Jed Emerson discusses blended value at Toronto's MaRS Discovery District

Betsy Martin, Senior Advisor to Community Foundations of Canada and head of its Responsible Investment Pilot Project, listened in on Janice Stein's interview (video) of Jed Emerson, the pioneer of blended value, at MaRS Discovery District in Toronto last night.

Some initial take-aways from what was a rich interview followed by lots of good discussion with a large crowd at MaRS.

Jed has been a proponent of what he calls blended value for years.  It is looking at the return on investments as a blend of financial returns and social and/or environmental impact.  It’s not having three bottom lines.  And it's less like a soup and more like a salad in which you can still taste the individual ingredients.

Jed's personal story is really interesting.  He started out as a social worker and now works for a hedge fund in NY.  After years as a social worker and running non-profits, he ended up burnt out and cynical about the non-profit world and the fact that how most non-profit organizations get funded has nothing to do what they really accomplish.  He now works to make the case to direct capital to companies and organizations that deliver the best blended value.

Jed has a real challenge to the traditional approach to philanthropy. 

After he left his last non-profit organization, he started to work with a philantropist who, like Jed, was really bothered by the fact that there is no logic to the capital structure in the non-profit sector.  As a friend of his described it, the philanthropy funding model is to “let a thousand flowers wither” because we have no model for growing the funding for ideas and organizations that are making a difference.  Good ideas may get initial funding, but there is no structure like there is in business financing to move up the investment ladder to be able to attract greater investment as you prove that you have a successful model.

So they started to apply an impact investment model to working on homelessness and they came up with a couple of sets of indices to track whether or not they were making a difference.  One set was on the business performance and one set was on the social outcomes over time of the homeless organizations they worked with.  And they also gathered stories about the people the organizations helped find the way out of homelessness.  All of that was the blended value of the foundation’s investment in homelessness and they could tell which organizations they were funding had the greatest impact and direct further investments accordingly.  And those investments were not just grants – they included loans, mortgages and other investments that allowed successful organizations to grow, plan for the future and diversify their own funding. 

As the whole area of impact investing has grown in recent years, there are more and more metrics becoming available to track environmental and social impacts to help foundations and others figure out where their investments can make the most difference.

Which brings me to his other message to foundations:  that the grants made by foundations are just one relatively small tool in the toolbox.   As Jed described it -  If you were trying to get me to invest in your company and said that you'd use 5 cents of every dollar I invest for your business and put 95 cents in the bank, I'd think you were crazy.  But that's been the standard foundation model.  It's changing and it's fascinating to see how foundations are rethinking this model and how to use more of their assets to invest in making real impact on our social and environmental challenges.

More on how that’s changing later…

Additional Resources

• www.blendedvalue.org 
• Impact Investing - the Rockefeller Foundation
• Socialfinance.ca
  

A vibrant city needs vital information to thrive

Eva Friesen is the President & CEO of The Calgary Foundation. This piece originally appeared in The Calgary Herald on October 29, 2009

Relative to many other cities in the world, Calgary is a dynamic young city that has seen a very high rate of growth, surging to over one million in just over a century. We pride ourselves on our 'can do' attitude, high level of education, employment opportunities, increasing cultural diversity, willingness to volunteer, and access to great parks and pathways. Others think of us as an economic powerhouse and globally, we rate very high for safety and livability.

Yet, in a recent survey, Calgarians gave their quality of life a "B" grade. While not a bad grade, the question remains, how can Calgary do better?

Earlier this month the Calgary Foundation released Calgary's VitalSigns, our 2009 Citizens' Report Card. Over 1,700 citizens and community partners contributed towards developing a snapshot of quality of life in Calgary. Unlike many report cards, not only does VitalSigns provide up to date statistics covering 12 key areas of quality of life in our city, but citizens are invited to grade these areas so that we can take the pulse of our city based on both the facts and perceptions of Calgarians.

Coming as it did in the middle of the worst economic downturn in 80 years, one might be excused for thinking that Calgarians were feeling less than bullish about their city this year.

Not so. Despite the tough economic times, citizen perception of the way things are did not drop in any of the report's categories from last year's scores. While this perhaps speaks to the genuine pride most Calgarians have in their city, as well as an undeniable drive to "tough things out", it also speaks to the need to have solid information and continued citizen engagement about the results.

After all, while it is good that the grades were no worse this year, it should matter that we have seen sense of community belonging drop sharply, voter turnout continue to decline, charitable donations fall, and emergency room wait times increase.

Similarly, while Calgary's unemployment rate remains one of the lowest in the country, it has doubled over the past year, resulting in higher food bank usage, more homelessness, a rise in personal bankruptcies and more high-risk calls to Distress Centre Calgary. Of course, the bad news is tempered by many areas that merit applause--assets to build upon as we look for ways to improve our overall performance.

This year these included the curbside recycling program, which will double the volume of material diverted from landfills; water conservation efforts that are on target to meet the city's sustainable water use target by 2033; a violent crime rate that is much lower than the national average; high library usage; the highest score in the country for lifelong learning; and a 10-year plan to end homelessness that is on track to add 891 units of affordable housing by 2011.

