On Purpose Associate interviewed in the Guardian

Our very own Candice was interviewed by the Guardian for today's Leading Questions feature - take a look at the online version (or buy the newspaper while you still can)!

Social venture fund opportunity for 6 months

Here is an exciting opportunity from our friends at the Young Foundation:

"The Young Foundation is a UK based centre for social entrepreneurship and social innovation, and we are looking for a talented, experienced person who is passionate about social change to work with our social ventures team for 6 months. Its the ideal secondment opportunity for someone thinking about transitioning into the social sector, and will involve working closely with and advising a number of our social entrepreneurs, as well as helping to shape our investment and innovation model. The ideal candidate would bring with them experience of working with small high-potential businesses, and though we are advertising at an Associate level, if a candidate could come in on a pro-bono secondment we’d absolutely welcome a more experienced hire."

http://www.youngfoundation.org/opportunities/vacancies/associate-business-support-launchpad

O2 Learn is live

During our placements at O2, Harriet and I have worked from the conception to the launch of O2 Learn- a prime example of social 'intrapreneurship'. O2 Learn has a simple idea behind it, but one with huge potential, playing to the brand's core competency- helping by connecting people. It's a video-sharing website for teachers to upload their best micro-lessons, and share them, not only with their classroom of students, but with all 13-18 year olds throughout the country. Whether they're revising for exams, or wanting to catch-up on a lesson they've missed, it's free and accessible for all anywhere, anytime (www.o2learn.co.uk).
It's been a nimble project, with the On Purpose associate comprising the project team, and reaching out to specialists and external agencies for input as required. Since launch on the 1st November it's been well received, no doubt in good measure due to the strength of our partnerships with a range of education organisations: the NUT, Teach First, The Teaching Awards, Teaching Leaders and Parentline Plus.
What next? Thousands of videoed lessons being up-loaded, we hope. So, if you're a parent, a governor, or still in touch with the teacher that inspired you, do let them know about the project. O2 Lean's award scheme certainly makes it worthwhile for the teacher and their school to contribute.

HCT Impact Report 2009/10 - On Purpose Associates on action

Yesterday HCT Group has launched its Social Impact report 2009/10. I am quite proud to say that one of our Associates, Candice Motran, was one of the brains behind it. The report shows how a leading social enterprise, such as HCT, has been managing to report on the much discussed topic of social impact measurement. The approach chosen by HCT has had some guidance on the experience of Bridges Venture, which is one of HCT's investors.

The scorecard created shows the impact generated in a very quantifiable way, giving a real feel for the great contribution HCT Group gives to the society.

For the Associates to come in 2011, who are currently in 2nd round interview stage, I hope this will give a taste of what sort of contribution you can make to the placements. The 2010 Associates are indeed making a great difference. Congratulation Candice!

Youth Music - Music is power!!

Our friends at Youth Music have asked us to share this opportunity with you ...... 


Background
Youth Music is the UK's largest children's music charity and with 10 years' work behind them they now have an enviable reputation for getting things done! 
Since 1999 they have provided over 2 million children and young people with free access to a range of music-making projects and activities. For many, being given the chance to experience the power of music has been a life changing experience. 


Opportunity to work with Youth Music
September - December 2010 
This assignment requires someone with strong analytical and financial skills and a track record of successfully applying them in the development or evaluation of business plans and forecasts. Initial work will be on defining the market and then developing a business plan based upon commercial assets.  Additional work could include defining outcome targets and creating a business plan for a new venture. Proven abilities to make things happen and to deliver top quality output on schedule are also necessary.  This assignment would suit someone who is looking to gain more experience of collaborating with people from a wide range of different social, cultural and professional backgrounds and to develop greater flexibility in personal style in order to enhance personal impact, team working and influencing skills. The nature of the assignment also gives great opportunity for building innovation skills and commercial awareness.  The role will report to the COO and operate across the organisation. 


Knowledge of the charitable sector is not essential but would be an advantage. Experience of studying and performing music is likewise not essential but the candidate must be able to demonstrate a love of music. 


If you're interested in this role please email your CV and a short cover letter to contact@onpurpose.uk.com 

Good luck to all the candidates!

The deadline to apply to become an On Purpose Associate has arrived.

It is the perfect time to get more Associates coming on board. The Economist this week has released an article talking about Social Innovation as an approach to public-private partnership. The US and UK are taking the lead in this initiative. There will be some serious opportunities for innovation and growth in the sector. The On Purpose Associates are to be in the right place at the right time. That's at least my personal opinion and wishful thoughts for the future.

Anyway, I wish to all the applicants good luck in the process and, whatever the outcome is, the future within the social enterprise sector couldn’t be brighter for all of us!

