Impact Investing for Philanthropists

Grantmakers, donors, philanthropists and corporate social investors in South Africa are ready to enter the field of impact investing. Impact investing not only provide an opportunity for the social sector to have access to new capital, but also to leverage, scale and build on existing impact strategies and investments. Similarly, it provides a link between existing funding initiatives and an opportunity to scale the work already underway with social enterprises across industry sectors such as agriculture, education and health. Truly an existing time for the sector.

Impact driven social investment

Grantmakers, donors, philanthropists and corporate social investors can choose among a multitude of ways to apply their philanthropic resources. Some donors derive great satisfaction from supporting a few nonprofit organizations that address their areas of concern and demonstrate a solid track record. They may support the same organizations year after year, as long as they see evidence of good management …

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Revolutionising monitoring and evaluation through impact measurement

The advent of the SDGs, growing dissatisfaction with current economic models, the explosion of impact investing, impact measurement and other innovative finance models coupled with the potential that the fourth industrial revolution presents and the growing ubiquity of digital technology has created the context in which an overhaul of current monitoring and evaluation practices is required. Robert Picciotto says in …

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Strengthening the impact investor, philanthropist and social enterprise relationship

An Impact investor is often seen by many as an effective way to finance the achievement of the Sustainable Development Goals. Much is made of the trillions of dollars invested each year by investors and how this cash could be utilised to transform the humanitarian sector. But there is still remains a lot of uncertainty on how effective impact investing …

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What to Expect From Our Impact Assessment Process & Why Is It Important?

Oftentimes social investors, grant-makers and donors are put off by the cost of an impact assessment.  But the cost of an impact assessment is directly related to the size of the investment, number of investments made, programs funded, location and the scale & size of these interventions. In addition, it’s influenced by how much information is available (i.e. strategies, monitoring …

Social capital – its value and how to measure it

The newly revisited concept of social capital is now prominent in several fields of social science. For Next Generation Consultants, the concept became important with the introduction of the integrated reporting framework that requires companies and organisations to report on how their activities either contribute to or diminish capital formation. The International Integrated Reporting Council’s guidance suggests that a company’s …

Determining impact and return on investment: Searching for a holy grail?

Assessing the impact of sustainable development programmes, especially ongoing performance measurement and management, has gained momentum in recent years. The interest and growth in numerous approaches, technologies, processes and systems that aim to understand the difference a development intervention can make can be attributed to impact investors’ and other stakeholders’ expectations. But determining impact and return on investment can at …