Careful readers of my posts about the Pay For Success program have noted that I never used the phrase “Social Impact Bonds”. Social Impact Bond is the phrase used to describe the program in the UK that inspired the Pay For Success program. It is also frequently used in the US as a catch-all phrase […]
Category Archives: Capital Market Philanthropy
George Overholser on Pay For Success
May 18, 2011 – 9:33 am
This is a guest post by George Overholser of Third Sector Capital Partners, which works with service providers, government and funders on the development of social impact bonds, the Pay For Success program and other social sector capital market projects. George was formerly with Nonprofit Finance Fund where he pioneered the SEGUE accounting system for […]
Philanthropy Predictions: Giving in 2033
December 17, 2010 – 9:27 am
This is that time of year when people offer predictions for what will happen next year. Instead of just focusing on 2011, Lucy Bernholz, philanthropy’s resident futurist, has offered her thought for the next decade which you can read here. Following Lucy’s lead, I thought I offer my own predictions long term projection, so I’m […]
Burning Bridges to Make Venture Philanthropy Work
September 21, 2010 – 8:33 am
This is a guest post by John MacIntosh of SeaChange Capital Partners, a nonprofit firm that arranges collaborative growth capital funding for outstanding nonprofits. By John MacIntosh I joined SeaChange Capital Partners after a career in venture capital. In my experience on the inside, the venture capital market is a dynamic system where three key […]
Builders, Buyers & the Social Innovation Fund
July 26, 2010 – 8:16 am
On Friday afternoon, Nathaniel Whittemore of the Social Entrepreneurship blog sent me an email questioning the enthusiasm in my recent post about the Social Innovation Fund (SIF). Nathaniel is someone whose opinion I greatly respect and his points of contention were very valid. So I sent him back a detailed response, which (with his permission) […]
Social Innovation Fund Announces Grantees
July 23, 2010 – 9:50 am
I’m thrilled with the Social Innovation Fund’s newly announced list of grantees. In many ways, the results read like my personal wish list for how I thought they should approach their decision. The Fund has announced 11 intermediary grantees, who will select subgrantees to receive the final funding. The full list is here. In the […]
Chasing Philanthropic Opportunities
June 18, 2010 – 8:36 am
The general framework of how money flows in the nonprofit sector is focused on the assumption that nonprofits need to chase donations. This is also how the business sector works; companies chase revenue. But investing is different. Investors often are the ones chasing the best investment opportunities. It is simply an issue of supply and […]
New Project to Share the Lessons of the Social Innovation Fund
May 5, 2010 – 8:09 am
In my writing on the Social Innovation Fund I’ve repeated stressed the idea that the big promise of the Fund is the opportunity it has to shape the practice of philanthropy by focusing attention on evidence-based grantmaking. So I’m thrilled to hear that Grantmakers for Effective Organizations has launched a $4 million, three-year project called […]
Missed Opportunities for Social Innovation Fund?
April 8, 2010 – 10:27 am
When I spoke with new Social Innovation Fund director Paul Carttar earlier this week, he said that he appreciated the many voices that have commented on the Fund here at Tactical Philanthropy. Personally I think that reader Adin Miller has consistently offered some of the most interesting comments. In today’s guest post, Adin lays out […]
Social Innovation Fund Names New Director
April 7, 2010 – 9:30 am
The Corporation for National and Community Service announced today that they have named Paul Carttar as director of the Social Innovation Fund. To my surprise and great honor, Paul called me yesterday to say that he and his team have been reading my commentary on the Fund here at Tactical Philanthropy and to fill me […]