The final countdown....

There's been a steady stream of applications arriving at On Purpose HQ over the last few weeks... and now as we head into the last few days before our deadline on Monday we're beginning to get very excited about the selection of our group of 2011 Associates.

So there's still time if you're interested in joining us - you can find out everything you need to know from our website 

Deadline's on Monday evening - Good Luck!

The Final Countdown ....

As the deadline draws near for applications to take part in next year's Programme we're getting very excited at On Purpose HQ ....

If you know anyone who has a strong track record and is keen to get into the Social Enterprise sector then please send them to our website where they can find out everything they need to know about what On Purpose is all about and how they can apply to be an Associate next year.

With 7 days left the application deadline is Monday 16th August.

Associates away weekend

"What a lovely Monday morning! I feel inspired. After a long retreat weekend with my fellow Associates and the On Purpose crew somewhere in the middle of Somerset surrounded by river, trees and some lovely and quiet sheep. It was a weekend full of deep thoughts. We were given tools and energy to take one more step towards our personal development. Now back to Old Street, HCT head quarter, I feel renewed and capable of realising great things. I thank On Purpose for this opportunity and our dear Kate for such a treat of a British countryside feel. This is pretty much the feeling of being an On Purpose Associate.”

Welcome to our New Home!

We are delighted to have moved into our office - and want to give a big Thank You to all at Cantos Communications who have very kindly welcomed us into their Offices and given us a very 'On Purpose' shaped space - right by the sofas!!

Having spent the last few months working as nomads (it is indeed amazing how much can be achieved in the kitchens and coffee shops of the capital!) spending more time working together and being based in one space is making such a difference to us already!

So THANK YOU Cantos - you are an inspired organisation, and we love that you value the social business space enough to support what we are doing!

Bog Society..... Big potential but there's also a big 'cliff' looming.

Dai Powell CEO of HCT Group has written a thought provoking piece in The Guardian today -  an honest and challenging insight amidst all the positive chatter around 'Big Society'..

And here's an insight into ResPublica - one of the think tanks that are deemed to have informed the thinking that sits behind Big Society.

What do you think? Do you think that Big Society can rise to and meet the big challenge that lies ahead?

ESG investing - what else is going on out there?

Every now and again I am reminded the the social enterprise world is not the only movement looking for ways of combining social and environmental achievements with commercial goals. CSR (or CR or sustainability as it is now more often known as) and social intrapreneurship are examples of related movements that have realted aspirations. Social finance or impact investing is also increasingly gaining in prominence.

Further back in the public's consciousness lies the land of Environmental, Social and Governance (ESG) Investing. It is populated by asset managers, bankers, private equity investors and pension funds, who wield influence behind the scenes, through the often substantial sums they can invest (or not). Whilst many of these investments still happen with a need for (near) commercial returns, ESG considerations are making more and more of a mark.

This November, London will be the backdrop for the TBLI Conference, a major annual conference in this field. Encouragingly, the conference includes a session on social entrepreneurs and social investing and On Purpose plans to be a part of it.

These different movements, which are all working to achieve social and environmental outcomes through commercial means, will need to come together more and more if serious system-level change is to happen.

Tom

Big Business ... Big Responsibilities...

It's easy to slip into thinking that all big corporate organisations have a devastating impact on both the global economy and the planets resources... but here's a book to challenge that train of thought ..

How about thinking that because of their scale Big business has more potential to impact the world for good?!

It feels like it's book week at On Purpose as we celebrate the launch of this book last night. Big Business Big Responsibilities is written by a trio of forward thinking influencers:

ANDY WALES is Global Head of Sustainable Development for SABMiller, one of the world’s largest brewers. He is a board member of a number of key global water initiatives, and also leads a strategy encouraging local enterprise development across Africa, Asia and Latin America. He was recognized as a Young Global Leader by the World Economic Forum in 2009 and in 2010 was appointed a London Sustainable Development Commissioner. He has previously been Sustainability Director for Severn Trent plc and for Interface, Inc.  

MATTHEW GORMAN is Director of Corporate Responsibility& Environment at BAA Ltd, the UK’s leading airport operator and an expert on climate change policy. He is deputy chair of the UK aviation industry’s sustainability strategy (‘Sustainable Aviation’). Prior to BAA, Matthew worked at Forum for the Future, a leading UK not-for-profit organisation. He has worked extensively advising FTSE 100 companies on corporate responsibility.  

DUNSTAN HOPE is Managing Director of the Information and Communications Technology practice at BSR, a non-profit, business membership organization that advises Fortune 500 companies. Prior to BSR Dunstan spent five years in the corporate responsibility team at British Telecommunications. Dunstan has worked extensively on human rights and corporate accountability in Europe, the USA and Asia.

