Reach, Scale and Impact. If your project can provide these, then this is an option worth considering. Here’s the basic <a href="http://www.socialeffect.org/2009/11/how-to-write-successful-funding.html" target="_blank">proposal structure</a> you will need.<br />
<br />
Unfortunately, there's only a certain number of corporates large enough and interested enough to run social sponsorship programmes. In Mexico for example there were probably only about 20 obvious candidates... HSBC, AXA, Zurich Bank, Scotia Bank, Axtel, Kleenex, Kotex, Marti, Danone, Wal-Mart, Gamesa, Colgate, Novartis, Pfizer, Cemex, Bimbo, P&G, Cadbury, Kraft, Pepsi Co and Femsa - and only about 2 of these were actually local companies. What I found therefore was that social organisations, large and small, were all competing for funding from the same players. The small ones can't really compete with the bigger organisations, and the bigger organisations need more funding than is now available after the recession, so nobody wins except the funder, whose primary goal is brand kudos and audience recognition.<br />
<br />
I'm not sure what the solution is, but I'd imagine that if all these companies and foundations co-operated to create a single fund, and then split this to cater for larger umbrella organisations and smaller grassroots organisations separately, there'd be a better distribution of funding. Specifying focus areas would still allow companies to be associated with the projects that fit the image they want to project, and they'd all benefit from the economies of scale and removal of duplication of administrative effort and cost. <br />
<br />
<h4>
3. Crowd-funding</h4>
Crowd-funding is simply a fancy word for getting lots of people to put in a small amount of money to your venture, typically online. In reality donation drives are an example of crowd-funding, but these typically only apply to projects and organisations formally registered as Charities. If you’re looking to set up revenue streams, finance local economic development or run a project without formal charitable status, your options used to be very limited. Today however there are a number of avenues to crowd-fund your projects. Some of them require a return on investment, while others don’t. Here’s some sites you can use <br />
<ul>
<li><a href="http://www.giveforward.com/" target="_blank">http://www.giveforward.com/</a> </li>
<li><a href="https://www.profounder.com/" target="_blank">https://www.profounder.com/</a> </li>
<li><a href="http://www.kapipal.com/" target="_blank">http://www.kapipal.com/</a> </li>
<li><a avglsprocessed="1" href="http://www.createafund.com/" target="_blank">http://www.createafund.com/</a> </li>
<li><a href="http://www.thepoint.com/" target="_blank">http://www.thepoint.com/</a> </li>
<li><a href="http://www.crowdrise.com/" target="_blank">http://www.crowdrise.com/</a> </li>
<li><a href="http://www.socialvibe.com/" target="_blank">http://www.socialvibe.com/</a> </li>
</ul>
<h4>
4. Social Loans</h4>
These may seem like an oxymoron, but they do exist, at least in the western space. Organisations like the <a href="http://www.adventurecapitalfund.org.uk/" target="_blank">Adventure Capital Fund</a> provide development loans to non-profits and social enterprises which then have to be paid back the same as any other loan. These can be useful in moving organisations forward; come with a bit more flexibility than a standard bank loan; and usually involve useful coaching and business development support to help ensure ability to pay back. In principle this ought to work, but for all the talk of the triple bottom line, my experience has been that lending and investment entities do not weigh the social impact the same as financial return. Inability to pay back the loan will not be overlooked regardless of how much benefit is being provided to the community, and compromises to the social mission all the way down to liquidation will be enforced in order to ensure recovery of finance. In other words, be careful!<br />
<br />
<h4>
5. Social Investment</h4>
This is the big hype of the moment. The apparent answer to all our scaling prayers. Social Investment of course is really only an option for social businesses and not a viable funding strategy for general development work. Investors aren’t interested in non-profit or human transformation programmes. They’re looking to fund new technologies, utilities, energy, products, enterprise and saleable services. The typical IRR is still 30% and for many investors this is just another opportunity to make money, gain competitive advantage in an increasingly socially aware market, and look good at the same time. Aside from the few that are really trying to do something positive, I’ve already been pulled into extricating a series of social organisations from investors doing everything from under the radar land grabs, to fraud and brute exploitation in the sharing of profits. It’s all still too new and exciting for much of the negative aspects to surface, but be sure that it will in the next few years. <br />
<br />
My usual advice is that if your organisation isn’t simply an alternative business, and doesn’t have legal, contractual and financial expertise equivalent to that of the investing entity, the power imbalance is too steep. However good it looks on the surface; best avoid. <br />
<br />
<h4>
6. Hybrid Value Chains (Inclusive Business Models) </h4>
The hybrid value chain model is relevant only to the limited spaces where social enterprises are working with local or indigenous producers or communities, and can connect these with commercial organisations looking to reduce production costs or to scale their markets; thus creating partnerships that should result in financial and social benefit for all parties. From my experience however, I find that the winner here is usually the corporation. They receive brand kudos and often a massively subsidised entry into new markets, while social and community players absorb the brunt of cost and complication. This is because they are usually entering new operational spaces without the expertise to cost, plan or deliver what they’re taking on. Not because they aren’t capable, but because their skills are differently focused. The result is usually a massive underestimation and under-costing of commercial deliverables by the social players, putting them at much higher risk than the commercial partner.<br />
<br />
<h4>
<strong>7. Social Enterprise and Self Financing Business Models</strong> </h4>
Self-financing business models are the obvious answer for complete independence, but it isn't really that simple for many social organisations. For starters, many of the founders don't have deep business skills or experience because their expertise is focused on human challenges. More importantly they don't have the spare time or resource available to identify and set these models up. The standard funder solutions all focus on up-skilling the people that run social organisations, but over the past few years I've begun to realise that while this is needed, it is not going to address the problem. The reason is that business model innovation in a social context is harder than simply starting with a business idea that sells. There are of course exceptions to every rule, but redesigning organisations to cope with these new practices is often more complicated than anything you could expect someone without significant experience to achieve. <br />
<br />
Where organisations start out as social businesses or ‘social enterprises’ they may avoid the problem of managing business models in context, but immediately face the ongoing challenge of balancing out social impact and profit. This is simple enough with one-dimensional products or services like solar lamps or microfinance, but not so easy with long term transformative or development goals. The big myth being perpetuated by the sector is that impact and profit are not mutually exclusive, but in reality they often collide head-on. The ongoing exploitation and failures of Microfinance across the world are a good example of this. At some point the commercial entity’s priority typically shifts from social benefit to financial survival and/or growth. Without very clear ongoing definitions and regulation of priority, the grey area often blurs and we’ve ended up in a sector that is massively based on spin. <br />
<br />
It is definitely possible and desirable to design transformative programmes so they can be self-financing, but the sector is neatly ignoring the fact that they take longer to break-even than equivalent businesses that don’t have to cost for ethical and development practices. These entities may be financially viable but are unlikely to ever make serious money for their owners, and the number of small and mid-sized social enterprises that operate at survival levels bears this out. <br />
<br />
Out in the field and away from the ‘first world’, I found most social enterprises to maintain non-profit rather than commercial status. Their charity status usually goes a long way towards subsidising costs and provides them with alternate means of financing if their revenue streams fail to meet operating expenses in the pursuit of social impact.<br />
<br />
<h3>
<b>Coping with Financing and Operating Challenges</b> </h3>
One of the things I’ve been advocating for is for umbrella organisations to set-up Shared Service (Resource) Centres that add the skill and resource capacity that smaller organisations need in order to be able to innovate and grow. I've helped set these up for Local Government when I was working as a Consultant in the UK, and don't believe this would be difficult to set up for the social sector. I wrote a bit about them in my article on partnerships for the social sector (<a href="http://bit.ly/4BSu9y" target="blank">http://bit.ly/4BSu9y</a>) and put up some scribbles from a workshop with UnLtd on designing Shared Resource Centres in a presentation here: <br />
<br />
<iframe src="//www.slideshare.net/slideshow/embed_code/key/vB8bhSfvsjgqw6" width="595" height="485" frameborder="0" marginwidth="0" marginheight="0" scrolling="no" style="border:1px solid #CCC; border-width:1px; margin-bottom:5px; max-width: 100%;" allowfullscreen> </iframe> <div style="margin-bottom:5px"> <strong> <a href="//www.slideshare.net/rizwantayabali/designing-shared-service-centres-for-social-enterprises-v01" title="Designing Shared Service Centres For Social Enterprises V0.1" target="_blank">Designing Shared Service Centres For Social Enterprises V0.1</a> </strong> from <strong><a href="https://www.slideshare.net/rizwantayabali" target="_blank">Rizwan Tayabali</a></strong> </div><br />
<br />
It’s specific to their context, but you’ll get the jist.<br />
<br />
Some organisations like <a href="http://www.blogger.com/www.sustentavia.com/">Sustentavia</a> are also starting to provide this improved operating capacity as consultancies. They have clever business models which recognise that you can't really expect cash strapped social organisations to pay for services up front when they don't have the money, and hence aim for long term partnerships and investment in future financial success instead. <br />
<br />
Overall, you could suggest that I paint a bleak picture, but this is the reality out there. We still have a way to go. Of course, as mentioned earlier, there are exceptions to every rule and laudable successes in every financing category, but exceptions aren’t going to solve problems on the scale we’re dealing with around the globe. <br />
<br />
My usual suggestion is to understand the risks and challenges that the different options present. Then pick and choose the financing mechanism, or combination of, that your organisation is best able to manage and cope with. If you proceed sensibly then any of the above should work reasonably well for you.</div>
RThttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01887662440039980353noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2018946907988901575.post-26456257061645901572012-10-13T10:14:00.001+01:002020-05-01T07:41:58.436+01:00A Beginner's Guide to Fair Trade<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
I've recently been looking into Fair Trade as a follow up to some of the work I was doing in Mexico. Since I was putting was notes together for my own reference, I thought I'd tidy them up and share them. Hopefully it will save others from going through the whole effort themselves.
