The Emerge Conference

The Emerge Conference took place this weekend in Oxford with successful social business leaders from around the globe speaking to a few hundred delegates, mostly post-graduate students.

Application of technologies featured heavily. Ken Banks, the founder of kiwanja.net, spoke about his NGO’s provision of a free, open-source platform to send, receive and aggregate bulk text messages all from a non-internet enabled phone. One recent application of this service is for Mothers to Mothers, who prevent transmission of HIV from mother to child through a peer to peer advice service and currently 1 in 5 of HIV-infected pregnant women in Africa. They are integrating SMS messages into their services to remind mothers to take medication and attend. This exemplifies the fact that technology solutions work often because they are simple, effective and focussed on the nuances of communication and delivery, rather than any technological innovation.

In two impact investing conferences, it was striking that the vast majority of investors shunned rigorous measurement of impact for a simple metric of measurement, a story that resonated, and a balanced portfolio covering different human needs (education, health care etc). It’s probable that with the inadequacy of impact measurement, investors prefer simply to be wooed by an entrepreneur’s story and assess their ability to deliver on it.

Regarding the legal structures of companies, there were a number of not for profits that used hybrid models of funding. The profit arm of Embrace handles manufacturing, distribution and R & D, whilst the NFP arm makes a loss on delivering to the most needy and performs monitoring and evaluation. The not for profit holds the IP, which the for profit arm pays a royalty for its use, and therefore supports the unprofitable part of the business.

The conference closed with some wonderfully articulated pearls of wisdom by James Chin, founder of the World Toilet Organisation (check it out: it’s brilliant, http://www.worldtoilet.org/wto/). He recommended taking calculated risks: for example, naming your organisation the WTO because getting sued by the better known organisation by the same name would be worth it for the PR storm. Another gem of many: “There’s no such thing as work that’s easy or hard, just that which is fun or boring.”

Walled garden's awakening

Sometimes people in social enterprise slip into detachment from reality behind their LCD screens as easily as their business-as-usual colleagues. When we start to confuse social impact metrics for real people, or carbon credits for, well, anything real, it is probably the time. It is the right time to get ourselves out of our offices and to dive into some offline, hands-on, local engagement experience. Luckily there is no shortage of opportunities.



Less than two weeks ago on a beautiful Sunday morning, I found myself amidst a gang of volunteering 'Garden Angels' in eastern London. The sun was shining, people were getting dirty and excited, and one walled garden was slowly awaking from its long slumber, sending ripples to the whole neighbourhood.



The garden, the people, and the whole project were an unusual mix, aiming to go far beyond just planting a patch of lettuce. Their aim was to recreate a meaning for the old place within the context of contemporary communities. Pulling together an award-winning singer Imogen Heap, design thinking and micro-urbanism expertise of Clear Village, a bunch of excited volunteers from all over the world, and committed local partners, it was a collaborative effort to inspire local communities. To inspire locals by retelling the forgotten tale of a vast, magnificent, Georgian kitchen garden lying hidden within its four-meter walls amidst a beautiful park on a hill overseeing London. A tale about a garden that used to serve those in a dire need as a food source of last resort, before it was shut down. A garden that was vandalised and erased from memories of common folk of that area.



This project by Clear Village saw the garden re-inhabited for a week, showed a glimpse of the garden's potential, and teased the locals with some thought-provoking questions: Should an enchanting place of such a deep soul and history stay neglected? Can it be helped to a grow into a new meaning in the 21st century? Can we find new invigorating modes of coexistence between the garden and the humans? Could it become a refuge, an organic food site, a place of gathering, a place of peace and joy? What effort and commitment would that require?



Such questions are not unique to this walled garden project, and they capture a lot of what a social enterprise is about in my eyes -- real communities and their places -- that is where social enterprise happens. And those of us whose sense of reality is too often endangered by an office space should get out from time to time to projects like this one to stay in touch.

Guardian Social Enterprise Network: On Purpose Interview Series

Over the last 8 weeks the On Purpose Associates have been contributing to a series of articles for The Guardian's Social Enterprise Network. Each week, one Associate talks to a 'builder or runner' from a social enterprise or commercially-driven charity, many from our current placement organisations.