You can read more about the book here.... we think it looks like a good read!

What do you think? 

Recruiting all social enterprise leaders of the future....

Are you interested in social enterprise?

Are you highly talented and looking for your next challenge?

Have you read our website to find out more and thought how much you'd like to be one of our Associates during 2011?

Are you free on Wednesday evening and can get to central London?

If you're reading this thinking Yes - Yes - YES ... then please join us on Wednesday evening where we're holding a recruitment event in Central London.

To come along please register by sending an email to rsvp@onpurpose.uk.com and we'll send you details.

Different ....

We liked this - it's different!

Half time at On Purpose...

Last week our current Associates left their 1st Placement organisations and kicked off their new projects - (well those that aren't sunning it up as they take a breather in between placements!)

Halfway through our first year and it's clear that the Associates are beginning to look towards the future and what they may be doing - but what of our Placement organisations? How is their On Purpose experience?

We took some time recently to review with the placement organisations their experiences of the first cohort of On Purpose Associates and we're delighted that they're proving a resounding success.  For all of the current Associates who are moving into their second placements we received the following feedback.  They have all exceeded the expectations of the host organisations, they've added value beyond the scope of their objectives and they've had a positive impact on the teams that they're in. Most of them have brought skills into the organisations that they don't otherwise have access to and have challenged organisational thinking in a positive way.

All of this is exactly as we expect to hear - the concept is working well and proving valuable to both the placement organisations and our Associates - we're running a review with how the Associates value their On Purpose experience and will be sharing that with you soon.

But I've saved the best until last - aside from the organisational impact that our Associates have had we are delighted that they are already saving their organisations on average in excess of 3 times their cost each.

Marketing magic

Our training last week was on Marketing. Nadine Walter (ex McKinsey and now a Professor at Pforzheim Business School in Germany) took us through the basics of how to develop a marketing plan. Ranging from the internal company and external market analysis over the consumer segmentation to the marketing strategy, mix and implementation.

It was  whirlwind, whistle-stop tour of the major frameworks in the field and really great to understand, at a high level, how all the various concepts (that you often only hear of in isolation) fit together. From PESTEL and Porter's 5 Forces over 7S and the BCG matrix to the Ansoff matrix we must have done more frame work than you can in an afternoon at the National Gallery!

As always, the real guru doesn't necessarily use all the frameworks, but knows when (and when not) to apply them and how to take the thinking from various ones to pull together real insight. And it's always refreshing to hear about situations where people achieved success by not following the traditional approach, like Red Bull.

Who do you think are the best social enterprise marketeers? Innocent stands out, of course, and (RED) is a big brand now; I like One Water's 'When you drink One Africa drinks too'. Interestingly though, 2 of these 3 examples are cause-related marketing schemes (what I sometimes call philanthropic rather than social enterprises) and the last, Innocent, is a business with a strong social influence. Thinking of more 'classic' social enterprise (that achieve direct social impact rather than through contributing profits to a charity) that are really well marketed is much more difficult. Do you know of any?

The case for talent

Sir Ronald Cohen was recently praising, in the Daily Telegraph, the virtues of the innovative social impact bond and predicting the rise of social finance.

Along with it, he emphasises both the importance of attracting the best people to social enterprise and the commitment that many people feel towards this field: 

"Some of the most talented people are being drawn to it [social finance and social enterprise]. We are appealing to peoples' sense of social obligation and of social mission.

"About a fifth of recent Harvard Business School graduates have been drawn to social enterprise type organisations."

The social enterprise field is, of course, already populated with hugely inspirational and talented people. Like all industries though, it will only continue to be as good as the talent it is able to attract, develop and retain. 


Social enterprises need to offer the career prospects, development opportunities and salaries that compete with other top employers, not only during a recession, but also once the big private and public sector guns start hiring again. 


Managing a social enterprise is a difficult undertaking. It requires not only solid commercial skills but also well-honed social sector know-how. Developing leaders who spend significant amounts of time in social enterprise from an early age, who know and can manage the tensions, quirks and intricacies that are unique to these organisations has to be a priority for the sector. 


Neglecting to develop the next generation of talent risks social enterprise delivering on its promise; bringing in the best and brightest minds will mean that innovations like the social impact bond will be but the first steps towards a brighter, fairer and more inclusive economy.

The Art of disruption ....

Earlier on last month we at On Purpose had heard how Michael Morley the chairman of Coutts Bank had an 'epiphany' moment about Social Enterprise when he 'job swapped' for a day with Nigel Kersaw, Head of Big Issue. You can read more about that here. 