Note however that most of what I've outlined is based on second hand research, i.e. reading up and interviews. Since I haven't been deeply involved in the fair trade system I cannot say that I've personally verified all of it. I'd suggest using the outline as a fair introduction to the complexity of fair trade, but then recommend you do your own research into the facts before taking it for granted.<br />
<p style=" margin: 12px auto 6px auto; font-family: Helvetica,Arial,Sans-serif; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; font-size: 14px; line-height: normal; font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal; -x-system-font: none; display: block;" ><a title="View Beginner's Guide to Fair Trade v1.1 on Scribd" href="https://www.scribd.com/document/109895197/Beginner-s-Guide-to-Fair-Trade-v1-1#from_embed" style="text-decoration: underline;">Beginner's Guide to Fai...</a> by <a title="View Rizwan Tayabali's profile on Scribd" href="https://www.scribd.com/user/1240964/Rizwan-Tayabali#from_embed" style="text-decoration: underline;">Rizwan Tayabali</a> on Scribd</p><iframe class="scribd_iframe_embed" title="Beginner's Guide to Fair Trade v1.1" src="https://www.scribd.com/embeds/109895197/content?start_page=1&view_mode=scroll&access_key=key-16cohozj0srxjbwz1cqt" data-auto-height="true" data-aspect-ratio="0.7080062794348508" scrolling="no" width="100%" height="600" frameborder="0"></iframe>
<br />
<br />
For reference here's some of the links I used to build my own picture of fair trade<br />
<br />
<ul style="text-align: left;">
<li><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fair_trade_debate">http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fair_trade_debate</a></li>
<li><a href="http://www.fairtrade.org.uk/what_is_fairtrade/fairtrade_is_unique.aspx">http://www.fairtrade.org.uk/what_is_fairtrade/fairtrade_is_unique.aspx</a>
</li>
<li><a href="http://www.fairtrade.net/what_is_fairtrade.html">http://www.fairtrade.net/what_is_fairtrade.html</a>
</li>
<li><a href="http://www.ssireview.org/articles/entry/the_problem_with_fair_trade_coffee">http://www.ssireview.org/articles/entry/the_problem_with_fair_trade_coffee</a>
</li>
<li><a href="http://www.independent.org/publications/tir/article.asp?a=858">http://www.independent.org/publications/tir/article.asp?a=858</a>
</li>
<li><a href="http://www.adamsmith.org/sites/default/files/images/pdf/unfair_trade.pdf">http://www.adamsmith.org/sites/default/files/images/pdf/unfair_trade.pdf</a>
</li>
<li><a href="http://blogs.telegraph.co.uk/news/alexsingleton/4019311/The_poverty_of_Fairtrade_coffee/">http://blogs.telegraph.co.uk/news/alexsingleton/4019311/The_poverty_of_Fairtrade_coffee/</a>
</li>
<li><a href="http://www.fairtrade.org.uk/resources/natural_resources_institute.aspx">http://www.fairtrade.org.uk/resources/natural_resources_institute.aspx</a>
</li>
<li><a href="http://www.agriculturesnetwork.org/magazines/global/more-than-money/cafe-la-selva-on-the-road-of-life">http://www.agriculturesnetwork.org/magazines/global/more-than-money/cafe-la-selva-on-the-road-of-life</a>
</li>
<li><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Zapatista_coffee_cooperatives">http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Zapatista_coffee_cooperatives</a>
</li>
</ul>
</div>
RThttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01887662440039980353noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2018946907988901575.post-39993292215747850962011-12-01T10:44:00.000+00:002020-05-01T09:48:03.296+01:0020 Keys to Building a Successful Social Enterprise<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
<a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_XfTio3nGWjw/Se2ckvg7H9I/AAAAAAAABkI/seZfpDo_KHE/s1600-h/Key.jpg"><img alt="" border="0" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5327086089292947410" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/_XfTio3nGWjw/Se2ckvg7H9I/AAAAAAAABkI/seZfpDo_KHE/s400/Key.jpg" style="cursor: hand; float: right; height: 248px; margin: 0px 0px 10px 10px; width: 300px;" /></a><br />
Over the past few years I've looked at problems faced by a number of different social organisations, including new startups, developing organisations, and fully established ones. I typically see one common underlying factor; many of the issues stem from a failure to define some key points with the clarity and simplicity needed to make those definitions useful.<br /><br />Before we continue, let me just say that this is not going to be one of those articles with 20 tenets or pieces of pithy advice. It is about 20 key things that you <em>can </em>and <em>should </em>work out for your social organisation.<br />
At its core, everything I outline below can all be summarised into <em><strong>one </strong></em>overall key to success...<br /><br />...<strong>FOCUS</strong>!!<br /><br />Until you define your key points of focus, your limited funds and resources are continually wasted on attempts to cover all bases and do too many things. You end up with a Brownian motion of people’s activities; lots of ad-hoc decisions made around on a host of assumptions. It all heads in one general social direction, but with a lot of wastage and pain along the way. Prioritising becomes impossible and core platforms of long term development get missed. Over time, this leads to many of the problems and fire-fighting that social organisations face.<br /><br />Here’s my list of 20 key things all social organisations should have written down. <br />
<ol>
<li><strong>Mission </strong><br />The real reason you set up. </li>
<br />
<li><strong>Goals</strong><br />What you want to achieve & How. </li>
<br />
<li><strong>Potential Revenue Streams </strong><br />Split into core, supplemental and potential revenue. Think business model innovation. <br /><ul>
<li>Strategy for long term Financial Sustainability.</li>
<li>Core revenue – Grants, donations, and products or services you charge for.</li>
<li>Supplemental revenue (opportunities for monetising your organisational brand, IP, audience and assets).</li>
</ul>
</li>
<br />
<li><strong>Target Audience </strong><br /><ul>
<li>Groups that you’re trying to impact.<br /> Primary, secondary and tertiary.<br /> Outline needs of each group.</li>
<li>Recruitment strategies.</li>
<li>Long term value for beneficiaries.</li>
</ul>
</li>
<br />
<li><strong>Services & Offerings</strong><br />Make sure they are what your audience really needs, and not simply what you can or want to offer.<ul>
<li>Core.</li>
<li>Peripheral.</li>
</ul>
</li>
<br />
<li><strong>SWOT Outline </strong><br />i.e. A quadrant grid showing Strengths, weakness, opportunities and threats. </li>
<br />
<li><strong>Vision </strong><br />Where you plan to be in the Short, Medium and Long Term.<br /><ul>
<li>Realistic short-term (1yr).</li>
<li>Challenging medium-term (3yr).</li>
<li>Inspirational long-term (5-10yr).</li>
</ul>
All your strategies must work towards this long-term vision. You must know how your org can best act as a springboard for long term value to the individual or community. </li>
<br />
<li><strong>Development Strategy /Roadmap Plans</strong><br />These need to be created specifically to achieve the vision – ideally for a 3yr timeframe. Include yearly changes for organisation size and structure, development focus, and revenue needed. </li>
<br />
<li><strong>Cost/Revenue models </strong><br />These must directly fit your roadmaps.<br /><ul>
<li>Detailed costs of services inclusive of all overheads.</li>
<li>Profit margins over and above cost. It is surprising how often organisations get profit assumptions completely wrong.</li>
<li>Cost / Revenue grouping for ongoing comparison.</li>
<li>Realistic funding needed and how it will be distributed.</li>
</ul>
</li>
<br />
<li><strong>Risks and Mitigations</strong><br />Growth and Development challenges & how you’re going to address them. </li>
<br />
<li><strong>Plans for ensuring long term value to your end audience </strong><br />For example, alumni community platforms to enable interaction and ongoing engagement between beneficiaries. </li>
<br />
<li><strong>Competitors and Similar Organisations</strong><br />Regionally and globally (now that we’re all connected by the web, you are competing for recognition, funding and audience with organisations from all over the world). Knowing these can also help you build great collaborations and make a bigger difference (see 16). </li>
<br />
<li><strong>Unique Selling Points & Differentiators</strong><br />If you don’t have any, make sure you create them. Without these there is no good reason for funders to pick you over the myriad organisations out there. </li>
<br />
<li><strong>Potential Funders</strong><br /><ul>
<li>Identify sectors and prioritise – typically<br /> Corporate CSR,<br /> Commercial Brands that want the association,<br /> Trusts,<br /> Government,<br /> Individuals,<br /> Community.</li>
<li>Identify specific targets.</li>
<li>Identify what value they would gain from being associated with your org (conversely rethink what you do to ensure that funders get clear value from their engagement with you).</li>
</ul>
</li>
<br />
<li><strong>Framework for displaying Social Return on Investment (<a href="http://urbansurvivalproject.blogspot.com/2008/06/social-return-on-investment-sroi.html" target="_blank">SROI</a>)</strong> </li>
<br />
<li><strong>Support Networks</strong><br />Organisations that you could partner / affiliate with:<br /><ul>
<li>Social sector funders and developmental organisations</li>
<li>Charities and NGOs</li>
<li>Other organisations doing similar things – collaborating is a very fast way of scaling your outcomes and your reach.</li>
</ul>
</li>
<br />
<li><strong>Targets & Performance Management </strong><br />Anything you’re trying to develop must involve something to aim for. Your vision roadmap should essentially define your targets for you.<ul>
<li>Short term activity targets that roll up into long-term impacts.</li>
<li>Strategies or mechanisms for monitoring long-term impacts. In the long run this is going to be your best selling point for raising investment and support. </li>
</ul>
</li>
<br />
<li><strong>Brand Strategy</strong><br />Brand associations drive both individual and corporate engagement.<ul>
<li>What image and personality you want to project</li>
<li>Core themes and messaging </li>
</ul>
</li>
<br />
<li><strong>Marketing & PR Strategy </strong><ul>
<li>Channels you’re going to focus on</li>
<li>Messaging</li>
<li>How you plan to involve/engage press media (online and offline)</li>
</ul>
</li>
<br />
<li><strong>Community & Social Media Strategies </strong><br />The web is now ubiquitous and a global connector for communities. It can also drive funding and support from sources you never dreamed you could access. Social media refers to the free and open platforms that already have huge connected audiences, like Facebook, Twitter, Ning and Youtube. All you have to do is surf the wave.<br /><ul>
<li>Plans for building global and regional support communities using the web</li>
<li>Social media strategy<br /> Social media platforms and goals for each<br /> Codes of engagement and responsible resource</li>
</ul>
</li>
</ol>
<br />
Once understood and defined, many of these points of focus roll into one another and can be prioritised, developed and managed with very little effort. You don’t have to be gung-ho and try and get everything achieved in one massive effort. Social issues are typically long term and have few quick fixes. As a social organisation you should be planning to be around for a long time so continual small steps in a clear direction are often all you need to be successful in the long run. <br />
<br />
For each key driver, the trick is to avoid lots of words or huge business plan style documents that cannot be easily read or updated. Instead aim to have single PowerPoint slides or 1 pagers with short descriptions or a list of bullets that clarifies the essence of what you’re trying to achieve. Do NOT waste time debating semantics or making it perfect. Just brainstorm what you know, identify the gaps and dedicate some time to defining the answers. All you need is enough to provide clear direction and some decent guidelines for ongoing decision making. <br />
<br />
Always think practical and focus on communicating simply and effectively. Check the following:<br />
<ol>
<li>Can the definitions be used by people within your organisation? </li>
<li>Can they be reviewed and updated easily? </li>
</ol>
If the answer is no, make them simpler. Here are some 1 page outputs that you can easily pass around, stick up on walls, and review on a running basis... <br />
<ul>
<li>Mission, Strategy, Tactics Pyramid. </li>
<li>3 year Vision and Strategy Roadmap. </li>
<li>SWOT grid</li>