So far we've interviewed:

Charlotte Glynn, Head of People at Just Giving

Jonathan Bamber, International Sales & Development Director at Tough Stuff

Damian Peat, Operational Director and Financial Controller at Terra Plana and VIVOBAREFOOT

Ariane van de Ven, Head of Future and Trend Insights at O2

Sylvia Lowe, Head of UK Innovation at Comic Relief

Miriam Turner, Innovations Director EMEAI at InterfaceFLOR

Patrick Reyburn, Strategic Development Manager at HCT Group

Lucy Payton, Associate Director at Teaching Leaders


To check out the series of interviews click here.

Keep an eye on this space for the 3 remaining interviews!

Peter's Blog Post for Business Fights Poverty

Peter Babudu, one of this year's On Purpose Associates, talks about how Start!e will directly address one of the major challenges that impact investors currently face: finding investment-ready social enterprises. Start!e has been set up as an incubator to facilitate the rapid creation of social businesses that protect the environment and reduce poverty, accelerating qualified and viable ideas from conception through financing to sustainable operation. Check out his post for Business Fights Poverty here.

Corporate Conundrum

During my placement at O2, I thought about how both Social Enterprises and more traditional businesses can benefit most from working together.

What do big organisations want?

Corporations work hard and spend a lot of money to find out what their customers are thinking. In addition to understanding what services their customers need now, corporates are trying to predict the needs their customers will have in the future to help them design and improve their products and services.

The UK government is starting to act and move resources to the idea that communities can be better agents for change than government acting on their behalf. Insight and knowledge of community is a valuable and expensively acquired resource for private and public business, but Social Enterprises have geographic, social or ideological communities at the heart of what they do. This understanding of their communities is a tremendous asset.

What is the opportunity?

Corporates are big, very big. They have huge reach and potential to unlock resources. However, corporates are feeling the financial crisis too. Investing in innovation and producing new products is expensive and large companies can often be restricted in what they can do without risking their share price. Even fierce competitors are using collaboration and partnership to provide what customers want without betting the farm.

Social Enterprises can add value to corporates because they have insight and practice that other businesses need to improve their services. Social Enterprises do the responsive, community focused thinking and doing that corporates find very difficult everyday.

In return, corporates can provide the exposure and reach that Social Enterprises need to grow and increase their impact.

What not to do?
Don't assume that, because it's a corporate, they will have a lot of money to spend. Much of their spending will be tied up in untouchable budgets promoting their current products/services.

Don't assume that the social benefits your organisation delivers alone will ensure a partnership. Your aims may align with their CSR policy and with their brand image, but they will receive lots of partnership offers that may do this and more.

What to do?
Corporations are always looking for new ways to add value to their traditional offers. A few ideas are to:

• Design a new product just for them. Elvis and Kresse are experts at this, as evidenced by their work with Apple and Brompton Cycles
• Offer to work in partnership with them; don’t ask for sponsorship. Corporates have spent a long time building their business, and they didn’t do that by giving money away. Work out a way to help them to make money while contributing to your aims.
• Help make their staff happy. Replacing staff is a costly business. Lots of people in big companies wish that they could be doing more. Find opportunities to give these intrapreneurs access to the great stories and results you create.
  

If it doesn’t work out this time?
Don’t despair, keep trying and remember to help the people that have helped you! If you have got a meeting in a corporate, it’s most likely because of someone working within that organisation who believes in what you are trying to achieve. The chances are they will be taking a risk/doing a lot of work to get your voice heard.

There are many reasons why large organisations don’t do things. It may be nothing to do with your offer or the work you and your advocate have done.

Stay positive and stay in touch; you may get another chance at a different time.

Escaping to Social Enterprise- with On Purpose

On Thursday evening Tom, current associates Stephanie and Ann, and fellow Harriet spoke at an Escape the City event on social enterprise. We all shared how we 'escaped the city' then answered numerous questions about On Purpose and social enterprise. Check out the main take-aways from the event below (or in the embedded link), written by Rob from Escape the City.