I saw this epiphany at first hand last night when Coutts in partnership with Real Business magazine hosted a 'Celebration of New Enterprise'. We were delighted to be invited along and the timing couldn't have been more perfect as this week Real Business published their latest article about On Purpose.

It was a great evening -it's always great to meet new faces and I heard how the recession has pushed innovation and market disruption to the fore - 'the art of disruption' has been favoured thinking during the recession and last nights gathering would recognise that therein lies the strength of an entrepreneurial mind!

But i also heard a really simple truth - Matthew Rock - founder of the Real Business magazine reminded us how it's really not that long ago when it was deemed unnatural for business to be run without social purpose.

You'll see that Tom has just written about 'Conscious Employerism' and reflected on Dragons Den's Doug Richards challenge that we should be counting down the last 100 enterprises that don't have a social focus.

What do you think? Can you see the day that we'll return (as Matthew Rock would hold) to a world where all business is social business?  What disruption will need to be caused first?

Conscious Employerism

The launch of the RBS Social Enterprise 100 Index was a glitzy affair - and rightly so. Lots of awards to high-performing social enterprises around the country in a variety of categories.

Doug Richards, of Dragons' Den and School 4 Startups fame interjected in an interesting way. In his usual engaging and assured way, he called for the Anti SE 100 Index. He looks forward to the days when rather than counting the best social enterprises we are counting down the last 100 enterprises that can afford not to be a social enterprise. The ultimate main-streaming of social enterprise throughout the econonmy.

Whilst this is a vision that I applaud, I also wonder how it is going to happen. Doug's argument seemed to rest, at least implicitly, on consumer power: ultimately, consumers won't buy goods and services that are not delivered by social enterprises. This is a powerful lever and initiatives such as the Social Enterprise Mark are tugging at it with all their strength.

It is worth remembering though that 'conscious consumerism' is not a new phenomenon. Fair Trade, for example, has been with us a long time and is going well - many reports acknowledge that such products are remarkably recession proof. Similarly, campaigning NGOs have for decades been mobilising consumers to boycott this company or that product. In the big picture though, much of this movement is relatively confined in its demographics and so is still relatively niche.

I believe there is another, much overlooked mechanism for changing the way companies operate: employees. Companies don't only respond to their costumers and shareholders, they are also themselves made up of people; interested, ever-more socially motivated and keen to make a difference - not only to the share price but also to the world they live in.

Changing business models, finding disruptive technologies and growing into new markets (such as those at the 'bottom of the pyramid') will occasionally be prompted by consumer pressure; sometimes (as in the case of banning CFCs from fridges) governments can legislate; sometimes new challenger brands such as the Body Shop help change an industry. In the end though, I believe that most innovation will come because employees are excited by more than creating shareholder value. They want to create new social business models and so find more fulfilment on what they do - those companies who cannot find ways of accommodating this will, ultimately, lose talent and fare poorly. Those who can embrace it will not only attract and retain the most exciting talent but also launch the most resilient and innovative offerings.

Here's to 'conscious employerism'!

Problem solving and the pyramid principle

We've been having first class training on problem solving at On Purpose with trainers from the top management consultancies.

To date, we have learnt how to: (1) define a problem; (2), structure it so as to break it down into smaller problems you can tackle; (3) identify the analysis we need to develop in order to solve the problems; and finally (4) develop a presentation to communicate what is relevant to the specific audience.

(1)    Defining a problem in a structured framework allows us to have a clear idea about what we want to achieve. The outcome is a full written statement of the problem + information on its context and other important matters.

(2)    Once you have this question, the challenge is to identify the necessary analyses needed to solve the problem. That’s when we were introduced to one of our the core knowledge from this programme: how to break down a problem into its constituent parts, using issue trees. It is a simple concept of hierarchy that forces you to always think which is the most effective and efficient way to solve a problem.
If you are confused about this concept don’t give up. We have learnt that it is just a question of practicing, practicing and more practicing. At its most simple, you have to bear in mind that the ultimate question to solve is at the top of the hierarchy. All the analyses that you need have to answer a part of that overall question. If you follow this framework you will  only perform relevant and necessary analyses and so avoid “boiling the ocean”.

(3)    What next? More information does not necessarily mean more insight and may not help you communicate your solution. One way to communicate your solution effectively is to use the pyramid principle (http://www.barbaraminto.com/). We have learnt the last piece of the puzzle, which is how to write a storyline.  One simple way of thinking about this is always to start your presentations with the chapter headings/agenda items and then filling in the detail as a second step, rather than beginning at the start and carrying on  till you reach the end. 