<li>High Level Stakeholder Analysis (covers audience, funders, support networks). </li>
<li>Summarised Cost vs Revenue Charts. </li>
<li>USPs. </li>
</ul>
Create a review point every 6 months, plan in the resource and effort to make sure it happens, and away you go! <br />
<br />
If you want help with any of this <a href="http://www.blogger.com/profile/01887662440039980353">drop me a line</a> and I’ll talk you through it.</div>
RThttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01887662440039980353noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2018946907988901575.post-10236131247913216512011-11-14T03:40:00.001+00:002020-05-01T08:12:27.430+01:0022 Questions To Ask Before Starting a Social Enterprise or Non-Profit<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
While in Northern Thailand some years ago, I was invited to the Payap University in Chiang Mai for a session with some budding social entrepreneurs. A group of University students that were starting a project on multi-lingual learning for one of the local communities they had been working with, needed help with understanding how to implement their ideas. This post is based on the questions we identified during that session. <br />
<br />
As with many new projects, the solution to a problem is typically pre-assumed and taken as given; based on the starting team or individual's particular point of focus, interest or skill. In other words they have something they believe will be beneficial to local communities and set about finding a place to fit their solution, without first answering the difficult questions that should be asked by any impact startup.<br />
<br />
<a href="http://lh4.ggpht.com/-kqN4C0Xewbk/TsCNt428lpI/AAAAAAAADu8/MNI0KVdJK3s/s1600-h/P1100001%25255B3%25255D.jpg"><img alt="Payap University, Chiang Mai" border="0" src="https://lh5.ggpht.com/-hqsB4mt5RoQ/TsCNv_tdnOI/AAAAAAAADvE/4PCIimwZesQ/P1100001_thumb%25255B1%25255D.jpg?imgmax=800" height="380" style="border-bottom-width: 0px; border-left-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-top-width: 0px; display: inline;" title="Payap University, Chiang Mai" width="504"></a> <br />
<br />
Having worked with over 100 social organisations around the world, I’ve found that this is a major reason why projects struggle to both survive and/or make any meaningful impact. Many ‘unexpected’ challenges can quite easily be extrapolated in advance if someone just bothers to model (think critically about) the implementation cycle before rushing in.<br />
<br />
Truth is it’s not that the group or individual is being wilfully negligent. Since most people in this space mean well and start out with the assumption that their idea/approach will be useful…<br />
<ol>
<li>There is a natural and understandable tendency to gloss over anything that might indicate the project is not worth starting. </li>
<li>For most new entrants without previous experiences of starting up and implementing solutions, the questions to ask are not always obvious.</li>
</ol>
So for all you budding social entrepreneurs out there, here's a list of some basic questions that you must be able to answer before starting a project, raising money, or writing proposals. <br />
<br />
As I mentioned in my other post on the <a href="http://www.socialeffect.org/2009/04/20-keys-to-building-successful-social.html" target="_blank">20 Keys to Building a Successful Social Enterprise</a>, vaguely ‘knowing’ the answer in your head is not good enough. You <em>must</em> be able to document at least half a page on each. <br />
------------------ <br />
<h4>
3 Basic Steps in Starting a Social Project </h4>
<ol>
<li>Imagine the programme/project in detail to understand start-up design and cost. </li>
<li>Ensure you have a clear long term vision and expectations, plus a development plan to get there. These are critical for both credibility and sustainability. </li>
<li>Identify (research) the mechanism of fundraising and the type of funder based on the amount of funding required. Note that small funding has different criteria to large funding. </li>
</ol>
Overall, it is point 1 i.e. imagining the project in detail that most people have trouble with. The approach is usually to get started and see what happens, instead of doing the difficult diligence first. <br />
So this post is about help with the first step in the start-up cycle.<br />
<h4>
Questions to help you flesh out and imagine your project in detail</h4>
---------------- <br />
<strong>Solution/Project Design</strong><br />
<ol>
<li>What tells you there is a problem in the community i.e. What are the specific indicators of the problem and what is the size of the problem? (<strong>This is your Problem Definition and initial Benchmarking</strong>) </li>
<li>Which specific bit are you most worried about i.e. trying to improve/change? (<strong>This is your Mission</strong>) </li>
<li>How will you address those problem indicators? (<strong>This your Idea/Strategy/Solution</strong>) </li>
<li>What are the challenges you see i.e. Why might your plans fail? (<strong>These are your Risks</strong>) </li>
<li>How will you know if these are the right approaches? (<strong>This is your Pilot</strong> i.e. where you test your ideas with the community and/or ensure that you have involved them in the design) </li>
<li>How would you start, and how long would it take to get your idea working eg. How long to build and set up community support, or get planning permission, or train staff, or test/pilot your idea etc? (<strong>This is your initial Start-up Timeline</strong>) </li>
<li>How would it evolve from a pilot into a mature programme, and over what timeframe? (<strong>This is your long-term development Roadmap</strong>) </li>
<li>How and When would you know that the problem is solved? (<strong>This is your Vision and defines your Outcome Targets</strong>) </li>
</ol>
----------------<br />
<strong>Short Term Effectiveness and Efficiency </strong><br />
<ol>
<li>Who else is doing the same thing and can you just help them instead? </li>
<li>Who can you partner with? </li>
<li>What solutions can you copy? </li>
<li>What more do you need to learn to do this properly? </li>
<li>How can the community help and how can they stay involved? </li>
<li>How could you use volunteers?</li>
</ol>
----------------<br />
<strong>Costing and Budgeting</strong><br />
<ol>
<li>What infrastructure does the project need (physical, organisational, technological, logistical)? </li>
<li>What people/skills does the project need? </li>
<li>What other things like materials will the project use? </li>
<li>How much would it cost to start/set-up the project? </li>
<li>How much would it cost to maintain? </li>
<li>What might be the ideal size for your organisation, and what would you need to grow it to that point? </li>
</ol>
----------------<br />
<strong>Long-Term Sustainability </strong><br />
<ol>
<li>How would you make this sustainable either financially, or in terms of staffing and replication? </li>
<li>How could you pass the project over to the community?</li>
</ol>
When you can answer all of the above in some detail, you're probably ready to start your own project. The answers don’t have to be perfect. Most of what you come up with is unlikely to match the reality that will play out, but you absolutely have to try. <br />
<br />
Until then, hold off and do the groundwork to ensure that you and your idea won’t just waste money that could be put to better use. <br />
<br />
Finally, make the difficult decision – Go or No-Go.</div>
RThttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01887662440039980353noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2018946907988901575.post-77989513524386773642010-03-02T09:02:00.002+00:002020-05-02T12:02:41.416+01:00The Definitive Guide To Scaling Social Enterprises<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
I was recently asked to give a <a href="http://ow.ly/1d7rb" target="_blank">talk on scaling social enterprises</a> to Oxford MBA students at the Saïd Business School via their partnership with the Skoll Centre for Social Enterprise, which prompted me to put together an outline of the different mechanisms of scaling that I've used or considered in the work I've been doing with social enterprises around the world.<br />
<br />
<iframe src="//www.slideshare.net/slideshow/embed_code/key/2wptrdUtBTLPeu" width="595" height="485" frameborder="0" marginwidth="0" marginheight="0" scrolling="no" style="border:1px solid #CCC; border-width:1px; margin-bottom:5px; max-width: 100%;" allowfullscreen> </iframe> <div style="margin-bottom:5px"> <strong> <a href="//www.slideshare.net/rizwantayabali/the-definitive-guide-to-scaling-social-enterprise" title="The Definitive Guide to Scaling Social Enterprise" target="_blank">The Definitive Guide to Scaling Social Enterprise</a> </strong> from <strong><a href="https://www.slideshare.net/rizwantayabali" target="_blank">Rizwan Tayabali</a></strong> </div>
<br />
There is more detail and explanation in NOTES attached to many of the slides, but you will need to either download the presentation or <a href="http://www.slideshare.net/rizwantayabali/the-definitive-guide-to-scaling-social-enterprise" target="_blank">view it on slideshare</a> and click on the notes tab below the slides to read them.</div>
RThttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01887662440039980353noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2018946907988901575.post-30845246415501970192010-01-27T13:49:00.011+00:002010-02-07T23:06:32.242+00:00The Case for Critical Thinking<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><img border="0" height="240" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_XfTio3nGWjw/S2A39GlshEI/AAAAAAAACD0/bVimMVYjQus/s320/e-mc-hammer-lg.gif" width="320" /></div><br />
Somewhere along my recent <a href="http://www.globosocial.org/">Latin American journey</a> I had a conversation with a friend who suggested that the big problem with people is that they use whatever hammer they possess to hit any nail they're presented with. In other words, management consultants will tell you the answer to your problem is strategy; marketing specialists will tell you it is presentation; IT consultants will chuck technology at it; sociologists will focus on impact; and business people will apply numbers.<br />
<br />
<div>This is a classic example of the lack of critical thinking seen in problem solving today. The trick is not to start solving the problem immediately, but to strip it down to it's root causes or underlying success factors and go from there, rather than defining the problem by it's surface presentation.<br />
<br />
</div><div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><img border="0" height="320" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_XfTio3nGWjw/S2A4h2Wu09I/AAAAAAAACD8/U091pSkaeN4/s320/hammer-time.jpg" width="320" /></div></div><div><br />
Marketing is the perfect case. Charities often tell me that they struggle to raise funds because their marketing is ineffective, or because they really can't afford any. When you strip it down however, you rapidly find that the problem is not marketing but what's attempting to be marketed. The vision is unclear, the services don't really fit together cohesively, outcomes are not compelling, and no one is really sure what this marketing is supposed to achieve. Your typical marketing person has no idea how to address any of these issues, and for the most part would never think to ask the questions - their skills are differently oriented. But the problem has been defined as marketing, so along comes the person with the marketing hammer and what you get is basically a paint job that doesn't stack up to closer look.</div><div><br />
</div><div>Here's a couple of real examples from the last three months. I have tons of these from the last few years of advisory work.</div><div><br />
</div><div>Simple Problem</div><div><ul><li><span style="font-style: italic; font-weight: bold;">Startup: We need to build a better looking website.</span></li>
<li>Obvious Solution = Web Designer + New Site</li>
<li>Real Solution = No you don't. Your organisation is too small to waste money and doesn't have the skills to manage a fancy website. Set your site up as a blog, using free platforms. What you really should do is to figure out how the web fits into your organisational strategy and then focus on creating more compelling content. </li>
</ul></div><div><div>Complex Problem</div><div><ul><li><span style="font-style: italic; font-weight: bold;">Medium sized NGO: We need to scale into other countries.</span></li>
<li>Obvious Solution = Management Consultant + Business Plan</li>
