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Spinning Off a Tech Firm from a Nonprofit: How to Solve the ‘Innovator’s Dilemma’
Social impact technology startups capture a lot of media attention – leading to the impression that, on the whole, most are successful. In reality, failure rates are high. Brent Chism, CEO of TaroWorks, discusses the reasons why these businesses often falter. He also shares how his company and its parent organization, Grameen Foundation, were able to sidestep common pitfalls through smart funding strategies, well-timed adjustments and wise managerial choices.
- Categories
- Social Enterprise, Technology
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Press release: VisionFund Cambodia Sold To Woori Bank of Korea
In line with VisionFund International’s strategy, it will redeploy the funds to other microfinance institutions across its network that are at earlier stages of development, in markets less wellserved by microfinance providers and where VisionFund, as an early entrant offering microfinance services can impact more vulnerable families, living in rural communities with limited ability to access financial services.
- Region
- Asia Pacific
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The Funder Problem: Good Intentions Aren’t Enough
Despite their good intentions, funders are often the biggest barriers to social enterprises or nonprofits achieving impact. Open Road Alliance, a philanthropic initiative that gives emergency grants to impact-focused organizations, gathered and analyzed five years of data about roadblocks faced by over 100 grantees. Nearly half of the problems the group found were caused by funders. Laurie Michaels describes the three categories of funder-related barriers that account for the most frequent challenges – and offers some surprisingly easy fixes.
- Categories
- Social Enterprise
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The Partnership Nightmare: What’s Wrong with the Social Sector’s Approach to Funding – And How to Fix It
Whether it's due to misaligned expectations, mutual distrust or power imbalances, interactions between social impact organizations and their funders can be nightmarish – for both sides. Social sector advocates Jessamyn Shams-Lau, Jane Leu and Vu Le have written a new book about these challenges, called "Unicorns Unite." In this Q&A, they discuss what's gone wrong – and how to make it better. Subscribers to NextBillion’s weekly e-newsletter can read an excerpt of the book throughout June.
- Categories
- Investing, Social Enterprise
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Women Looking To Engage In Impact Investing
Women tend to be hungrier to engage with impact investing because it might resonate more with them than male counterparts, according to Mesch.
- Categories
- Investing
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Beyond ‘Evil Capitalists vs. Righteous Social Workers’: Innovating Solutions with Integrative Thinking
After working in Silicon Valley and Wall Street – in industries famous for their single-minded pursuit of profit – Alice Mann looked forward to making an impact in the social sector. But she encountered organizations that lacked the funding to be effective on a large scale – and that shared a blind spot when it came to the value of financial sustainability. The author of "Future First," Mann shares three examples of social sector leaders who have shifted their thinking to address global problems in profitable ways.
- Categories
- Finance, Investing, Social Enterprise
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The Downside to Being Nice: Why is the Social Sector Allergic to Comparative Advertising?
Unlike retailers and manufacturers that use advertising to build their brands and generate sales, the nonprofit and social business sectors are curiously allergic to spending money on advertising – and, more specifically, to saying, "We're better than our competitors, and this is why!" According to Charlie Bresler, former Men's Wearhouse president, this is a major mistake: Now executive director of the nonprofit The Life You Can Save, Bresler explores the reasons for this reluctance – and imagines what could happen if the social sector used comparative advertising to attract donors and investors.
- Categories
- Social Enterprise
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Bandhan-Konnagar expected to get Rs900 crore from World Bank, 3 states
The World Bank, governments of Rajasthan, Bihar and Jharkhand to fund Bandhan-Konnagar’s programme for poverty alleviation to benefit at least 300,000 families.
- Region
- South Asia
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