You get to see the final product before even start working on it. Very helpful technique!

I hope you'll enjoy thinking about these things as much as I did. For those of you who want to check examples before writing a presentation why not having a look at: http://www.slideshare.net/ where there are hundreds of examples of slide presentations.

Good luck!

Simone

Inspiring in every direction...

I've just returned from a fantastic evening at the First Women Awards  it's an evening recognising trailblazing women in business and the public services - it was a stunning evening and the buzz-word of the evening was 'talent'.
We at On Purpose are all about talent, we talk about the importance and value of talent and as you know we focus on leadership talent in the Social Enterprise space - so it was a real pleasure to get dressed up and listen to other people talk about talent in different ways! This evening's awards were recognising women so there was much talk of breaking through the glass ceiling and how values and styles can be so different between men and women.  Did you know that in Norway they recently committed to increasing the number of women at Board levels across all organisations to 40% and they've already achieved 30%? A stunning shift - but whilst we in the UK are still lagging behind - if this evening's room full of women are anything to go by we will definitely catch up!

We're often asked why our 2010 Associates are all women. And it's an easy question to answer - whilst the applications were 49/51% split - and there were male counterparts right through to the second interviews - at the end of the day the best of the bunch were all women.

So i've spent the evening hearing of tales of global success - some started out hatched around the table - in the case of Specsavers it was a table tennis table in a spare room in 1984 - now Mary Perkins heads up a global empire of around 1400 stores and over 26,000 staff. Others are where women entered into established industries and are now global leaders where women 'rarely go' - i was particularly touched (maybe it's the engineer in me) by Angela Strank who entered BP in 1982 as the first female geologist and now heads up their Global Technology arm (in her time she's delivered roles such as opening up a market in Angola).

I'll write more of some of the other winners soon - but for now - i look forward to being at the 'First Women Awards' the year ,in the not too distant future, when there is more talk of social business and one of our On Purpose alumni is receiving an Award (to the roars of joy of the others that will be at the table supporting her!).

Jobs Jobs Jobs Jobs Jobs....

We've added some space just on the Right Hand Side of the screen to keep you in the loop with any interesting jobs that we hear about ....

Don't forget to bookmark our blog and keep an eye on it!

The Lost Generation : Part ii

The Lost Generation video  (which you can find here) has quite rightly had a big impact on a lot of you!

Well, with great thanks to our friend John Caswell who's blog is always thought provoking and causes good discussion amongst us here at On Purpose (which you can find here) we'd like to share this with you. 

Dear Old People Who Run The World.

1. My generation would like to break up with you. Everyday, I see a widening gap in how you and we understand the world - and what we want from it. I think we have irreconcilable differences.
2. You wanted big, fat, lazy “business.” We want small, responsive, micro-scale commerce. You turned politics into a dirty word. We want authentic, deep democracy - everywhere.
3. You wanted financial fundamentalism. We want an economics that makes sense for people - not just banks. You wanted shareholder value - built by tough-guy CEOs. We want real value, built by people with character, dignity, and courage.
4. You wanted an invisible hand - it became a digital hand. Today’s markets are those where the majority of trades are done literally robotically. We want a visible handshake: to trust and to be trusted.
5. You wanted growth - faster. We want to slow down - so we can become better.
6. You didn’t care which communities were capsized, or which lives were sunk. We want a rising tide that lifts all boats. You wanted to biggie size life: McMansions, Hummers, and McFood. We want to humanize life.
7. You wanted more money, credit and leverage - to consume ravenously. We want to be great at doing stuff that matters.
8. You sacrificed the meaningful for the material: you sold out the very things that made us great for trivial gewgaws, trinkets, and gadgets. We’re not for sale: we’re learning to once again do what is meaningful.

You can find the original post here with the vast debate in the comments afterwards -

Friends of On Purpose - what do you think?  Does it strike a chord with you or incite you? 

We'll be talking more of our thoughts on 'Millenial Generation' / 'Generation M'  soon....

Social Enterprise - commitment from the Queen.

Last month the Queen placed Social Enterprise at the heart of Parliaments delivery in the next session.  There's been much comment on the contents of the speech - some say that as the content wasn't vast and complex the accountability is therefore stronger. What do you think? 

We at On Purpose are excited to hear that Social Enterprises are being valued at the highest levels of Government and the commitment during this Parliamentary session is to support the growth of social businesses. We're looking forward to see how the government will deliver on this commitment. Needless to say, we believe that if the social enterprise and business arena is to deliver, it needs to continue to attract high calibre talent who will not only create social enterprises, but also help them scale. 

What the Queen said about social enterprise....