<li>Real Solution = No you don't. Your organisation is not financially stable in its current location, doesn't yet have a neatly systematised model, lacks transferable skills/people and is still completely dependent on the CEO for direction. Scaling will spread limited resources even thinner, divert from delivering the core mission, and jeopardise both organisational survival and social outcomes. You should focus on developing a stable and replicable organisational model, both financially and systemically; and on developing human resource that can either run the organisation in the CEO's absence, or is at least capable of set up new entities without central direction. </li>
<ul><li><span style="font-style: italic; font-weight: bold;">But someone has already offered us the funding for it.</span></li>
<li>Turn it down politely and maintain the relationship until you're really ready to scale</li>
</ul></ul></div><div>So the million dollar question: If you are the CEO of a social enterprise, how do you approach these challenges?</div><div><div><ol><li>The ability to look at root cause or key factors is a skill you must have in-house, or on your board. Only once you know what you're really dealing with, should you start looking for people to help you solve the problem. </li>
<li>Another other trick is to only contract help from people who question the validity of your problem definition. </li>
<li>Finally, if you can, try and find advisers that understand holistic/multiple aspects of organisational development (yes they do exist!).</li>
</ol></div></div></div>RThttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01887662440039980353noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2018946907988901575.post-87052425856472315512009-12-04T00:21:00.007+00:002019-12-06T11:37:17.867+00:00A Dummies Guide To Microfinance<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
(From <a href="http://www.globosocial.org/">http://www.globosocial.org/</a>: My global journey covering social enterprise)<br />
<br />
While in Mexico I had the fantastic opportunity of spending time with Frida Ruiz Fernandez who worked in regulation for microfinance and banking for Peruvian Government for 4yrs, and Juan Ahedo who works with <a href="http://www.fincomun.com.mx/" target="_blank">Fin Comun</a>, a microfinance organisation based in Mexico. From Frida I learnt a bit more about Microfinance, much of which is summarised below, and through Juan I was able to accompany a couple of branch managers on their site visits around the city. <br />
<br />
Fascinatingly for me, I learnt that microfinance is not just about lending to rural populations, but also a support system for tiny shops, restaurants and stalls all over low-income areas in cities too. The most fascinating thing was being transported back to a world of notebooks and hand-written accounts. <br />
<br />
<strong>Microfinance in the City – Typical Clients</strong><br />
<br />
<a href="http://lh6.ggpht.com/_XfTio3nGWjw/SwlT7kTuRcI/AAAAAAAAB9A/_WS8l3LpC3Q/s1600-h/P1000590%5B2%5D.jpg"><img alt="P1000590" border="0" src="http://lh4.ggpht.com/_XfTio3nGWjw/SwlT8fJVb_I/AAAAAAAAB9E/7veDiGf-bRU/P1000590_thumb.jpg?imgmax=800" height="184" style="border-bottom-width: 0px; border-left-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-top-width: 0px; display: inline;" title="P1000590" width="244" /></a> <a href="http://lh6.ggpht.com/_XfTio3nGWjw/SwlT9l920FI/AAAAAAAAB9I/ymjLqinbVcg/s1600-h/P1000591%5B2%5D.jpg"><img alt="P1000591" border="0" src="http://lh4.ggpht.com/_XfTio3nGWjw/SwlT-BQC9OI/AAAAAAAAB9M/Ngkecidg_kU/P1000591_thumb.jpg?imgmax=800" height="184" style="border-bottom-width: 0px; border-left-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-top-width: 0px; display: inline;" title="P1000591" width="244" /></a> <a href="http://lh5.ggpht.com/_XfTio3nGWjw/SwlT_hwJqWI/AAAAAAAAB9Q/F3G6vIjy74w/s1600-h/P1000593%5B2%5D.jpg"><img alt="P1000593" border="0" src="http://lh4.ggpht.com/_XfTio3nGWjw/SwlUANtWvHI/AAAAAAAAB9U/Ymt1dm3KPgw/P1000593_thumb.jpg?imgmax=800" height="184" style="border-bottom-width: 0px; border-left-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-top-width: 0px; display: inline;" title="P1000593" width="244" /></a> <a href="http://lh5.ggpht.com/_XfTio3nGWjw/SwlUBadCBKI/AAAAAAAAB9Y/UpUQ5em1Crg/s1600-h/P1000596%5B2%5D.jpg"><img alt="P1000596" border="0" src="http://lh5.ggpht.com/_XfTio3nGWjw/SwlUB2kcr0I/AAAAAAAAB9c/DsvxNSoqIPY/P1000596_thumb.jpg?imgmax=800" height="184" style="border-bottom-width: 0px; border-left-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-top-width: 0px; display: inline;" title="P1000596" width="244" /></a> <a href="http://lh5.ggpht.com/_XfTio3nGWjw/SwlUC0TsO8I/AAAAAAAAB9g/LtWzALN5lUY/s1600-h/P1000597%5B2%5D.jpg"><img alt="P1000597" border="0" src="http://lh6.ggpht.com/_XfTio3nGWjw/SwlUDkMuBnI/AAAAAAAAB9k/2kFbLAgwyWM/P1000597_thumb.jpg?imgmax=800" height="184" style="border-bottom-width: 0px; border-left-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-top-width: 0px; display: inline;" title="P1000597" width="244" /></a> <a href="http://lh3.ggpht.com/_XfTio3nGWjw/SwlUEt2fKCI/AAAAAAAAB9o/M12w78j3y5Y/s1600-h/P1000601%5B2%5D.jpg"><img alt="P1000601" border="0" src="http://lh3.ggpht.com/_XfTio3nGWjw/SwlUFMTRjeI/AAAAAAAAB9s/HUkRgw3Os8A/P1000601_thumb.jpg?imgmax=800" height="184" style="border-bottom-width: 0px; border-left-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-top-width: 0px; display: inline;" title="P1000601" width="244" /></a> <br />
<h3>
Introducing Microfinance</h3>
<strong>Traditional Banking</strong><br />
<br />
The mechanisms of traditional banking essentially function around monetising (investing/re-lending for financial return) deposits that people store with the bank; and on providing interest based credit that is offset either by collateral, or risk managed through the use of standardised credit rating systems for medium to high income populations. <br />
<br />
<strong>Why Low Income Populations Can’t Use Traditional Banks</strong><br />
<br />
Low income populations typically have neither the collateral nor ratings needed to access credit, because their wealth base is too small for collateral and standardised credit rating systems are not designed to assess their circumstances. Traditional banks therefore have to invest in completely new mechanisms for managing these demographics, which isn’t worth their effort so they ignore the space altogether. <br />
<br />
Finally, where low income populations do have savings, they generally don’t deposit their money in normal banks because<br />
<ol>
<li>There is a lack of accessible infrastructure. i.e. no branches in their areas since it is not profitable for traditional banks to provide these. </li>
<li>Low income populations are not used to going into big banks. They feel out of place and intimidated by the experience.</li>
</ol>
<strong>The Critical Problem</strong><br />
<br />
Since low income populations often have greater immediate needs around borrowing money, the lending space has traditionally been covered by loan sharks, where exorbitant interest rates mean that people can end up paying many multiples of the money they borrowed, under threat of personal violence. This simply exacerbates their poverty.<br />
<br />
The second problem is that without access to mechanisms of depositing, managing and growing money, these populations are typically excluded from opportunities to create the longer term wealth that can help them to escape the poverty cycle.<br />
<br />
<strong>Microfinance</strong><br />
<br />
So microfinance is really just a fancy name for the mechanism of providing safe small (typically high interest) loans to people, groups or enterprises who’s incomes are too small to provide collateral or credit ratings, and are therefore risky and highly cost intensive to manage.<br />
<br />
Microfinance organisations make it cheaper and profitable to provide these services by basing themselves and working in the same areas as these populations, and they have adapted their credit methodologies to lend to low income sectors in 3 ways<br />
<ol>
<li>Their assessment model is very human intensive in terms of finding entrepreneurs, getting to know them personally, helping them with paperwork etc, typically by having branch managers which personally go out to meet clients rather than have them come into a branch, which means a much higher cost base than traditional banking.</li>
<li>They provide loans without collateral, and manage the risk by replacing collateral with information about the people they are lending to. Hence they are significantly more diligent than traditional banks about each individual being lent to. Branch managers establish close relationships with borrowers and work to understand their networks and personal circumstances. </li>
<li>They charge higher interest rates than traditional banks – anywhere between 25% and 40% for non-profits, which although high, is usually still less than loan sharks. Commercial microfinance entities, which are rapidly becoming the dominant form, lend at even higher rates of 40%-140% across fixed repayment terms.</li>
</ol>
<strong>The Goal</strong><br />
<br />
Enable people to exit poverty through profits from assets or activities enabled by small loans. <br />
<br />
<strong>The Gap and Issues</strong><br />
<br />
Microfinance organisations however are typically not banks, which means that they still do not address the issue of saving and wealth accumulation. One reason for this is that lending entities (like store finance) operate without much scrutiny, but taking deposits makes you a bank, which requires compliance with a whole new range of costly financial regulations that can otherwise be avoided. <br />
<br />
Since these organisations fall outside traditional banking mechanisms, in many countries they often exist without any regulation. This means they often grow too quickly and operate at very high risks of bankruptcy.<br />
<br />
Another issue that is also now being recognised is that the mechanism of micro-finance still struggles to bring people out of poverty. The reason is to do with the focus on funding entrepreneurs rather than stable business models or even helping create enteprise for people who don't have any income streams, and because of the lack of education and understanding of money management in low income populations. <br />
<br />
Finally, microfinance is a profit model, and many of the players are not in it for the social goal. They don’t always operate ethically, and are not necessarily interested in mobilising communities out of poverty. Education and health components added to the financing model, can cynically be seen as mechanisms to reduce the risk of default, but the really good ones invest significantly in the development and mobilisation of the communities they work with.<br />
<br />
The exorbitant interest rates can often be equivalent to loan sharks, and more importantly, as the sector matures and costs of managing clients and risk reduces, these rates don't drop (see lack of regulation and monitoring). This means that after a while, commercial microfinance entities typically just mint money and will continue to do so. This is one of the reasons for the huge financing boom for these organisations and new startups, but goes entirely against the ethics that the public associates with social enterprise. <br />
<br />
The real trouble in the end is that any development model whose sustainability/profitability is based on offering debt, and which has financers as the primary stakeholder, is likely to result in exploitation unless it is ethically run or strongly regulated. At some point any commercial lending entity will end up having to convince (manipulate) people to take loans regardless of whether they need it, just to keep its business model and profit margins going. As the market booms, more entrants seeing easy money are rushing in under the radar of public goodwill. <br />
<br />
<strong>Solution 1: Regulation</strong><br />
<br />
Peru recently won an award for the creation of regulated environments for successful growth and scaling of microfinance. They minimise the risk of failure of microfinance orgs by enforcing a step by step system of growth by modules. Every step in scaling operations requires governmental approval, using a risk based approach covering 4 areas:<br />
<ol>
<li>Credit </li>
<li>Market </li>
<li>Liquidity and Operations </li>
<li>Capital adequacy (i.e. having enough capital to support operations). </li>
</ol>
This approach prevents microfinance organisations from growing too fast or taking risky decisions, and unregulated Microfinance organisations are not allowed to take deposits.<br />
<br />
Benefits of regulation<br />
<ol>
<li>Access to ratings and ranking makes these organisations open to investment</li>
<li>They get feedback that helps them grow and get better</li>