Escaping to Social Enterprise- with On Purpose

A massive thank you to Tom Rippin, Stephanie, Ann and Harriet for a fantastic Q&A and talk at last night's 'How to pursue a career in social enterprise'.

Hope you all enjoyed it as much as we did. Here are 5 areas that struck us as being useful to think about if you're interested in transitioning into the social enterprise sector...

Any remaining questions / comments / connections you would like to make please just leave a comment below and we'll see if we can help you out.

1. Myths about Escaping from Corporates

There are a few myths / preconceptions that are hard to fight if you're considering leaving the corporate world:

• Will I find something as stimulation elsewhere? You can - not everywhere, but there are plenty of places and change itself can be stimulating!
• Will my skills apply to a new sector? Some will some won't but it's also a chance to learn new skills. Think carefully about how your existing skills can apply
• Will I work with as good and dynamic people as I currently do? Great people exist everywhere and if you search them out, you can find them. No one company has a monopoly on them!
• Should I stay for another 6 months to get that promotion/pay-rise/project finished? Before you know it, this turns into 6 years. Think instead of where you could be in 6 months' time in a new place

2. When is it time to move?

Write down your motives for why you took you current job. If you've already ticked those boxes and your motivation for being there is waning. Move. If you don't want your boss's job or their boss's job. Move.

3. Skill-set insecurities

You can apply your corporate experience to social enterprise sector: measuring impact, analysis, transferable skills. Don't feel that you are committed to your sector. The majority of your skills can be put to work in a social enterprise setting. Not to say you will need to learn new skills too - but that's half the excitement!

4. Leaving isn't as scary as you think.

There are a range of orgs that do social enterprise work... from v corporate ones (O2) to "classic" social enterprises to those on the charity end of the scale. Have a think about where on the scale you would most like to work. Narrowing it down will help you search and you will be more specific in your applications. Also think if you have a preference for how big or new an organisation is.

5. It's a broad sector. How to find what you're looking for?

There is so much information / advice / events out there. Start researching!

• Obviously On Purpose itself: http://www.onpurpose.uk.com/
• You can also find them: @onpurposeuk, www.facebook.com/onpurposeuk
• Robert Ashton - How to be a social entrepreneur.
• UnLtd - a charity which supports social entrepreneurs
• The Guardian Social Enterprise Network
• The RSA - lots of talks on social issues
• ClearlySo - hub for social enterprises / social businesses
• School for Social Entrepreneurs
• Social Enterprise London
• Social Enterprise Live
• Social Enterprise Coalition

Check out the Social Enterprise Coalition's 'Work in Social Enterprise' PDF by clicking here.

More about On Purpose...

• Application guidelines::

We're looking for high-achieving people with 2-5 years' work experience in any sector. You need to have great leadership, problem solving and communication skills and a lot of motivation and persistence.

You should also have a track record of social (enterprise) engagement, though we understand this may well not be in a professional capacity.

• See here for more detail:

http://www.onpurpose.uk.com/what-you-can-do/become-purpose-associate

To express your interest in applying (our online application site will be up soon), please email recruitment@onpurpose.uk.com

• Advice for applicants:

If in doubt, apply! And don't forget to tell us why you want to work in the social enterprise space

• Deadlines:

Application deadline will be at the end of August (exact date TBD).

Our very own Peter featured in The Guardian

Peter Babudu, one of this year's Associates, talks to The Guardian about his attraction to social enterprise, the On Purpose programme, his background and future aspirations. Click here to see his friendly face and to read the article!

The Big Society Bank - how did we get here, and where are we going now?

A lack of capital looking to invest in the sector has long been the complaint of many working in and around Social Enterprise. The Coalition Government’s ‘Big Society Bank’ proposals are designed to address this issue, and the recently created Big Society Investment Fund is the first step in these proposals becoming a reality.

It would be fair to say that the Bank has had a long gestation period. It's now approaching five years since these proposals first saw the light of day, and whilst their final emergence into the world has been widely welcomed, there remains a significant amount of uncertainty around what the Bank will actually deliver and when. This post explores the long and winding road that got the Big Society Bank to where it is today and outlines where the project stands at present.

