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Performance measurement is at the heart of all efforts by social investors and grantmakers to make social/community investment and development more effective. Philanthropists, donors, social and impact investors, governments and dev...
Aligning philanthropy and social development with Sustainable Development Goals
The adoption of the Sustainable Development Goals by the United Nations in 2015 has resulted in a seismic shift in the social development and humanitarian sectors. The 17 SDGs offer a blueprint that aims to align economic, social and env...
Reporting on stakeholder engagement
Sustainability and integrated reporting guidelines and frameworks require in-depth reporting on stakeholder relationships and engagement activities. However, it seems that companies are at a loss of how to engage, what to engage on, ho...
The importance of human rights management for business
A strategy for risk management and proactive stakeholder engagementBusiness has previously regarded the protection of human rights as a moral imperative. Today, human rights management and due diligence policies are required for good gov...
Dominant grantmaking trends in 2017: Assessing the year so far
Like any business or personal relationship, successful grantmaking is essentially about savvy expectation management. Whether it be the expectations of policymakers and strategists, social investors, donors and funders, beneficiaries, vo...
2018 CSI trends, forecasts and impacts – presentation
The days of funding out of a moral or compliance imperative are over; instead, development financing is seen as a good investment, providing valuable returns and commercial opportunity, while contributing to positive and sustainable...
Implementing social innovation strategies at a systemic level: A wish list for 2018
Spring has officially sprung and we’re heading towards the planning phase for the forthcoming financial year. There is no better time to clean out the CSI closet and consider more innovative approaches that can equip us to better manag...
Social investors now want to see impact, sustainability – and ROI (2018 CSI trends media release)
12 April 2018 Investing in social and developmental causes has become increasingly innovative lately, moving away from one-directional donations and suchlike. Social investors now use a mix of finance models to put their money where it h...
Community engagement 101
Presentation regarding stakeholder management for community relations, investment and development practitioners....
Social value and return on investment
Lets talk about social return on investmentGrantmakers, donors and philanthropists want nothing else, but to make an impact with their investments. So do companies, foundations and trusts. And – if you are a more commercially incli...
Evidence of impact and return – 2015
This presentation was given at the Sustainable Brands Africa Conference in May 2016. It provides case studies and lessons learnt of conducting numerous impact assessments. It also provides advice of how to conduct impact assessments,...
Using Innovative finance for new economic models in a new world
“We are at the beginning of a mass extinction and all you can talk about is money and fairy tales of eternal economic growth. How dare you!” thundered climate activist Greta Thunberg at the 2019 UN General Assembly. The Swedish teena...
What is wrong with current monitoring and evaluation practices?
Questions about whether development programmes “work” have preoccupied the development sector for a long time. In today’s reality of continued economic hardship, coupled by diminishing resources and mounting sector scepticism, deve...
How to develop an effective impact report
Communicating impact is growing in importance as more and more stakeholders in the development sector begin to see the value in sharing their journeys and success stories. In a previous article we touched on the importance of transparenc...
How stakeholder engagement improves community development projects and programmes
Engagement refers to the many ways in which companies connect with and involve stakeholders and the community in the development and implementation of community initiatives. Engagement covers a range of participation options, ranging fro...
The good, the bad and the ugly of pitching for funding
A new trend is sweeping the globe, the advent of the challenge fund which invites social entrepreneurs who are pitching for funding in a competition space. From Barloworld’s Mbewu programme which will see R30 million awarded to social ...
Social capital – measuring the unmeasurable
"Social capital” as a concept is relatively new, multifaceted and imprecise. “Hard data” on what it is and how it should be measured is therefore not readily available. Companies often only report on the money they invest in commu...
Funder collaborations – approach with caution
Whether we choose to label the state of the world as a global polycrisis (focusing on multiple crises) or a permacrisis (focusing on the long-lasting impact of crises) is to some extent a matter of semantics. The reality is that we are...
Using effective indicators to measure progress on human rights management
The relevance of measuring, managing and reporting on business and human rights indicators cannot be overstated. Valid and reliable indicators could be useful to: assess the size of the human rights issues that companies face; track corporat...
2017 CSI trends, forecasts and impacts – executive summary
Grantmaking: Executive Summary of research report 2017/2018: Reflections and insights from Africa regarding the social investment and development sectors....