<li>Regulation means they are better run, so they have access to better human resources</li>
<li>Access to guarantee funds up to a certain amount of deposit to help offset risk. </li>
<li>Protect against and reduce risk of exploitation of vulnerable low income populations. </li>
</ol>
<strong>Solution 2: Education & Community Investment</strong><br />
<br />
Microfinance organisations are now beginning to provide financial and health education, in order to offset risk (well educated and healthy populations are better placed to repay loans), but the really good ones also invest in education and community programs to transform civil society in low-income areas. Education must focus on savings and wealth management and not be used to encourage take up of more debt.<br />
<br />
<strong>Solution 3: Microfranchising</strong><br />
<br />
Entrepreneurs are great at finding opportunities to set up ventures, but not necessarily so good at scaling or creating stable and repeatable business models. Since microfinance typically lends to small entrepreneurs in low income populations, the quality of enterprise is typically not suited to scale or growth. Your average tiny corner shop isn’t very likely to become 10 large corner shops. Results are starting to show that while microfinance has benefits, it isn’t necessarily mobilising communities out of poverty in the long term. <br />
<br />
The solution may involve offering finance for proven micro-scale business models that can be scaled by franchising. Local product reseller models for example. The value here lies in the creation of new jobs as it does not involve funding existing enterprises. It would also open up economic possibilities for people who don't already have stable incomes.<br />
<br />
<strong>Solution 4: Debt and Wealth Management</strong><br />
<br />
For any microfinance entity seriously interested in driving economic development for low income populations, there absolutely must be a focus on debt management and reduction, followed by support for creating and growing wealth. Cash in hand is not wealth. Assets are. A savings account with interest for example. It not only grows money, but also safeguards it. Another example is ownership of housing. A lot of poor people have historical debt that keeps them locked in poverty. Debt reduction systems are not necessarily profitable, but could be justified in the longer term of creating a base of clients whose wealth can be monetised without fear of exploitation. The key here is replacing short-term profit maximisation with long term profitability and social impact.</div>
RThttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01887662440039980353noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2018946907988901575.post-17674883528714586682009-11-23T14:00:00.011+00:002020-05-02T12:03:56.603+01:00How To Write Successful Funding Proposals<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
At it’s core, the goal of any corporate funding is Return on Investment i.e. what your project is going to do for them or their brand. Large corporations want mass recognition and kudos through their association with social projects, and clear indicators of social impact that can go into their stakeholder reporting.<br />
So the first thing you need to remember is that corporate funders really only care about 3 things that underpin this<br />
<ul>
<li><strong>Scale </strong>(how big in terms of geography and replicability) </li>
<li><strong>Reach</strong> (who are the audiences that will know about or benefit from the project) </li>
<li><strong>Impact </strong>(what will it achieve for all the different stakeholders) </li>
</ul>
FOCUS!! on these 3 things in your proposal, rather than infinite details about the content, structure and cost of the project and it’s planning/delivery mechanisms. Corporates need enough detail to assess your approach and likelihood of success, but this does not cover their goals.<br />
Finally if it is possible to demonstrate that you can use their money to create sustainable revenue streams that mean you won’t need to go back again year after year, you’re probably onto a winner!<br />
<h3>
Suggested Proposal Structure</h3>
<ol>
<li><strong>Executive Summary</strong> <br />
</li>
<ul>
<li>Introduce the structure of the document </li>
<li>Outline the project that needs funding </li>
<li>Summarise what you’re looking for <br />
</li>
</ul>
<li><strong>Context</strong> <br />
(This is critical for sharing the big picture) </li>
<ul>
<li>Introduce your organisation </li>
<li>Outline the problem </li>
<li>Outline your vision and what you believe can be done <br />
</li>
</ul>
<li><strong>Project </strong><br />
(Here’s where you cover details) </li>
<ul>
<li>Repeat overview of the project / solution (more info than in the Exec Summary) </li>
<li>Describe the mission and goals </li>
<li>Discuss the mechanisms (strategies/tactics) it will use to achieve those goals </li>
<ul>
<li>If there is a creative aspect cover it here. </li>
<li>If the funding will enable future self-financing, describe how</li>
</ul>
<li>Describe the reach </li>
<ul>
<li>Target audiences: groups you will impact; groups you will mobilise; and groups you will engage. Outline what this means in numbers </li>
<li>Geographies – Local, National and Global Networks you will mobilise; Locations of online audiences you will target e.g. US, UK; and the Offline locations for mobilising action and support.</li>
</ul>
<li>Describe the mechanisms of engaging audiences across different channels </li>
<ul>
<li>Offline </li>
<li>Online</li>
</ul>
<li>Delivery Planning </li>
<ul>
<li>Timelines and Milestones </li>
<li>Resources and Materials </li>
<li>Costs</li>
</ul>
<li>Impact (This is IMPORTANT!) </li>
<ul>
<li>Specify and reiterate what your project will aim to achieve for all it’s different audiences </li>
<li>Outline the metrics you will to use to monitor and report on the change you are creating<br />
</li>
</ul>
</ul>
<li><strong>Funding/Sponsorship Proposal</strong> <br />
(Here’s where you sell) </li>
<ul>
<li>Outline the type/nature of Funding/Sponsorship e.g. </li>
<ul>
<li>Number of funders</li>
<li>Focus area </li>
<li>Timeframe of association </li>
</ul>
<li>Describe opportunities for Funder/Sponsor involvement e.g. </li>
<ul>
<li>Signage (name/logo) on project material </li>
<li>Personal appearances for key staff </li>
<li>Events, Speeches, Talks </li>
<li>Opportunities to showcase product and brand </li>
<li>Engagement with project audiences </li>
<li>Engagement with web traffic </li>
<li>Potential opportunities to influence positioning and geographical location of advertising</li>
</ul>
<li>Value of association with your organisation/project e.g. </li>
<ul>
<li>Reiterate scale and nature of exposure </li>
<li>Exclusive/Non-exclusive rights to use project branding (subject to appropriateness with project mission) </li>
<li>Networking and recognition opportunities with key partners including Local or National Government, and/or other Corporates. </li>
<li>Other services you can offer them </li>
<li>Long-term value</li>
</ul>
<li>Reason why you want this particular Funder/Sponsor<br />
(Do your research and show you understand their needs and why you believe they fit) </li>
<li>Financials </li>
<ul>
<li>Total you need to raise or want from them </li>
<li>High level reiteration of what the money will be used for and the impact it will have </li>
<li>Financial ROI for the Sponsor (try and guesstimate if possible, but don’t worry if too complicated) e.g. reduced costs of engaging audiences, brand value, new markets, product sale </li>
<li>Decision deadline if you need the money by a specific date, plus the reason why</li>
</ul>
</ul>
</ol>
<h3>
Download Funding Proposal Template</h3>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">
<a href="http://www.scribd.com/document_downloads/22929481?extension=pdf" target="_blank">Click here to Download for free</a></div>
<br />
For reference, here’s a real world brainstorm of a sponsorship pitch for a large corporation that should give you a quick overview of what you need. <br />
<br />
<a href="http://lh3.ggpht.com/_XfTio3nGWjw/Swm9z2lGWLI/AAAAAAAAB9w/ca-RIxog2Fk/s1600-h/SponsorshipProposalOutline3.png"><img alt="Sponsorship Proposal Outline" border="0" src="http://lh3.ggpht.com/_XfTio3nGWjw/Swm93QvU3EI/AAAAAAAAB90/12um9Ex8g4M/SponsorshipProposalOutline_thumb1.png?imgmax=800" height="387" style="border-bottom-width: 0px; border-left-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-top-width: 0px; display: inline;" title="Sponsorship Proposal Outline" width="504" /></a></div>
RThttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01887662440039980353noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2018946907988901575.post-83634186002879810492009-11-18T18:27:00.002+00:002020-05-02T12:03:56.801+01:00Fundraising - Recruitment Strategies for Corporations & HNWIs<p>One of the biggest fundraising mistakes that social organisations make is chasing anyone who might potentially have some money, without really assessing whether or not their goals or interests fit the project.  This is why generic applications get nowhere, and why creating specific proposals often fails too. You absolutely must have some kind of selection criteria to filter the right organisations to approach, before you spend time on funding proposals. </p><p>The next mistake involves assuming that presenting the social need and tugging on heart strings is enough to get people (HNWI = High Net Worth Individuals) or organisations to part with their money. This is a hit and hope affair – you might get lucky, or you might not. The real trick is to understand what your target audiences needs are, then make sure you are actually able to deliver the benefits they might want from their association with your project, and finally, stay true to your promises.</p><p><a href="http://lh5.ggpht.com/_XfTio3nGWjw/SwQ8iVSXXRI/AAAAAAAAB7M/RuAIl0vzrHo/s1600-h/image%5B17%5D.png"><img style="border-right-width: 0px; display: inline; border-top-width: 0px; border-bottom-width: 0px; border-left-width: 0px" title="Fundraising - Recruitment Strategies for Corporations & HNWIs" border="0" alt="Fundraising - Recruitment Strategies for Corporations & HNWIs" src="http://lh3.ggpht.com/_XfTio3nGWjw/SwQ8matBnwI/AAAAAAAAB7Q/7vVNJHFsEoM/image_thumb%5B15%5D.png?imgmax=800" width="504" height="379" /></a></p><p>Above is a real life example of how to select your fundraising targets and then work out the benefits that might attract them. Once you understand these you can then create the messaging and marketing needed to attract them, and the engagement plans to manage the relationships over time. </p>RThttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01887662440039980353noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2018946907988901575.post-82471232787889571502009-09-29T09:41:00.002+01:002020-05-02T12:03:56.762+01:00Fundraising In A NutshellThis is more for social enterprises and charities that are raising funds in order to continue to operate and/or grow rather than for startups.<br />
<br />
The trick is to do these in parallel. Start your research and network to build relationships with potential funders, while simultaneously putting the platforms in place. This means that by the time you've built your relationships with the people interested in your work, you've also got all your messaging sorted out and ready to go.<br />
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_XfTio3nGWjw/SsHG93-IOrI/AAAAAAAABy4/pdyrRTao3Vw/s1600-h/Strategic-Fundraising-Introduction.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" iq="true" alt="Strategic Fundraising" title="Strategic Fundraising" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_XfTio3nGWjw/SsHG93-IOrI/AAAAAAAABy4/pdyrRTao3Vw/s400/Strategic-Fundraising-Introduction.jpg" /></a><br />
</div><br />
Additional notes:<br />
<ul><li>Networking = emails and conversations (phone and face-to-face meetings)</li>
<li>Recognition = not just for brand but also methodology in terms of getting accepted as experts in the type of work being done </li>
<li>Shareability = having the technical ability to share your content in social media, as well as creating and chunking it so that it is valuable and motivates people to pass it on.</li>
</ul>RThttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01887662440039980353noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2018946907988901575.post-9422092659994113682009-09-22T15:56:00.004+01:002021-05-05T02:12:06.172+01:00Managing Projects: An Overview for Social Entrepreneurs<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