The bank is the brainchild of Sir Ronald Cohen, private equity trailblazer turned social finance evangelist. The current proposals build on the conclusions of the 2005-2007 Commission for Unclaimed Assets that he chaired. The Commission recommended the establishment of a Social Investment Wholesale Bank in order to address the undersupply of finance to the social enterprise and third sectors. The proposals received support both from the then Labour government and from opposition parties. However in the years that followed, whilst the plumbing was put in place, including an Act of Parliament, changes to the banking code, and in 2009 a detailed Cabinet Office report, little progress was made on the wholesale bank’s establishment. The financial crisis and bank bailouts caused the issue to slip down the agenda of Gordon Brown’s administration.

In March 2010 the proposals were given new life when David Cameron announced his support for Cohen’s bank. In line with his wider ‘Big Society’ agenda, Cameron christened it the ‘Big Society Bank’. Since taking office in May 2010, the Coalition government has continued to push forward these proposals. Whilst other Big Society advisors have fallen by the wayside, Ronald Cohen has continued to be a driving force behind the Big Society Bank proposals. Despite his energy, progress has been slow. After a cabinet office report on the vision for social investment in February this year, a Cabinet Office briefing paper outlining how the Bank would work was eventually published in May.

The paper states that the Big Society Bank will:

• Expand the amount of capital available to the social investment market


• Improve social entrepreneurs' ability to access it


• Develop a market of investors who wish to support it


• Support financial innovations that allow organisations to be rewarded for delivering social outcomes [ref. Social Impact Bonds, another of Cohen’s progency]


• Support the development of community-led, social enterprise initiatives to improve opportunities for young people, and


• Act as a ‘social investment champion’ - promoting information sharing and networking, publishing research and investing in sector capacity building

All of these objectives (except the one around youth services, which presumably stems from this 2007 idea) can be found in the 2009 Cabinet Office paper - which actually explored them in far greater depth - and leave Cohen’s vision pretty much completely intact, seeing off proposals for the bank itself to become a direct investor in social enterprises.

The May 2011 proposals were welcomed by the Minister for the Cabinet Office, Sir Francis Maude, and the Bank retains the government's support. Work is ongoing with a small team in the Cabinet Office assigned to deliver the policy. The current hope is that the bank will fully open for business in Spring 2012 - half a decade after the initial proposals were published.

However, even now, large questions remain unanswered - how much money will the bank have to invest? Who will it focus on and what will be the cost of the capital it offers? And, most obviously, why has it all taken so long? A future post will explore these and other key questions that are yet to be addressed about an institution that will undoubtedly have a transformational effect on social enterprise in the UK.

10 Top tips for funding applications from the Big Venture Challenge

UnLtd is running the Big Venture Challenge to find the next generation of large-scale social enterprises (a subject dear to On Purpose's heart).

With one week to go till the application deadline, they have published their top 10 tips on applying for funding, which not only hold for the Big Venture Challenge but are also worth keeping in mind for other applications too!

So here goes:
1) Your application form doesn’t have to be perfect – we will call you if we need more information

2) Keep your answers short, clear and concise. You can use bullet points – it doesn’t have to be polished prose

3) It’s a competition, so you do have to stand out from the crowd – tell us your vision and why we should back you

4) BVC is for startups and existing ventures who are ambitious to grow – stage is not a dealbreaker

5) Don’t be afraid to think big: but be prepared to prove that the demand / need / opportunity is there

6) If you know you have weaker areas, don’t ‘hide’ them: be honest & then say how you’re going to address them

7) The key is that you are ambitious and you want investment to scale up the social impact of your venture

8) If you apply you will get on our radar – even if you don’t win it could open doors to other opportunities / funding

9) Give it a go – you don’t have much to lose by putting in an application and you could win £175K

10) If you have any questions – pick up the phone and just ask – 02075661100

For further information on the Big Venture Challenge check out the website, email enquiries@bigventurechallenge.com or phone 02075661100.

