all social accounts are a fiction...

...so said Steve Wyler, CEO of the Development Trusts Association in the opening address of this years' Social Audit Network conference.

And you know what - I think I agree with his argument: the relationships between what we do and the effects we claim to create can be 'hazy' at best, and the metrics and systems we create to quantify these are also currently relatively limited and varied; so, technically speaking, social accounts include a greater or lesser degree of 'made up' narrative of how we see we've impacted the world for the better. BUT what they do offer us, and the true value of them, are the stories they allow us to tell - and stories, as Steve reminded us all, are the most powerful tool we have to create social change.

The conference was also useful as it gave platform to the Social Return on Investment model (which I'd always been wary of), but was encouraged to hear from the SROI project that its not meant to be taken as an absolute financial value in abstract than can be used in like-for-like comparisons, but rather that its true value is in allowing an organisation to allow the people its benefitted to identify and prioritise what they see as being the ways in which that organisation has improved their lives, and what they see the value of that being to them - a true grass roots / bottom-up approach rather than a mandated top-down policy initaitive...

All in all, a good day to reflect, to be challenged, and to make new friends...

( - but that's a blog entry for another day...)

when is social enterprise like a toilet?

...when Social Enterprise Day (19 Nov 2009) is the same day as World Toilet Day

How could no-one have spotted this before?

(insert your own punchlines...)

the secret to success!

in my capacity as an advisor, trainer and consultant to various groups at various stages in their life, I'm often asked if there's a secret to success - is there something that you can do that will virtually guarantee that your group/enterprise/project will be a success.

well - there is one specific ' third sector/social enterprise trade secret', and here it is:

(if you're having trouble with the above, you can also watch this clip on you tube here)

is the traditional entrepreneur a thing of the past?

Small businesses are usually all about the individual entrepreneur - pursuing their vision in a way that they feel most appopriate and comfortable with.

But increasingly (and as reported in The Times) these small firms are forming co-operatives in order to better trade, better meet their needs, and ulimately prosper - are we therefore seeing the start of the end of the individual entrepreneur and the emergence of the 'group entreprenuer' using models forged with the social and co-operative economy?

It used to be that we looked to private business for tools to better 'raise our game', feels a bit strange that they're now looking to us for inspiration and supportive ideas and models...

Corporate philanthropy - why its good that its not just about the money anymore...

there's a growing trend in the financing of our 'third' sector - increasingly private businesses (cue the usual 'boo - hiss') are investing in charities and social enterprise through gifts, support, sponsorship, philanthropy and other means.



Some see this as a cynical 'green wash' campaign on their part, others as a sign of the increasing maturity of our society as those leading such corporations realise that it is not only possible, but also beneficial, to consider the role of their companies in doing more than just making money.




Historically, these philanthropists have had a mindet that meant they wished to 'give something back' and so handed over the money and let the recipients 'get on with it'. But increasingly, and likely coupled with the shifts in demands for greater transparency and accountability that all sectors are experiencing, philanthropists today are wanting to get more 'hands on' and do more than just hand over a cheque and have the usual accompanying photo shoot.

For many groups, this will likely cause a knee-jerk reaction along the lines of "how dare they presume to tell us how we should be doing things - we're not like big private businesses!", but that's missing the point - these corporate philanthropists have great skills in financial management, raising money, marketing, HR, ... exactly the sorts of areas that we as a sector increasingly accept that we are in need of strengthening ourselves in.

So lets embrace this new generation of philanthropists - and a recent ebook (free to download) sets out some interesting and useful theories and structures to support us to do this:
'Just Another Emperor? by Michael Edwards'

secrets revealed!

my last post highlighted the reluctance of the Office of the Third Sector to divulge the review of their core funding to a number of sector bodies on the grounds that it would do more harm than good to do so...



well - they've now decided in light of their decision being challenged to now release them!
click here for links to access the reports, and here for Charity Finance's feelings about the whole process (it was they who asked for them to be released initially)


and ThirdSector have also now posted links to all the individual reports too, which seem to give glowing praise all round, so why all the secrecy to begin with..?

What are we/they hiding?

a recent enquiry by Charity News Alert to the Office of the Third Sector to ask about how their core funding to 11 national infrastructure bodies in our sector is going has been rejected on grounds that '...it would do more harm than good to make that information public...'!!

But surely this decision only fuels speculation that things must be going very badly, or else why would they not want to be open and transparent? After all, all front line groups are expected to be forthcoming with information about their performance - good and bad, so why is the Governement and our sector representative and infrastructure bodies (who lead these calls for greater trasparancy) apparently exempt themselves?

By not revealing anything, we assume the worse - that up to £26m of government money is being squandered, and that there are gross inefficiencies amongst the 'great and the good' in our sector.

Even if there is bad news to tell, surely better to be open and explain how its being addressed and learnt from rather than hiding behind the veil of 'small print' clauses in the Freedom of Information Act?

22nd September - this story is now updated here