I put together the following presentation for the <a href="http://www.unltd.org.uk/">UnLtd Network Plus</a> training and networking day for the social entrepreneurs they fund. It provides an overview of all the different elements of managing projects. I've kept it a very high level with just one or two key points to remember for each area. If you want the <strong>notes</strong> for each slide, either view it on the <a href="http://www.slideshare.net/rizwantayabali/managing-projects-an-overview-v10">slideshare.net</a> website or <a href="http://www.slideshare.net/rizwantayabali/managing-projects-an-overview-v10/download">download</a> it and view it on your computer.<br />
<br />
I hope you find it useful. Feel free to comment with feedback or questions below.<br />
<br />
<iframe allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="485" marginheight="0" marginwidth="0" scrolling="no" src="//www.slideshare.net/slideshow/embed_code/key/6xBSQInMyZFkp7" style="border-width: 1px; border: 1px solid #ccc; margin-bottom: 5px; max-width: 100%;" width="595"> </iframe> <br />
<div style="margin-bottom: 5px;">
<strong> <a href="https://www.slideshare.net/rizwantayabali/managing-projects-an-overview-v10" target="_blank" title="Managing Projects - A Guide For Social Entrepreneurs">Managing Projects - A Guide For Social Entrepreneurs</a> </strong> from <strong><a href="https://www.slideshare.net/rizwantayabali" target="_blank">Rizwan Tayabali</a></strong>
</div>
</div>
RThttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01887662440039980353noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2018946907988901575.post-71927254976733765032009-09-12T14:30:00.009+01:002020-05-01T09:52:35.519+01:00Why Brand Recognition Matters for Social EnterpriseHere's a quick snapshot of how brand awareness impacts the different audiences for Social Enterprises, NGOs and Non-Profits.<br /><br /><br />If you ever wondered why your organisation should be devoting time to building <strong><em>mass</em></strong> recognition, this should clue you in.<br /><br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_XfTio3nGWjw/SqulpWGrzyI/AAAAAAAABxA/1kH8RgXHRoM/s1600-h/Why-Brand-Awareness-Matters-2.jpg"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5380576309551025954" title="Why Brand Awareness Matters for Social Enterprises" style="WIDTH: 400px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 247px" alt="Why Brand Awareness Matters for Social Enterprises" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_XfTio3nGWjw/SqulpWGrzyI/AAAAAAAABxA/1kH8RgXHRoM/s400/Why-Brand-Awareness-Matters-2.jpg" border="0" /></a><br /><br /><br />* HNWI = High Net-Worth Individuals (Philanthropists, Investors)RThttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01887662440039980353noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2018946907988901575.post-61043657883764073742009-09-07T15:08:00.007+01:002020-05-01T09:52:35.482+01:00Why Social Enterprises Need Strong Brands<object style="MARGIN: 0px" height="355" width="425"><param name="movie" value="http://static.slidesharecdn.com/swf/ssplayer2.swf?doc=why-social-enterprises-need-strong-brands-090907101414-phpapp01&stripped_title=why-social-enterprises-need-strong-brands-1963349"><param name="allowFullScreen" value="true"><param name="allowScriptAccess" value="always"><embed src="http://static.slidesharecdn.com/swf/ssplayer2.swf?doc=why-social-enterprises-need-strong-brands-090907101414-phpapp01&stripped_title=why-social-enterprises-need-strong-brands-1963349" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" allowscriptaccess="always" allowfullscreen="true" width="425" height="355"></embed></object><br /><a target=_blank href="http://www.slideshare.net/rizwantayabali/why-social-enterprises-need-strong-brands-1963349">Having problems loading? View this presentation on Slideshare</a><br /><br />Here's the jist of it...<br /><br />A brand is what your audience feels , thinks , and remembers about your enterprise.<br /><br />Brand used to be ‘ offline ’ and ‘ online ’ Now it is seamless , and primarily driven by how you are perceived via the web.<br /><br />And now that organisations can create their own profiles , brands can effectively function as ‘ people ’ i.e. In the interactive web 2.0 world, your brand has a personality.<br /><br />So… Brand used to just be about image, but now its about image AND personality!<br /><br />Before the web, niche brands could only engage niche audiences. They relied on costly traditional PR and push marketing, which meant that their audiences were tiny and their budgets high. Now niche brands can engage mass audiences at low cost.<br /><br />Social organisations sit in a niche that typically does not sell product. They are competing for attention. And when you're competing for attention, your competition is everything. You have to stand out to be noticed. <br /><br />A strong brand is a core factor in being noticed, and therefore heard, which is why it critical for social organisations to get their branding right.RThttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01887662440039980353noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2018946907988901575.post-89942265120865188702009-09-03T12:19:00.005+01:002020-05-01T09:48:03.404+01:00Success Criteria For Social Enterprises<em>(This post was written by Imtiaz Kaderbhoy - a friend and ex-colleague of mine, who does a lot of pro-bono work with social enterprises and charities in an advisory capacity.)</em><div><br /></div><div><em></em>I recently had the pleasure of meeting Tim Cornah last week, whose latest social project, a community interest company called “<a href="http://www.3rd-way.com/">Third Way</a>” generates funds and provides accommodation for a rural youth project called <a href="http://www.pycyouthservices.org/index.htm">PYC youth services</a> and is based in Parbold, Wigan. PYC youth services is aimed at empowering young people to improve their communities through entrepreneurship and partnerships. Whilst speaking with Tim at length about PYC youth services, Tim explained his key criteria to ensure success with social enterprises.<br /><br /><h3>Success Criteria</h3><br /><br /><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_XfTio3nGWjw/Sp-mzEepDgI/AAAAAAAABvE/bV2SZYDeHUE/s1600-h/Success-Criteria-For-Social-Enterprises.jpg"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5377199876409462274" style="WIDTH: 365px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 400px" alt="" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_XfTio3nGWjw/Sp-mzEepDgI/AAAAAAAABvE/bV2SZYDeHUE/s400/Success-Criteria-For-Social-Enterprises.jpg" border="0" /></a><br /><br /><b>Discover the Need</b><br /><ul><li>There are groups of people in need everywhere </li><li>Identify who they are and what they need </li><li>Tim discovered a masked social need in what initially looked like a wealthy rural village called <a href="http://www.pycyouthservices.org/">Parbold</a>, and through identifying the opportunity, is developing a compelling social proposition that can be packaged and replicated. </li><li>Rural communities generally hide their social needs quite well as many are “dormitory villages” with the highest earners merely using them as “lodgings” at the expense of the locals. </li></ul><b>Simplicity</b><br /><ul><li>Don’t overcomplicate the idea </li><li>Deliver what is required </li><li>The benefits will flow </li><li>Then expand and grow if required </li><li>Lead project is the development of a community centre to address a specific community need </li></ul><p><b>Financial Sustainability</b></p><ul><li>It is very important to establish an independent revenue stream as early as possible Sponsors, partners, and fundraising activities will be more successful as a result </li><li>Third Way are building a fair trade coffee shop to support PYC. The idea is simple, and will provide a constant revenue stream. </li><li>They want to branch into training as soon as possible and link into real employment or create businesses for their trainees. </li></ul><b>Ownership </b><ul><li>Your target audience should own the project, not the founder, the board or the consultants </li><li>They should be involved from day 1 </li><li>And given real responsibilities in all areas including budgets, strategy, decision making, and management. </li><li>Coach and mentor individuals to enable them to achieve their passions </li><li>PYC has given young adults real responsibilities of a facility that provides employment, training and generates finance to help others </li></ul><b>Opportunity </b><ul><li>Provide lifetime support value </li><li>Offer real opportunity once the individual has benefited and maximised their opportunity from the project </li><li>This level of engagement will prove to become a key component for long term survival and success </li><li>PYC will be providing real hope and opportunity for young adults in the public and private sector </li></ul><b>Repeatability/Scalability</b><ul><li>Ensure the project can be scaled, adding products and services will aid success </li><li>Ensure the project can be repeated, this will enable more groups/people to benefit. </li><li>Once <a href="http://www.3rd-way.com/">Third Way</a> and <a href="http://www.pycyouthservices.org/03%20Our-Aims.htm">PYC</a> have successfully launched and run this project, the concept should be scalable to include new opportunities and repeatable to launch similar projects across the UK.</li></ul></div>RThttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01887662440039980353noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2018946907988901575.post-76997642722731316282009-05-06T18:42:00.021+01:002009-07-03T13:57:51.317+01:00Community Communications 101<p><img style="margin:0 0 10px 10px;width: 400px; height: 195px;" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_XfTio3nGWjw/SgLXDSLjt9I/AAAAAAAABlk/52ESI_JND1c/s400/communitycomms-h.jpg" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5333061360179984338" /></p><p>I recently had a very illuminating chat with <a href="http://twitter.com/carolinejaine">Caroline Jaine</a>, the Director of <a href="http://www.imediate.org/">imediate,</a> around community communications, so I thought I'd share some of what I learnt.</p><p></p><ol><li>Always start with a <span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-weight: bold;">clear strategy</span>, </li><li>Followed by an <span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-weight: bold;">implementation plan</span>, and</li><li>Finally <span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-weight: bold;">outcome monitoring.</span> </li></ol><p></p><p>Key point: Do<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-weight: bold;"> </span><span class="Apple-style-span" style=""><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-weight: bold;">NOT</span></span> just rush into comms activity. There are lots of risks and sensitivities, and consequently these programmes often fail. Plan first! </p><p>The following are the key steps in developing communications for social change.<br /></p><h3>Comms Strategy</h3><ol><li>Gain clarity of purpose first, by validating the overall mission that the comms fits into.<ul><li>Research community and environmental factors for insights into what the real problem is and what is realistically achievable.</li><li>Identify and understand risks, and develop clear mitigation strategies.<br /></li></ul></li><li>Comms strategies are about behaviour change, so<ul><li>Identify the specific behaviours that need to change.</li><li>Use it to define and focus on the correct target audience.</li></ul></li><li>Identify approaches and ways you might change these behaviours.<ul><li>Identify key points of influence.</li><li>Identify the key channels of influence and communication.</li><li>Define key themes and messages.</li></ul></li><li>Evaluate how the audiences perceive the communications provider. </li><li>Use these insights to identify the most credible person/organisation/partners/network to provide the message. This is the basis of psychological operations, which are as follows<ul><li>White - Communicator takes direct ownership of and association with comms.</li><li>Grey - Comms are provided with no direct ownership.</li><li>Black - Comms are attributed to a third party without their knowledge. Unethical and not recommended.</li></ul></li></ol><h3>Comms programme creation and delivery</h3><ol><li>Know what you have to work with.<br /><ul><li>Assess budget.</li><li>Assess resource.</li><li>Assess potential partners for delivery.</li></ul></li><li>Define timelines.</li><li>Define success criteria.</li><li>Create implementation plan.</li></ol><h3>Post Implementation</h3><ol><li>Monitor success.</li><li>Maintain relationships.