June 2010

It's heartening to know that the nonprofit sector is stressing and achieving good governance and good outcomes, even in the face of adversity.

Exciting times! Creative, practical, inspiring ideas to help the environment are cropping up all over. Start-up social enterprises, aka small businesses, are, as always, leading the way.

Enterprising small business owners are reducing carbon emissions and cleaning up the world by taking risks, thinking outside the box, and pulling big organizations along after them.

By Judith E. Katz, On Target Strategies

If you weren’t at the 2010 Inaugural Social Impact Exchange Conference on Scaling this week, you might think those of us who attended were planning our first trek to Everest as we spoke about the need for flexibility, capacity building, adequate staffing and thinking exponentially. And that might be because the same passion, focus, absolute command of the basics and program details along with commitment to data based analytics is absolutely necessary for the successful replication of social programs as it is for a mountain trek. This is not a rubber stamp activity. 

Times they are a changing, as the Bob Dylan song said. Underlying all the presentations at the Social Impact Exchange Conference on Scaling were two big ideas: collaboration and private investment.

I was delighted to learn that Dan Heath, author of the book I'm currently reading Switch: How to Change Things When Change Is Hard, was the closing keynote speaker for the Social Impact Exchange Conference.I think all the conference speakers were in agreement that we're at a tipping point. Dan gave practical advice to ensure that what might be a fleeting fad becomes a trend that takes hold and spreads like wildfire. He did this using three stories.

Nancy Roob of the Edna McConnell Clark Foundation will do whatever it takes to improve outcomes for low-income kids. That includes developing a system for aggregating large amounts of capital to invest in organizations with evidence-based outcomes. She is not alone in her call for innovative, collaborative funding for nonprofit ventures.

Action-oriented collaboration.
Positive deviance.
Unprecedented cooperation.
Profound transition.

Growth capital is a great thing, but don't go after it unless getting bigger will also mean getting better. That was my takeaway from the "Readiness to Scale." 

Social responsibility is a powerful marketing tool, one that can set your business apart from the one down the street and increase customer loyalty. Stand out by standing up for your community, your workers, and your planet.

I am delighted to announce that Ventureneer will be partnering with Adin Miller Consulting to provide a one-stop resource for insights and news from the Social Impact Exchange: Taking Successful Innovation to Scale on June 17 and 18, 2010.

So you're recycling, reusing, paying a fair wage, and donating to nonprofits. Or you are a nonprofit, giving your all to make the world a better place.

Is that all there is to social responsibility?