100 social enterprise truths courtesy of POPse

Here are the much quoted, much tweeted, much translated 100 social enterprise truths from our friends at POPse:

1. Measuring social impact is about improving what you do, not just proving how well it works
2. Choose legal structure after getting clarity on mission, activities, financing, governance

3. It’s not the size of the profit, it’s what you do with it that counts

4. More-than-profit is better than not-for-profit (profit’s not a dirty word)

5. Successful social entrepreneurs build trusted, authentic relationships

6. Social entrepreneurs aren’t individual heroes; they build teams, create networks, mobilise movements

7. Social entrepreneurs can work at community, local, national and international levels

8. If a pound was donated each time a social entrepreneur quoted Gandhi, no-one would need to fundraise

9. Teach too many men to fish and you screw up the entire marine ecosystem and deplete the fish stocks

10. Scale of impact is more important than scale of organisation (or scale of ego)

11. A particular legal structure doesn’t guarantee an organisation won’t be rubbish (or that it will be brilliant)

12. You don’t need an MBA to be a social entrepreneur; you need a JFDI

13. Successful social enterprises have a ‘network mindset’ not an organisational one: focus on the mission

14. All money comes with strings attached; that’s fine as long as you know what they are

15. Social enterprise isn’t a panacea; but it can provide a treatment for some social ills, and help prevent others

16. Social entrepreneurs’ work has a ripple effect: mobilising and inspiring others to get involved

17. There is nothing more tedious than a social enterprise definition debate (apart from two of them…)

18. Not everyone is a changemaker (FAO Bill Drayton)

19. The thing that connects most organisations that have successfully scaled is length of time

20. Social enterprises overestimate what they can achieve in the short-term, and underestimate it in the long-term

21. Organisations are powered by people, and they should be trained, supported and invested in

22. Networking is important for social entrepreneurs: be generous and genuine, and it will be reciprocated

23. Even if you call them a client, an end-user or beneficiary, the customer is still king

24. Social enterprise leaders need to look after themselves; if they burn out, often so does the organisation

25. Populate the organisation with radiators not drains

26. Before you get the right people in the right seats, be sure you’re driving the right bus

27. Enjoy it: it’s not called “earnest-and-worthy-and-dull” enterprise; humour is allowed (& often necessary)

28. All organisations live or die by the quality of what they deliver (at the price they do it)

29. Buy from other social enterprises, and get them in your supply chain: but only if they deliver

30. Underpromise and overdeliver: all too rare in social enterprise

31. A crisis might be a terrible thing to waste; it’s also a terrible thing to cause (#bigsociety)

32. There are more holy grails in social enterprise than in Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade

33. When talking about asset transfer and finite resources, don’t forget the most important assets + resources are human

34. For ‘niche in the market’, read ‘need in the community’ (and vice versa)

35. Addressing market failure probably won’t have a commercial rate of return

36. Learn by doing, learn from others, learn from failures, keep learning

37. A 3-year government contract is no more sustainable than a 3-year grant

38. Sustainable financing comes through not being over-reliant on any one source of money

39. Optimistic pragmatists and realistic opportunists flourish

40. There a lot of good social enterprise business plans, not many good businesses

41. If the motivation isn’t really there at the start, it certainly won’t be when times get hard

42. Charm and ‘being nice to people’ are enormously underrated

43. Edison was right (1% inspiration, 99% perspiration)

44. The “Facebook for social entrepreneurs” is Facebook

45. Newsflash: your social network for a niche community won’t fund itself by advertising

46. Honesty builds trust builds credibility builds support: ‘calculated candour’ is the way forward

47. Diversifying too early usually means doing lots of things averagely rather than one thing well

48. Don’t scale up before the model’s proven, however much noise & encouragement there is

49. There’s more truth spoken over drinks and meals at a conference than on the stage

50. BigSociety, Social Enterprise, Civil Society, Third Sector: it’s more important what we do than what we call it

51. Believing your own hype is the start of the downward spiral

52. The biggest challenge for spin-outs is not technical but cultural

53. The UK is a pioneer in the field; but first mover advantage also means first mover mistakes

54. If the government created an investment fund for construction, it would be called BuilderBuilders

