My last post on the way that large, private foundations are dropping the ball by not participating as intermediaries in the Social Innovation Fund (and my worry that they’ll opt out of Pay for Success as well) triggered a number of responses that I’d like to respond to: “Is one reason for them to avoid […]
Category Archives: Pay For Success
Large Foundations Dropping the Ball on Government Programs
The Social Innovation Fund and the proposed Pay For Success program both depend on strong “intermediaries” to work. With the Social Innovation Fund, the government is providing funds to grantmaking organizations, which then use the money to support “subgrantees” (direct service nonprofits). In the Pay For Success program, the government would contract with an intermediary […]
Social Impact “Bonds”: The Wrong Name
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 […]
Understanding Government Key to Pay For Success
So far the discussion on this blog about Pay For Success has focused on the challenges associated with results based funding of social programs. These challenges are common to philanthropic and government funders. But Pay For Success also faces challenges unique to government. Reader Daniel Stid, a Bridgespan employee who writes a blog for them […]
Further Thoughts on Pay For Success
I thought I’d follow up on all the comments regarding Pay For Success in bullet point format. Regarding the difficulty of measuring impact: Pay For Success sets up a contract that specifies the population to be served, the outcomes to be achieved and the measurement methodology to be used. While the contract may be flawed, […]
George Overholser on Pay For Success
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 […]
Push Back on Pay For Success
Along with my supportive column on the Pay For Success program, Peter York of TCC Group wrote a more caution piece: President Obama’s budget proposal for 2012 includes a $100-million idea that could revolutionize the way social programs are financed—or could put a ticking time bomb next to the heart of some of our society’s […]