"The role of social enterprises, charities and the co-operatives in our public services will be enhanced. The cost of bureaucracy and the number of public bodies will be reduced."


By the way, we also think that social enterprises aspire to more than simply reducing the cost of government bureaucracy, but that will be up to us in the sector to prove.

The full speech can be read here.

The Lost Generation

We think that this is pretty close to brilliant...
A palindrome can be read the same way in either direction - however this video reads exactly the opposite in each direction - opposite in reading and meaning all at once.
It was submitted into a contest titled 'U @ 50' by a 20 year old and won second place.

We at On Purpose wonder what came in first as we think this is clever, simple and stunningly executed - and do you think the 1st place piece has had over 13million hits?

Complementary Currencies and Co-Production

That Friday afternoon, my energy was definitely waning after a long week spent with friends from overseas.  I was hoping to just make it through the afternoon, and as soon as Becky Booth began explaining the history of complementary currencies, I was hooked and wide awake!  It was one of the most interesting presentations we have had, outlining the incredible innovation and outside-the-box thinking that is possible in terms of developing alternative economic systems – something that is more and more necessary in light of recent financial crises!  Becky is the Programmes Director and co-founder of Spice, a social enterprise that designs and develops community credit systems which encourage active participation and engagement of community members.

What the heck does all this mean, exactly?  Well, complementary currencies have arisen throughout history usually in response to the collapse of conventional currencies, or to address specific problems in society.  Becky gave us an example of one currency started by the local government in Curitiba, Brazil, which was used both to promote recycling and reduce local unemployment.  People received ‘tokens’ for bringing in a bag of recycling.  This token was then good for one bus ride into town, where there were more jobs.

Another example is the Brixton pound (http://brixtonpound.org/).  The purpose of this currency is to promote local consumption by Brixton (an eclectic area in South-East London) community members, and to encourage the currency to circulate locally thus improving the local economy.  This pound can only be spent at participating local shops, and can be gotten and traded in one-for-one for the British pound sterling £.

Along the same lines, co-production is the concept of a non-market economy, or a ‘core’ economy, in which people provide services to each other with no money exchanging hands.  Co-production is an approach that re-invigorates and rebuilds the core economy and realises its potential as key to the sustainable and effective delivery of public services.  Community currencies are tools that can help embedd co-production within services and communities.  This system has been gaining a lot of attention of late, especially in light of the Tory’s ‘Big Society’ manifesto in which citizens are expected to self-manage and organize to tackle society’s problems.

Under this broad umbrella, Spice works with organisations and communities to design and implement person-to-agency time credit systems that support the engagement of the many in service delivery.  In this form, people receive credits for volunteering hours, and may then spend these time credits at participating local shops and services.  The fundamental quality of this system is that it does not replace and thus undermine the traditional cash-for-goods system, but rather complements it.  This system, known as timebanking, is another tool that helps to embedd co-production within communities.

Ok, enough for now, but it’s hard to stop writing about something so interesting!  Find out more at http://justaddspice.org/

Deadline drawing near.....

Don't forget if you're interested in the Clore Leadership Programme as we wrote about here the deadline closes on Wednesday!!!

All details on their website here.

Does Social Entrepreneurship matter?

Some think so ... some others don't ... we at On Purpose found this interesting post on a fellow blog and we liked it.

We liked it enough to want to share it and put out the question - what do you think? Is there a danger that the 'Millenial' generation are heading towards disappointment? Or do you agree with Nathaniel Whittamore that Social enterprise is the means to complete the circle? And where is the UK positioned on this?

More to come as we think these through over coming weeks....

(By the way - if you enjoy the blog piece then make sure you carry on and read the comments below ... )

Clore Social Leadership Programme - Fellowship applications open

On behalf of our friends at the Clore Foundation we'd like to pass on the following announcement:

The Clore Social Leadership Programme is now looking for its second cohort of Fellows, who will be recruited through an open application process. To be eligible, applicants must be working in or closely with the wider third sector and will have demonstrated leadership potential in some of the work they have already undertaken.

Each Fellow benefits from a personalised programme which provides challenging opportunities for development, and is tailored to meet their individual needs.

Applications for the 2011 Fellowships will open on 19 April 2010; the deadline for completed applications is 3 June 2010.

For more details about how to apply and to meet the current Fellows, visit the website here.  

Great News - Cameron puts Social Enterprise at the heart of the solution -

All at On Purpose would like to congratulate Nat Wei on his appointment to the House of Lords - and celebrate the great messages that the new coalition government are sending out about the importance of social enterprise.

Read the full article here.