55. Measuring social impact is where financial reporting was 200 years ago (so don’t beat yourself up)

56. Too many people confuse innovation with novelty; an idea is easier than continuous improvement

57. It is possible to go to a social enterprise conference or seminar every working day of the year

58. There is a difference between having great contacts and actually making use of them

59. Work is needed on better exit strategies for social entrepreneurs (no more ‘life president’ stuff)

60. More than 146,000 new species have been discovered since the first Social Investment Task Force began

61. UK social enterprise debate is too internally-focused: huge amount to learn from international models

62. Mission isn’t about a nice statement: it’s for decision-making, communication & planning

63. Beware the ‘self-styled’ social entrepreneur; normally means it’s more about ‘self’ and ‘style’ [see Melody on the Apprentice]

64. Empowerment means giving power to and equipping with skills, not ‘asking a few questions’

65. You can’t really solve or change much from your desktop #slacktivism

66. Entrepreneurship is a mindset, an attitude, a set of behaviours (so is social entrepreneurship)

67. You can’t teach entrepreneurship, but you can learn it; learn it by doing and from others

68. Look back after you leap, and work out how you might leap differently next time

69. There are many social impact measurement tools, with more in common than they care to admit

70. Social entrepreneurs are often ‘biographical’: powered by a personal injustice or experience

71. The word ‘synergy’ should be outlawed from daily use

72. Risk literacy and risk awareness are where we need to get to (not just risk vs risk aversion)

73. The best CaféDirect coffee is the Machu Picchu: not too strong, but smooth + robust

74. (Social) entrepreneurs are a little bit born and a lot made

75. A group of social entrepreneurs always ultimately revert to gossip

76. Bad partnerships mean muddied thinking, a multitude of meetings, & compromised delivery

77. There are a spectrum of replication options: it’s not ‘open source’ vs ‘command and control’

78. Social enterprise blends outlooks and approaches; so a blended return makes sense

79. Understanding the problem is part of the solution (tackle the causes, not the symptoms)

80. Imperfect action is almost always better than perfect inaction

81. BigSociety is a riddle, wrapped in a mystery, inside an enigma (apols to Churchill)

82. Financial management matters; you need to know your way round a P&L and cashflow

83. Investors and social entrepreneurs don’t speak different languages, they speak different dialects

84. There are as many social enterprise support agencies & networks as actual social enterprises

85. “Build it + they will come” only works if you build it right (& listen to the people you’re building it for)

86. Social enterprise isn’t an easy option; starting a business never is

87. Finding a good social enterprise web designer is like finding a needle in a haystack

88. ‘Be the change you want to see in the world’: with fewer ‘deep’ quotes and more doing

89. If London-Edinburgh trainline was a social enterprise, it would stop outside Newcastle when it ran out of funding

90. Most investors, funders, policymakers to do with this space are in London (it’s not an anti-Northern conspiracy)

91. The dark Divine Chocolate is a bit full on: go for the (lovely) milk / mint / orange / hot chocolate

92. Sectors are diverse + contain multitudes; don’t talk about the public or private sectors (or social enterprise sector) as if they are uniform

93. Survival rate is meant to refer to the business, not the social entrepreneur

94. There is an over-supply of loan finance already, with not enough organisations fit, able or willing to take it

95. Social entrepreneurship isn’t a career, it’s a calling (do something before you take the label)

96. Secretly, most social enterprises are still pursuing the “hope for a sugar daddy or mommy” business model

97. The first social entrepreneur was a Sumerian who started the first library / tax system in 1500 BC

98. Enterprise support agencies are often amongst the most un-enterprising organisations around

99. Despite the cynicism + in-fighting, there are great orgs, great people, real change happening

100. Don’t believe anyone spouting supposed social enterprise truths at you; they clearly don’t know what they’re talking about ;0)

Tom's thoughts on 'The social enterprise rollercoaster'

Our very own Tom Rippin, founder of On Purpose, explains his journey of launching this leadership programme and the lessons he learned along the way. Read the article on The Guardian's Social Enterprise Network to learn more about his experience and insights.

A little help from our friends...and an event to remember

Numerous bottles of wine, a welcoming venue, two inspirational speakers, around 180 guests, and more than a little help from our friends.

