There’s an increasing sense of concern, disconnect, desperation and even hopelessness among the stakeholders that make up South Africa’s humanitarian sector – and with good reason. The sector is facing numerous challenges that not only hamper its current efficiency but also threaten its future sustainability.
8 Lessons Learned: Why development projects fail
The real value of impact assessment, not to prove – but to improve and inform: When asked to conduct impact assessments, most of the time the focus is on understanding which programmes achieved the most impact, however, the opportunity lies in understanding why some development programmes fail. This presentation shares some of our insights into project failure.
Going beyond measuring numbers
Social and impact investors have an obligation to share their impact results. But, most investors focus only on the reach aspect – that is the number of people impacted. Yet, qualitative data provide so much more depth, nuance and insight to impact results, for this reason we focus on various dimensions of impact. This presentation share some of our thoughts …
IMPACT AT SCALE
Development work is hard. Making change happen at scale is complex and there is not a linear path. Yet, achieving impact at scale is a goal many grantmakers, philanthropists, social and impact investors aim for – but this goal is not often nor easily achieved.Of course, we must also recognize that the ability to make impact in any particular focus …
Are You Ready for the Money? Capital Generation Options
Because I’ve been working in the social investment and development sector for more than 20 years, sometimes it feels like I’ve seen everything. Yet, whilst I get impatient with the time it takes to see meaningful change occur, I’m amazed at the resilience of the sector—to beat the odds time and again. What is starting to get to me though, …
Social Innovation: beyond the buzz
From organ transplant deliveries by drone to smartphone apps that help diagnose eye disease and plant-based burgers that taste just like meat right through to entrepreneurship programmes that aim to build thriving early child development centres – the social innovation sector is a varied and dynamic one that aims to find innovative solutions to some of society’s most pressing problems. …
5 Things We Have Learnt About Measuring Social Impact
Over the past seventeen years we’ve assisted numerous social investors, philanthropists, grantmakers and development organisations to not only become more sustainable, but to also create greater social impact.In the process, we’ve collected many insights into social impact innovation, social investment and development. In this article we aim to share some of our insights in the hope that it’ll contribute to …
Understanding the concept and value of social innovation
The term social innovation has been used in a number of ways. Some of the earliest references, dating back to the 1960s, use it to refer to experimental research in the social sciences and humanities. Since then, the term has been used in reference to social enterprise and social entrepreneurship, technological innovations which yield social benefits, corporate social responsibility and …
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 …
The value and importance of socio-economic research and baseline studies in social investment and development practices
Definition:Â Socio-economics is the study of the relationship between economic activity and social life. In many cases, however, socio-economists focus on the social impact of a specific kind of economic change. Such changes might include displacement of people due to a closing factory, village-to-city migration, market manipulation and even the signing of trade treaties, etc. Value:Â The goal of a socio-economic study …
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