Financial Certainty

I don’t know if it’s because I’d been teed up for success with my brilliance goggles, but I had a sense of continued improvement regarding my financial fluency over the course of this session.  By no means are my interpretive skills on a par with the MBA set of On Purpose Associates, yet, but it was a reassuring revelation that the basics of financial statements are ones you can learn quickly.  No doubt this was predominantly induced by Jonathan Shellard’s  enabling-, financial-literacy-for-all- approach.

Bolstered by the security blanket of uniform reporting requirements, the confidence trick one has to perform to manoeuvre between the: Cash Flow; Balance Sheet; Profit and Loss, Income statement, and; Notes, will no longer be the preserve of the financially-versed few.  

Instead, I feel confident it will become another handy lens through which to critique organisational health, with Candice's chant 'Cash is King' ringing in my ear. 

How brilliant am I?

How often do we acknowledge our own brilliance?  Not often enough, say Darius and Matt, our guides through the strangeness of accepting our brilliance as it is.  By recognizing our brilliance and stating aloud, we come ever closer to our most productive state of operating – essentially, the nirvana of our career performance.

Most people are brought up to be modest:  modesty is taught to us through childhood, with humility alongside it.  To sit in front of your peers and state the honest truth about your greatest strengths – no, your BRILLIANCE – without dampening any statements using ‘maybe’, ‘kind of’, ‘a little’, was a challenge to say the least!

Softening the experience, however, was what followed.  A feeling of being enveloped in a fluffy cloud of compliments, as your brilliance is explained to you as seen by your peers.  A sort of 360 degree only-positive feedback session.  The atmosphere was one of trust, and calmness.  I think we all felt great at the end, maybe because it was over, but maybe because we all came a little bit closer to our own professional nirvanas.

Social Entrepreneurism

What does the future hold for social entrepreneurship?  UnLtd, a foundation for social entrepreneurs, is known for its broad definition of who those social entrepreneurs are:  people who lead positive change in society or the environment.  Cliff Prior, CEO of UnLtd, shared his views with the Associates, culminating with the 4 biggest debates in sector:

Is a social entrepreneur defined by the act of starting a social enterprise?

According to UnLtd, this approach is too narrow!  What about those people who start social businesses or at the other end of the spectrum, community organisations. How about people starting social projects within other organizations?  Or projects which do not classify as enterprises?  Should they necessarily be excluded from the term ‘social entrepreneur’? This is about people being entrepreneurial for social value, everything else is a detail.

What legal structure is best?

Some think that it is better to make stuff happen as quickly as possible and favour using equity-sharing companies to generate the most impact in the shortest time.  A second view is that an asset-lock is essential in ensuring that no person privately gains from the existence of social ventures.  A third view explores the question of beneficiary ownership of the entity (most commonly seen in the co-operative model).  UnLtd’s view is to be open!  People will choose the right model for their purpose.  Often, equity investment is necessary to achieve scale.

Is scaling UP or OUT better?

Scaling up through franchising and replicating social ventures may prove the way of the future, but we need to also consider moving towards a “scaling out” model where a lot of passionate people do a lot of little things to sustain working models of social enterprise.

Should great innovators be more highly regarded than replicators of innovation?

Some schools of thought truly believe that a core element in the definition of a social entrepreneur is the proven ability to innovate and in so doing, change the terms of the sector and society.  However those who replicate innovation manage to take those ideas and carry them out more efficiently.  They represent that small group of people who make things happen as opposed to just thinking about them.

Cliff also spoke to us about the funding options available for early-stage projects.  UnLtd’s funding program resembles a pyramid, providing small grants to many people, and only backing a few of the best ones with large sums and in-kind support.  Other organizations follow the incubator type model of funding, picking a few people as potential high flyers and focusing intensive support on them as a cohort.

Cliff left us with a few words of inspiration for the budding social entrepreneurs in the room:  Have a lean design, learn from your competitors, and don’t wait until you’re ready because you never will be.

Putting a spring in our step…

As ever, we were welcomed with open arms at the recently (re)christened ‘Spring’. Fuelled by the bounty of the Vauxhall Garden Community Café, we set about further developing the quality of our relationships within our immediate On Purpose ‘family’ (Tom, and the Associates). Facilitated by the ethereal Darius (CEO of Real World Magazine), intent on nudging us from our ‘over-educated, analytical minds’, to a state of experience and instinct. I doubt any of us had anticipated how he would tease out our approach to: future personal development sessions, or; how the Associates could better support each other.


The constructive tone was set by each of us contributing one thing, from both our professional and personal lives, that had recently gone well. Having enjoyed this quick-fire check-in on how everyone’s doing, we agreed this practice would be adopted whenever we met in future.