Such were the ingredients that combined to make On Purpose's second annual event an evening to remember. Last night, friends and colleagues from across the social sector and beyond came to The Spring in Vauxhall to celebrate On Purpose's second year. Part birthday party, part networking event and part 'thank you' to all those people who make the programme possible, it was certainly an upbeat affair.

John Elkington and Charmian Love from Volans made a distinguished panel, and they explored with the audience the future of the social enterprise movement. They both agreed on the importance of people power in building - and maintaining - momentum, and Charmian also emphasised the value of technology as an enabler. The risk of a social enterprise 'bubble' was raised, as was the need to learn from failure when things don't work out. There was also some healthy debate around the nature and desirability of scale, and the problems that social enterprise might just be destined to solve.

We also saw the first screening of the On Purpose 2011 film, designed to give an insight into the whys and hows of On Purpose - if you missed it take a look on our facebook page. (Personally, I'm also looking forward to the outtakes version (coming soon!). Having both been filmed and done a couple of stints on the other side of the camera, I'm not sure what proportion of the 40-odd hours of footage were taken up by colourful language and hysteria, but it's got to be quite a lot....) Huge thanks to our friends at Cantos for their help in crafting this eclectic selection of footage into a great tour of On Purpose.

Many more 'thank yous' are certainly due - to the lovely folk at The Spring for hosting us, to The Black Dog pub for working the bar, to Tom Hughes of MicroRave for the lights and technical stuff, and of course to our brilliant speakers. Jordyan, one of this year's associates, also did a sterling job shepherding the rest of us to get everything ready on time (with a background in, among many other things, the wine industry, she was the natural party planner in the group!).

As another of this year's associates, last night reinforced to me how privileged I am to be part of this unique programme. The brilliant support (from mentors, coaches, managers and of course Tom himself), our great placement opportunities and the quality of the training available is really quite amazing. Such a lot of people (many of whom it was great to see last night) give their valuable time for free, and it all adds up to a truly inspiring experience, so again - thank you!

ICT in the Social Sector

Since beginning my placement with Comic Relief's Future Media and Technology (FM&T) team in January, every day I discover more about the essential role that information and communications technology (ICT) now plays in the social sector. Whether it is charities adopting online fundraising tools to empower their supporters to raise money for them, or social enterprises directly engaging with customers and the general public through use of social media tools like Facebook and Twitter, the message is clear: in the twenty-first century social sector organisations must get on the ICT bandwagon if they want to be sustainable. A plethora of research reports and case studies all point to the fact that strategic use of ICT tools can help organisations lower costs; raise brand awareness; attract, directly engage and retain supporters or customers, thereby raising or earning more money; and in some cases, reach more beneficiaries. For a couple of examples, check out CAF's report on new media fundraising and NCVO's ICT Foresights.

Comic Relief provides an excellent case study of an organisation (technically a charity but arguably also a social enterprise) that is seizing every opportunity to adopt, adapt, and develop new technology to continuously innovate their campaigns (their IT team is called Future Media and Technology, after all!). For Red Nose Day 2009 Comic Relief spearheaded a deal with mobile phone operators so that it could retain 100% of text donations. For this year's Red Nose Day, Comic Relief made a ground-breaking deal with Apple to be able to raise funds through its own iphone app. These and other examples of how Comic Relief is using technology strategically can be found Race Online 2012's Casebook for Charity Sustainability through Technology.

Information and communications technology is being used in the social sector to not only help organisations deliver their own solutions to whatever social problem they're targeting, but also to connect innovators, entrepreneurs and other creative thinkers to search for and develop new solutions to social problems. One example that I find incredibly exciting is Open IDEO, an online platform that enables people anywhere in the world to collaborate in order to inspire one another, develop concepts, evaluate these concepts, and design promising solutions to real social challenges. A challenge that I've recently been following is 'How might we better connect food production and consumption?' The aim is to better connect rural food production and urban food consumption to improve producer livelihoods, improve consumer health, enhance sustainability in food production, and even minimise waste and other environmental problems associated with the production, transportation and disposal of food. If you're interested click here to keep an eye on this challenge.

