what's the most popular?

I've often found myself in politically tense positions over supporting groups to identify and adopt their legal form, particuarly where there's a funding/commissioning body/'mainstream' support agency in the wings encouraging them to pursue a particular formb with little regard to others.

My standing line in such instances has always (and will always) be: inform yourself, consider what you feel imporatant in relation to your values, governance, accountability and future direction and then pick a form that best matches.

And its therefore heartening (to me at least) to look at some recent statistics on the formation rates within the third sector by legal form as reported by the various regulatory bodies:

in 2008/9:
4,953 new charities,
appox. 9,500 not-for-profit companies (companies limited by gurantee rather than share, although this is a very crude measure as there are social enterprises with private and public share capital),
227 Industrial and Provident Societies,
814 CICs

(LLPs are not included due to their not being as easy to seperate out those LLP's operating as social enterprise/co-ops/etc from legal firms, accountants, etc, as it is by looking at the 'overview' of other legal forms: also, this is the first time I've compliled this list, so will try and include when I review it next year?)

It seems to endorse my position about legal structure: - the figures show that there is still a great variety of legal form being adopted with the most popular being a CLG - the form that I usually suggest as a 'default position' as its the quickest, easiest and cheapest to set up (or should be...), and also the most compatable with CIC and Charity forms, as well as being the easiest to change the rules of, or to change to another form from, at a future date.

But what of your experinces? I'm open to being challened on my interpretation of these figures (as I am on just about all views I hold), so feel free to post a comment below...

"we're bigger than Jesus..."

...so John Lennon famoulsy said in 1980 - implying that the church's role in society was waning and it was the new rock and roll that was the bigger influence in peoples' lives.

But accordingy to recent reports, could charity now be becomming 'bigger than Jesus' as well? Recent surveys highlight that charities are more influencial than the church in shaping our values and the Pope has also indicated publicly that its charities that will be our salvation (from the curent economic crisis) and so our sector leaders are courting his blessing on us...

Are we the new Beatles?

or should we be concerned that as a society our values are eroding and being placed increasing on transient fashions?

why we shouldn't listen to the experts at the Financial Times...

so the FT thinks, in its wisdom, that social enterprises should conform more to the accepted norms of the private sector in order to be able to elicit more support (money) from the established order (see SE Livewire story here)

Well - maybe I'm missing something here, but isn't it because of the 'established order' and traditional private sector that we've had recessions, are driven by profit margins rather than balancing compassion with costs, and generally see the rise in societal inequality?

I think it should be US that's talking to the FT and its consitiency to show them that its their structures that are flawed and don't make sense - after all, on what basis should people who are already wealthy be able to invest money in companies and then sit back, do nothing, and become even more wealthy while those lower down the food chain struggle to make ends meet on a weekly, or even daily, basis?

Maybe the time for revolution is drawing ever closer... or maybe its just time for me to get down from my soapbox.


and this also links back to a published article I wrote a little while back that questions the need for our sector to rely on financig by external bodies when we've such a good track record of doing it for ourselves - link here

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...