It soon became apparent; practice was the name of the game. An array of possible techniques were presented to us by (Sofia, Matt Darius), including story telling in the first person, The Work, ritual rites of passage, meditation on personal strengths and weaknesses, Action Learning (Clore Foundation Social Enterprise Fellowship approach), group exercises around ‘I’m brilliant… You’re brilliant…’, feedback, Aikido, and ‘I’m pretending…’. It was emphasised, only through the concerted effort of practice would the learning from these interventions become purposeful to our personal development.


While peer feedback was requested by all the Associates in monthly reviews, and future personal development opportunities pay heed to the variety of techniques outlined above, the afternoon was spent with two particular practices: Aikido and ‘I’m pretending…’.


Aikido: playful arm wrestling ‘unbendable arm’ demonstrated the first four stages of achieving outcomes with increasing ease:
-Against (opposing the force of another, and straining in the process);
-In spite of (opposing/ ignoring) the force of another, while focusing your energy on your own aim);
-With (using the energy of another, to further your own aim);
-Aiki (combining with the energy of another, to create something new. The plank extension exercises looked at applying our learning to following, leading and collaborating to greater effect.


‘I’m pretending…’: create sincere intention among the group, enabling accumulative declarations by each individual.


The accrued intimacy over the course of this session will no doubt stand us in better stead to both ask for, and anticipate support requests of our fellow Associates.

What is the best way to spend charitable money?

This is a question frequently asked by grant-giving organisations or projects needing donations, meaning that the focus is concentrated on where and why to invest.


Some people though have started thinking differently, questioning how they can make charitable money work harder by making Social Investments. It all started with Ford and Taconic Foundations at the end the 1960s, who began providing much needed capital investment to black and minority owned businesses. In March 2010, the UK showed an increased level of sophistication in this area through a record deal of £5m between HCT Group and Bridges Venture, which involved a combination of quasi-equity and loan.


There is a wide range of products to choose from when talking about Social Investments and some questions that need answering before you invest.


The first question to answer is the objective of the investment: “are you looking for an investment that gives you a primarily financial or social return?”.


The second question you have to consider is what organisational need you want to address. You have to consider that organisations at different stages and with different business models might have different needs for capital or expenses.


The third consideration is how far you want your money to go. At one end of the spectrum, you have secured loans, where it is guaranteed you will get your money back. At the other end, you have equities where your investment is susceptible to the risk of the organisation (grants of course are riskier as your money does not generate any financial return, however the social impact is definitely there).


Venturesome, CAF’s social investment fund launched in 2002, is an example of how this choices actually work in practice. Paul Cheng, from Venturesome (who we had the privilege to have as an On Purpose guest speaker), explained to us their unique approach to Social Investment. They believe the most effective way of doing social investment is to provide access to capital for organisations. They see that lack of capital is a barrier to charities increasing their social impact. The implications of this, and strengthening their balance sheets is being prepared, as a social investor, to incur occasional losses and accept that not all funds will be generate positive financial returns. The reason behind social investment is ultimately to help charities/social enterprises with their financial capital needs - e.g. working capital and cashflow (NOT just project funding). “That is the crucial point which most people do not understand - we need to invest in charities - not just pay/donate to them just to do projects. Charities need investment like businesses.” says Paul.


Social Investment has evolved a lot so far, however it is still a young market. My belief is that we all can benefit from more investment in this area as we can not only recycle the money and help more beneficiaries, but also educate organisations on how best to manage charitable funds. It is important nevertheless to highlight that social investment is just one part of the landscape - of course, we still need grants, donations, secured bank loans etc. Those products will always be needed in our society, however the theory of diversification is expected also to benefit the charity world.

Welcome to the On Purpose Blog!

Hello and welcome to the On Purpose Blog! Here we hope to outline the most interesting parts of the pilot year, including updates on training as well as placements posted by the 5 Associates.


A bit of background on who we are...


On Purpose is a new leadership programme for the next generation of high-flyers who will use the power of business to make a difference in the world. Today’s talent are tomorrow’s leaders who will help solve society’s biggest problems. We believe that if we find the most inspiring people, provide them with the right experience and give them world-class training, then great things will happen.


We organise six-month, paid placements in some of the most respected purpose-driven enterprises, including (RED), Comic Relief and O2, providing real-life experience of large, small, established and start-up enterprises; corporations, not-for-profits and charities; all with a common purpose of operating for good.


We also believe that tomorrow’s leaders are entitled to world-class training. This is why On Purpose works with current and former professionals from prestigious organisations across all sectors to provide such training. We are proud that many exciting organisations will be involved in delivering our training programme.


We hope to see you here again soon,


The On Purpose Team