It's now obvious that strategic use of ICT tools can strengthen social sector organisations, potentially improving their impact in the communities in which they operate, and also better connect people who strive to find new ways to address existing social problems. The ongoing challenge for social sector organisations and individuals is to keep up with the continuous, rapid advances in technology that are occurring almost every day. It will be a difficult and time-consuming task but well worth the effort and investment.

McKinsey social enterprise competition

On Purpose is helping to promote and deliver this exciting competition for UK students. There is only just under 2 weeks in which to submit your ideas, so do get thinking!

Calling all social entrepreneurs! Have a great idea and want £5,000 funding?

McKinsey & Company are launching "McKinsey Students in Society 2011" a new social enterprise competition for university students across the United Kingdom. The competition offers a unique opportunity for students to develop project planning and business skills while seeking to make a real difference to society or local communities. To participate, teams of 3-6 students from any UK university will submit short business plans for social enterprises – financially sustainable businesses which are run to meet a social or environmental need.

The first round is a simple online process open now until Monday 21st March. Students submit a compelling social enterprise idea and describe what its impact would be on society. Six national finalists will be selected to develop their ideas in greater detail. These finalists will receive further coaching to develop their plans in preparation for the National Final in London, in May 2011. Our prestigious panel of judges from the private, public and social sectors will select the winning team and host a fun evening for all finalist participants. The winning team will receive seed funding of £5,000 for their social enterprise and ongoing support from McKinsey consultants to help get their idea off the ground.

To find out more and to submit your entry "like us" @ www.facebook.com/MSIS2011 and visit us online @ www.msis2011.mckinsey.com. To find out more about On Purpose's work in Social Enterprise, please visit www.onpurpose.uk.com

So get thinking and good luck!

The MSIS team

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McKinsey & Company is a global management consulting firm. Our clients call on us as trusted advisors to help solve some of their toughest and most critical challenges. For more information about our company and careers, please go to:
www.mckinsey.com

How Social Enterprises might change the (business) world

Social enterprises suggest a new way of doing business which provides lessons for private sector organisations and charities alike, operating efficiently whilst putting the beneficiary, the ‘social’, in a prime position.

What’s social?

Here at On Purpose we’re regularly asking “What puts the ‘social’ in social enterprise?” Is it social ownership (like Co-op), social impact, profit distribution for community goals and an involvement of beneficiaries in the spending decisions of the organisation (like HCT), or is it the general spirit of the enterprise? With no strict rules for defining social enterprises, any of these criteria could potentially fit the bill. But to be a social enterprise, no organisation can neglect the ‘enterprise’ either. Social enterprises try to take the best of business practices, operating efficiently and professionally to further their stated aims; aims which combine profit-making and social concerns.

Why bother?

But why not just have a regular business enterprise (as the BBC recently wondered)? The financial crisis reminds us that in spite of the public origins of various businesses, and of banks in particular, some have become strongly divorced from their most important resource, their customer base. Social enterprises tend to be much more locally entrenched, and prioritise social concerns too, which promises an ongoing emphasis on customers, who are inherently identified as key beneficiaries (looking beyond shareholders).

What’s next?

The social enterprise market is young but growing rapidly - various developments are expected in 2011 - from better financing, to better measurement of social impact, use of scale and engagement of marginalised populations. More broadly, I for one hope to see larger businesses learning from social enterprise’s practices (especially via social ‘intrapreneurs’), mainstreaming their Corporate Social Responsibility initiatives to cover all business practices, and, dare I suggest it, even considering becoming social enterprises!

Goodbye to Year 1 and hello Year 2

The new year is well under-way and with it the second On Purpose leadership programme.

In December we held an end-of-year event for our departing Associates, celebrating the work they have done over the year and saying thank you to all involved in making On Purpose's first year happen.

The 2010 Fellows (as they are now called) don't get away that lightly, however, and have already been roped back in to helping out with the induction training of the brand new 2011 cohort.

After 2 days of intensive training the 11 new Associates are already into their various work placements. Keep an eye on the blog for updates on their progress!

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.

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/

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.