</li></ol><div><br /></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-style: italic;">(For more on community communications keep up with Caroline's thoughts on the </span><a href="http://4imediate.blogspot.com/"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-style: italic;">imediate blog</span></a><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-style: italic;">.)</span></div>RThttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01887662440039980353noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2018946907988901575.post-39308151250314706502009-04-11T16:10:00.005+01:002020-05-01T09:52:58.670+01:003 Types of Partnership For the Social SectorIn my previous post on <a href="http://urbansurvivalproject.blogspot.com/2009/02/could-partnerships-and-collaboration.html">whether Partnerships and Collaboration might save the third sector</a>, I suggested that one reason why small charities are failing is the nucleation of the sector caused by self interest in raising funding. However, beyond a point they all have the same collective goal, which is to effect positive social change. Unlike businesses which are just out for themselves, this commonality of higher purpose means that charities and social enterprises are perfectly placed to cooperate and collaborate to survive.<br /><br />I see 3 forms of partnership that are immediately viable for most small social organisations, none of which are being fully explored<br /><ol><li>Sharing operational costs and services </li><li>Collaborating with competitors to develop better and larger scale joint-propositions </li><li>Developing complementary partnerships with non-competitors to reach new audiences</li></ol><h3>Type 1: Shared Services</h3>One of the biggest problems that small organisations have, especially when transitioning into the mid-sized space, is covering the cost of operational overheads<br /><ul><li>Physical space </li><li>Human Resources and Payroll </li><li>Finance and Accounting</li><li>Marketing & PR </li></ul>You've got 3 options here.<br /><ol><li><strong>Outsource all these activities</strong>, but not to multiple consultancies or commercial companies like some charities do, but to some kind of Shared-Service Centre dedicated to centralising and performing activities that don't really need much flexibility in decision making - like for example Payroll, Production of marketing materials, Execution of marketing campaigns, Street Fundraising, and Raising awareness through Social Media.<br /><br />A few years ago when I was consulting to Public Sector, there was a huge drive to get local governments to band together and exploit shared service centres for exactly these reasons. Improved efficiency and effectiveness.<br /><br />However, unless I'm missing something, I don't think anything like this exists for the social sector, which means that right now there's a gap in the market. I suspect that the reason for this is not that there isn't a viable business model here, but that no-one's really invested time in taking the idea to execution. I'm sure this service could be set up as a Charity so that fees do not become prohibitive, and I don't imagine it would be too hard to raise government funding to set it up either.<br /><br />A point to note here is that one of the issues with outsourcing or sharing back office functions in the UK lies in tax <em>(thanks <a href="http://www.linkedin.com/pub/3/315/72a" target="blank">Cliff</a> for pointing this out).</em> The Government actively encourages charities to collaborate to reduce cost, but the VAT system penalises those that do. If one charity supplies services to another it has to charge VAT on the supply, and the charity paying for the services cannot recover this. Apparently there is a lobby to get the Government to address this disincentive to efficiency but extending the Charity VAT exemption appears to be a no go zone for Treasury. All things considered however, I'd still suggest that even with the 15% VAT, charities could see benefits from sharing/outsourcing their operational costs<em>.</em><br /></li><br /><li>The other option is to <strong>set up a collective</strong> of local charities and social enterprises, and for the collective to either share resource, or co-fund and set up an equivalent shared service centre with dedicated teams that perform these functions. These organisations will gain from efficiencies in use of space, resource, and shared best practice and if they take a risk and trust each other the way they should, it will simultaneously create a space for cross-fertilisation of ideas. <br /></li><br /><li>If you're starting up a social organisation, or are about to grow/scale yours, plan your <strong>restructure to split out your operational functions</strong>. Create a new revenue stream by using your team to offer these services to other smaller charitable and social organisations. It requires some strategic thinking and sensible management, but is neither as difficult or as complicated as it sounds. You may even be able to raise funding to offer this service.</li></ol><h3>Type 2: Joint Offerings with Competitors</h3>Any social issue you're trying to address will have other organisations that do similar things to you. Typically you're going to compete with them for the pots of funding out there. However there really is little or no reason for this. If you're all working together to effect the same greater good, you've immediately got a clear commonality of purpose. If you collaborated and pooled your skills and resources you might be able to achieve much bigger things.<br /><br />A collaborative network of organisations driving towards the same goal is significantly more powerful than a disparate group of small entities all pulling in different directions. Imagine how much more funding you would attract as an industry, rather than as single companies.<br /><br />So instead of pumping money into Marketing and PR and networking to make your profile stand out from the competition, you should be putting your energies into building relationships and working protocols with other organisations like yourselves so you can set up joint propositions and pitch for bigger funding.<br /><br />This is not a short-termist approach. It takes time and needs learning. Start by building relationships and connections with your 'competitors', and create forums or events where you talk and find out about each other. Focus on building trust. Find one other organisation that does what you do, and then pitch for larger projects and funding together. Evaluate and learn from your experiences, and then grow your network. At some point you will have created the basic framework that allows you to rapidly add new connections, and to help them slot in easily.<br /><br />Be aware that there will be challenges you should expect to face, including<br /><br /><ul><li>Trust </li><li>Personal and organisational egos </li><li>Contractual and legal definitions around distribution of finance and delivery of outputs</li><li>Programme management challenges across organisational boundaries</li><li>Quality control</li></ul><p></p><h3>Type 3: Complementary Partnerships</h3>There are two sub-types here. One is complementary partnerships in a causal chain and the other involves partnerships to improve the impact and quality of services offered.<br /><br /><ol><li><strong>Full Chain (End-to-End) Partnerships </strong>are particularly useful for organisations that offer niche services, or focus on a particular aspect of a bigger social problem. What typically happens, is that as niche organisations grow, they keep trying to add the offerings that are needed to create the broad impact they really want, instead of looking for ways to plug the gaps more efficiently.<br /><br />Taking the issue of youth social exclusion for example, the journey from exclusion to successful reintegration within the system involves transition through and from social care, into learning, and finally successful employment and stability. The learning bit alone involves literacy, numeracy, life skills, specialist skills, and entrepreneurial skills and ranges from drop-ins to accreditation. A plethora of organisations exist that support different bits of the chain, and yet they often work in isolation from each other, or try and grow to cover the entire spectrum.<br /><br />A better approach is to identify and build relationships with organisations that aren't your direct competitors. Similar logics and challenges apply as in the previous point, but this is easier because you don't have a history of direct competition. Plugging each other's gaps will help you create broader, more compelling services and pooling together will make you significantly more effective across the board.<br /></li><br /><li><strong>Gap Partnerships</strong> are ones where you look for ways to improve the quality and effectiveness of what you do by teaming up with organisations that have a complementary focus, products, services or skills that save you from having to employ or develop them yourselves. You can offer each other all sorts of value, from access to different audiences to new skills and capabilities and most crucially, credibility through association.<br /><br />This form of partnership is particularly applicable to connecting and working with commercial organisations that are interested in your target audience, or could gain brand kudos through their association with your social cause. Their involvement may include financial support, access to commercial networks and platforms, specialist skills, operational services or progression pathways.<br /><br />The trick for social organisations is to identify and develop their audiences, services and brand image in a way that makes them attractive to other organisations. Note that contrary to assumption, this has no correlation with compromising core purpose, and typically is only achievable by staying focused to the social cause and social outcomes.</li></ol>RThttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01887662440039980353noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2018946907988901575.post-78893413135652785682009-02-26T13:00:00.005+00:002020-05-01T09:52:58.743+01:00Could Partnerships And Collaboration Save The Third Sector?In a recent post on whether the <a href="http://multichannelthinking.blogspot.com/2009/01/could-retail-industry-save-itself-with.html">Retail Industry Could Save Itself Using Game Theory</a> I discussed how retailers have exhibited classic non-cooperative behaviour, which has significantly damaged their abilities to survive the credit crunch. By focusing only on individual interest and survival, their collective hyper-competitive actions have likely damaged their entire industry's market size.<br />
<br />
The charity sector is becoming similarly nucleated by self interest in raising funding. In my previous post on <a href="http://social-effect.blogspot.com/2009/02/small-charities-struggling-to-survive.html">Small Charities Struggling To Survive The Crunch</a> I discussed reasons why small charities are struggling to adapt in the current climate. What I didn't go into is the fact that there is a plethora of small and mid-sized organisations out there, all competing against each other for diminishing funding, and this is only accelerating their slide towards closure.<br />
<br />
The trouble is that the funding they are competing for tends to be governmental or Trust based, or small scale social funding for Social Enterprises. This is because their small sizes mean that they struggle to tap into large scale CSR philanthropy or investment, because their brand recognition and localised outcomes are too negligible to return any associative value back to big corporations. The top 400 UK organisations handed out nearly half a billion pounds in 2008, and small charities and social enterprises probably saw very little of it.<br />
<br />
However there is no need for things to be this way. More than commercial industries, the social sector is perfectly placed to cooperate and collaborate to survive. Partnerships can help reduce costs and increase the scale of funding that can be accessed. More importantly however, they can create connected support networks and buffers to keep each other going through difficult periods.<br />
<br />
As the Chair of a medium sized youth charity, I can see potential in 3 forms of Partnership that could save many small charities and social enterprises from going under over the next few years.<br />
<ol><li>Sharing operational costs and services</li>
<li>Collaborating with competitors to develop better and larger scale joint-propositions</li>
<li>Developing complementary partnerships with non-competitors to reach new audiences</li>
