Matthew Bishop and Michael Green have recently written an excellent article for the Innovations Journal titled "The Capital Curve for a Better World". The article is part of a volume prepared for the Tech4Society hosted in Hyderabad, India and offers compelling insights on social entrepreneurship and technology from leaders in the field (view the table of contents or full publication). Bishop and Green are also the authors of the recently-penned Philanthrocapitalist Manifesto, which proposes a number of 'radical' policy changes for the UK.

I recommend reading the entire article, as it spans important issues and opportunities around financing social innovation. There are several examples that illustrate the essential building blocks of a social capital market, and how they have - or can - be implemented successfully. A key theme is linking finance to the right kind of organization structure at the right time - and that this requires a more sophisticated understanding of social impact and metrics. On a related note, intermediary organizations can and should play a vital role in connecting demand and supply for social investment, but there is more work needed to build the right incentives and funding to establish and sustain these intermediaries.

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The recently-concluded Social Capital Markets conference (SoCap09) in San Francisco clearly illustrated the tremendous interest we're seeing internationally around how "money and meaning" can come together. This year, we had a large Canadian contingent present that collaborated around a pre-conference "Canadian Day", where we had an opportunity to strengthen links between practitioners across the country, as well as define policy outcomes and objectives we'd like to see in the near future.

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Support for Social Enterprise in the UK (via @SEmagreporter): Lots of exciting news last week around the Social Enterprise Summit.

Brokering Investment for Social Enterprise: More from the UK, where The National Endowment for Science, Technology and the Arts (NESTA) and the Office of the Third Sector (OTS) have jointly funded a £90,000 year-long program that will pay a success fee to brokers whose investment advice results in funding for social enterprises.

NCIF Develops Tool to Measure Impact of CDFIs on Low-Income Communities: In order to measure and communicate the impact of financial institutions that serve low- and moderate-income communities, a report analyzing their impact was recently issued by the National Community Investment Fund (NCIF).

Community Banking Stays Strong: In related news, community banking in the US appears to be stable despite the continued volatility in the rest of the banking sector.

IRIS: Impact Reporting and Investment Standards (HT: Lucy Bernholz): The Rockefeller Foundation, Acumen Fund and B Lab have initiated the Impact Reporting and Investment Standards (IRIS) effort to create a common framework for defining, tracking and reporting the performance of impact capital.

Social Entrepreneurship as a business model (via @josephdee): Lisa Torjman from SiG@MaRS has pulled together an excellent presentation around social enterpreneurship, including an introduction to the Canadian context and the role of SiG and MaRS.

Social Entrepreneurs API announced (HT: Lucy Bernholz): The Skoll Foundation, PopTech, ideablob, Civic Ventures and SocialActions have announced the Social Entrepreneurs API - essentially an open database of social entrepreneurs. 

Social Innovation in a Post-Crisis World (via @narain): A must-read - this Special Edition of the Innovations journal for the World Economic Forum Annual Meeting 2009 features excellent articles by Klaus Schwab, J. Gregory Dees, Roshaneh Zafar, and many others.

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The Carleton Centre for Community Innovation (3ci) and Alterna Savings Credit Union are collaborating on a innovative study that will asses the impact of Alterna's Microloan Program in Toronto and Ottawa.

On April 24th, 3ci Chair, Edward Jackson and Alterna CSR Manager,  Susan Henry along with graduate student Michele Tarsilla presented  "Evaluating CSR in a Major Credit Union" at the Social Economy Symposium, Ontario Institute for Studies in Education, University of Toronto.

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Measuring results, as challenging as it could be, is nowadays an indispensable activity for all non-profits in Canada that want to stay abreast of the increasing competition within the sector, aggravated by the ongoing financial crisis. That notwithstanding, a considerable number of non-profits nationwide are still struggling to meet the funders’ growing demand for accountability and effectiveness, primarily because they lack the technical capacity to conduct rigorous evaluations of their programs’ impact.

As a result, there is a lack of evidence on the actual benefits produced by a large contingent of social programs and that ends up questioning quite severely the non-profits’ legitimacy vis-à-vis the public opinion. As no viable strategy seems to be available to alter the current scenario as of today, a general consensus is urgently needed within the sector on the two following issues:

• turning impact evaluation into a strategic management tool
• enhancing mutual understanding and closer technical collaboration between funders and non- profits

Given the current challenges but also the opportunities embedded within the Canadian Third Sector, the Rotman School of Management’s idea of organizing a symposium on measuring the impact of doing good was particularly welcome. The general response to the Toronto event was so positive that over 200 representatives of non-profit organizations and funders attended it on January 21, 2009.

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