</ol><p>More on these in my next post discussing the <a href="http://social-effect.blogspot.com/2009/02/3-types-of-partnership-for-social.html">3 Types of Partnership</a></p>RThttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01887662440039980353noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2018946907988901575.post-57643996447423158582008-10-11T11:56:00.003+01:002020-05-01T07:34:22.631+01:00Startup And Change The World!<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
Here's a fantastic resource for startups put together by Dev Appanah, a social entrepreneur and friend of mine, along with some of his colleagues at <a href="http://www.yesi.org/">www.ysei.org</a>. It is basically a rough guide to starting your own social enterprise. It has some great stuff around making the most of your ideas, along with financial and organisational planning help, particularly related to raising the funds you need and managing your key stakeholders. If there was ever anything you should read around starting up a social enterprise, this is it. <br />
<br />
<iframe src="//www.slideshare.net/slideshow/embed_code/key/IK62q3OpRiC6Wx" width="595" height="485" frameborder="0" marginwidth="0" marginheight="0" scrolling="no" style="border:1px solid #CCC; border-width:1px; margin-bottom:5px; max-width: 100%;" allowfullscreen> </iframe> <div style="margin-bottom:5px"> <strong> <a href="//www.slideshare.net/xmergnc/startup-change-the-world-guide-for-young-social-entrepreneurs" title="Startup & Change the World: Guide for Young Social Entrepreneurs" target="_blank">Startup & Change the World: Guide for Young Social Entrepreneurs</a> </strong> from <strong><a href="https://www.slideshare.net/xmergnc" target="_blank">xmergnc</a></strong> </div>
</div>
</div>
RThttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01887662440039980353noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2018946907988901575.post-37796675703827067172008-10-06T09:00:00.002+01:002008-10-06T22:00:48.094+01:00New Self-Assessment Framework for Social Enterprise<p><em>(Excerpt from </em><a href="http://www.thirdsector.co.uk/channels/SocialEnterprise/Article/850617/Social-enterprise-launches-governance-self-assessment-framework/" target="_blank"><em>Third Sector Online</em></a><em>, by Gemma McKenna, 2 October 2008</em> )</p><p>The social enterprise 'Investing in Governance' has devised a way for charities to assess and improve their governance procedures. </p><p>The 24-page document includes 69 best practice guidelines under 11 headings, which cover topics from recruitment to the induction and appraisal of trustees. Organisations that complete the document are scored so they can identify areas for improvement.</p><p>The document was drawn up by Stefan Kuchar, chief executive of Wandsworth Voluntary Sector Development Agency, as part of an MBA research study. He worked with five charities to develop the plan, which starts with a list of "10 things that hack me off about charity boards". It was posted online this week and is available to download for £29.50. Apparently charities can also buy in an expert panel to help with the evaluation for £3,250. </p>RThttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01887662440039980353noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2018946907988901575.post-23414284556816107802008-09-12T09:57:00.011+01:002008-10-04T13:36:35.147+01:003 Models of Social Enterprise: Creating Social Impact Through Trading<p><span style="font-family:trebuchet ms;">The Charities Aid Foundations' social investment arm </span><a href="http://www.cafonline.org/default.aspx?page=6903" target="_blank"><span style="font-family:trebuchet ms;">Venturesome</span></a><span style="font-family:trebuchet ms;"> has published a couple of papers this year on categorising social enterprises, so that both investors and investees understand how different business models create social impact and the consequences they have for generating financial returns. It is worth a look to see if or where you fit within their model as it might help you present your social enterprise better, and understand not only the management skills needed but the financial risks and potential social return perceived by your investors.</span></p><p><span style="font-family:trebuchet ms;">Anyway CAF divide social enterprises into 3 distinct business models, based on their research defining enterprises according to the social impact they are achieving rather than their legal form.</span></p><ol><li><span style="font-family:trebuchet ms;"><strong>Model 1 - Profit Generator: </strong><br />Trading activity itself is primarily seeking a financial return only. As such, it is deemed to have no direct social impact but gives some or all of its profits to charity. Financial risk of the investment is disconnected from the likelihood of achieving social impact.<br /></span><em><span style="font-family:trebuchet ms;">Examples include Corporates with CSR programmes or those which give a percentage of their profits to developing charitable projects, Charities investing endowments in financial markets, and Trading subsidiaries of charities.<br /><br /></span></em></li><li><span style="font-family:trebuchet ms;"><strong>Model 2 - Trade Off: </strong><br />Social impact is integral to the nature of the trading activity, but a balance has to be struck between generating financial returns and creating social impact. The firm could increase its social impact by decreasing financial returns, or vice versa. In other words, there is a trade-off. Model 2 firms may be able to attract commercial investors with an acceptable rate of financial return, while at the same time achieving a level of social return which is acceptable to its other stakeholders.<br /></span><em><span style="font-family:trebuchet ms;">Examples include Fair Trade Businesses, Microfinance Institutions, and Firms that employ the disabled or other disadvantaged people.<br /><br /></span></em></li><li><span style="font-family:trebuchet ms;"><strong>Model 3 - Lock Step: </strong><br />Trading activity has direct social impact, but that social impact increases or decreases in step with financial returns. Apparently these types of enterprise are scarce as they operate in clearly competitive markets. The level of financial returns that Model 3 businesses are able to achieve may be acceptable to a fully commercial (financial return only) investor.<br /><em>Examples include Co-operatives, Wind Farms, and JustGiving.com.</em></span></li></ol><p><a onkeypress="if (event.keyCode==13) {window.open(this.href, '_blank'); return false;}" title="Download Three models of social enterprise (link opens in a new window)" onclick="window.open(this.href, '_blank'); return false;" href="http://www.cafonline.org/pdf/3%20Models%20of%20Social%20Enterprises%20-%20Part%201%20-%20January%202008.pdf"><span style="font-family:trebuchet ms;">Download Three Models of Social Enterprise (.pdf)</span></a><span style="font-family:trebuchet ms;"> </span></p><a onkeypress="if (event.keyCode==13) {window.open(this.href, '_blank'); return false;}" title="Three Models of Social Enterprise, part two (link opens in a new window)" onclick="window.open(this.href, '_blank'); return false;" href="http://www.cafonline.org/PDF/3%20Models%20of%20Social%20Enterprises%20-%20Part%202.pdf"><span style="font-family:trebuchet ms;">Download Three Models of Social Enterprise, Part Two (.pdf)</span></a><span style="font-family:trebuchet ms;"> <span style="font-size:0;"></span></span>RThttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01887662440039980353noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2018946907988901575.post-46532914590163542012008-09-01T09:00:00.002+01:002020-05-02T12:03:56.683+01:009 Fundraising Survival Tips For Startups<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">I recently came across a really good article by Paul Graham on fundraising for startups. He makes some really good points and his core message resonates with me after months of working on USP, and probably resonates with anyone involved with a social startup.<br />
<br />
The hardest part of a startup is making something people want: most startups that fail, die because they didn't do that. But the second biggest cause of death is probably the difficulty of raising money. Fundraising is brutal. I'd add to that point by saying that it's even worse if your idea is social, because funders immediately get nervous about the connotations for potential for return on investment.<br />
<br />
Here's the full article <a href="http://www.paulgraham.com/fundraising.html">http://www.paulgraham.com/fundraising.html</a>, but I must warn that it's a long one!<br />
<br />
The short version... <br />
<ol><li>Have low expectations</li>
<li>Keep working on your startup</li>
<li>Be conservative</li>
<li>Be flexible</li>
<li>Be independent</li>
<li>Don't take rejection personally</li>
<li>Be able to downshift into consulting (if appropriate)</li>
<li>Avoid inexperienced investors</li>
<li>Know where you stand with them in terms of commitment</li>
</ol></div>RThttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01887662440039980353noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2018946907988901575.post-89091646375224329422008-08-23T10:48:00.004+01:002008-08-23T12:01:29.752+01:00From Charity to Social Enterprise: Organisational Redesign<p>These days, everywhere you look in the social space, it's all about social enterprise rather than charity. Or to put it another way, it's all about financial independence and sustainability rather than dependence on grants and donations.</p><p>The question then is how do you go from being a charity that functions through fundraising, into an enterprise that actually monetises services or products; especially when you factor in the charity status restrictions on commercial activity?</p><p><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_XfTio3nGWjw/SK_o-Sj6sxI/AAAAAAAABDg/BaDClbZkjTk/s1600-h/bang-logo.png"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5237661048487195410" style="CURSOR: hand" alt="Bang Edutainment Logo" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_XfTio3nGWjw/SK_o-Sj6sxI/AAAAAAAABDg/BaDClbZkjTk/s400/bang-logo.png" border="0" /></a></p><p>This is actually something I'm looking at with <a href="http://www.bang-ed.com/">Bang Edutainment</a> and I'll try and keep you all updated on what I learn. In essence though the answer is a combination of Business Model Innovation and Organisational Redesign.</p><p>Business model innovation is about identifying new ways of monetising your existing services and engaging your target audience, or creating new ones that others aren't offering. Organisational redesign is about restructuring the legal, financial and probably even human structure of your organisation to increase clarity of purpose and ability to deliver different but related services.</p><p>When moving towards financial independence for charities, we're essentially talking about monetising existing IP, products or services; and creating linked organisational entities that keep the benefits of being a charity while also allowing commercial activity that can drive profits back into charitable services.</p><p>I'll talk a bit more about these as things progress with Bang. We're getting close to business plan stage for some new ideas, and it will tell us if our ideas are viable. If all goes well, I'm hoping to learn some useful stuff for USP too!</p><p>For now though, here's some interesting presentations on business model innovation that are relevant regardless of whether you're working in the charity or commercial sectors.</p><ul><li><a href="http://www.slideshare.net/Alex.Osterwalder/management20-competitive-advantage-through-business-model-design-innovation/">http://www.slideshare.net/Alex.Osterwalder/management20-competitive-advantage-through-business-model-design-innovation/</a></li><li><a href="http://www.slideshare.net/infe/web-20-business-models-270855/">http://www.slideshare.net/infe/web-20-business-models-270855/</a></li><li><a href="http://www.slideshare.net/Alex.Osterwalder/40-minutes-on-business-model-innovation/">http://www.slideshare.net/Alex.Osterwalder/40-minutes-on-business-model-innovation/</a></li><li><a href="http://www.slideshare.net/Alex.Osterwalder/business-model-design-and-innovation-for-competitive-advantage/">http://www.slideshare.net/Alex.Osterwalder/business-model-design-and-innovation-for-competitive-advantage/</a> </li><li><a href="http://www.slideshare.net/Alex.Osterwalder/describe-and-improve-your-business-model/">http://www.slideshare.net/Alex.Osterwalder/describe-and-improve-your-business-model/</a></li></ul><p>Finally... thanks to those of you who wrote in about this blog, particularly Safs and Katie, who've kept in touch with encouragement all the way. All helps :)</p>RThttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01887662440039980353noreply@blogger.com0