These results speak to a pervasive need to have a different kind of conversation about what is really happening in our city. We need to ensure our actions are informed by the best information available, both factual and perceptual. Systems scientists call this feedback, and it should underpin any conversation about the real pulse of Calgary.

The power of good feedback is remarkable. For example, in a housing development in the Netherlands, electric meters were accidentally installed in the basements of some houses and in the front halls of otherwise identical houses. Electricity use in the houses where the meters were easily visible was 30 per cent more efficient than in the houses where the meters were out of sight. The only difference was the ability to effectively monitor what was going on. So, how can Calgary do better?

As we reflect on the vitality of our city--and the social, cultural, economic and environmental conditions that support or erode resilience-- one response is to continue to improve the breadth and sophistication of how we monitor and celebrate our progress and how we work together to change course when necessary. Community engagement is vital to this process.

Two good upcoming examples are Bowness VitalSigns (PDF) and Youth VitalSigns (Spring 2010). These focused reports will seed conversations and increase our city's capacity to address issues and celebrate success--and hopefully they will be role models for further innovation.

Early in the new year, The Calgary Foundation, in partnership with community partners, will be hosting Vital Conversations (PDF), dynamic community forums inviting citizen engagement around the results of the 2009 report and input toward development of the 2010 report.

Our ability to improve how we monitor our progress and measure what matters also rests on the availability of credible and relevant indicators. This can be a major barrier to telling the full story of quality of life in our city. For this reason, we are calling for opportunities to work collaboratively to identify and develop new and compelling indicators that will enhance our collective capacity to keep a keen eye on our performance.

While getting an "A" for quality of life may remain elusive for a while yet, The Calgary Foundation is committed to continuing to work with community partners to ensure we earn high marks for our combined efforts to monitor and respond to both the good news and challenges affecting quality in life in Calgary.

Our city deserves nothing less; a vital city needs vital information to thrive.

Poverty Reduction Key to Canada’s Economic Recovery

Campaign 2000 is a cross-Canada public education movement to build Canadian awareness and support for the 1989 all-party House of Commons resolution to end child poverty in Canada by the year 2000. Jacquie Maund is the Coordinator for the Ontario Campaign 2000.


Canada’s economic recovery hinges on federal leadership to pull recession victims out of the poor house and prevent Canadians from plunging into deeper poverty, hunger and homelessness, says Campaign 2000’s new report card on child and family poverty.

Keep the Promise: Make Canada Poverty-Free looks at the nation’s most recent child and family after-tax poverty rate compared to 20 years ago, when Parliament unanimously resolved to end child poverty by 2000, and finds today’s after-tax rate is 9.5 per cent, a slight budge from 11.9 per cent in 1989.

“If Canada were a student, she would be in danger of dropping out,” says Campaign 2000’s Laurel Rothman. “Following an unprecedented period of growth since 1998, the small change in the rate of child and family poverty is shocking.

“As Canada develops strategies to foster economic growth and recovery, the most strategic decision the federal government could make would be to take leadership and set a target to lower the poverty rate.”

The report card’s key findings, available at www.campaign2000.ca, show Canada has far to go to prevent and reduce poverty:

·         One in 10 children still live in poverty in Canada today. It’s worse for children living in First Nation’s communities: one in four grow up in poverty;

• There are more working poor: 40 per cent of low-income children live in families where at least one parent works full-time year round, up dramatically from 33 per cent in the 1990s;
• Child poverty is persistent across Canada: rates of child and family poverty (LICO before-tax) are in the double digits in most provinces.
• The gap between rich and poor has widened:  On average, for every dollar the families in the poorest 10 per cent had, families in the richest 10 per cent had almost 12 times as much ($11.84) in 2007.

“Canada could succeed if our federal government used public policy resources to improve labour market options and make our tax system more progressive,” says Ed Broadbent, the former New Democratic Party leader who moved the 1989 motion to end child poverty by the year 2000.

“All Canadians will benefit from less poverty,” says Peggy Taillon, President of the Canadian Council on Social Development. “As a society we either share the collective responsibility to prevent child and family poverty or we face rising costs in health care services, criminal justice and education.”

“Now that seven out of 10 provinces have committed to poverty reduction, it’s time for the federal government to exercise leadership and develop a clear plan with targets and timetables,” says Sid Frankel, Social Planning Council of Winnipeg.

Making Guelph a better place

Jim Reid recently joined the Guelph Community Foundation as a volunteer. This piece was published in the Nov 13, 2009 edition of the Guelph Tribune.

Is Guelph “the most caring community in Canada”? Last year Maclean’s magazine gave our city this honour because we have more community volunteers per capita than any other city in the country.

I was surprised by this news, and then thankful that I live in a community where volunteers, churches, foundations and unsung heroes work to make Guelph a better place. 
 
Guelph Community Foundation is one of these groups. Since its inception in 2000, the foundation has directed $1.3 million to community organizations that are working to make Guelph a better place to live. The foundation’s current assets are $6.4 million.

The Tribune reported in August that the foundation helped out to the tune of $127,000 in 2009. The Guelph Community Foundation provided these grants to 47 local charitable organizations in our city and Wellington County. The grants ranged from $500 to $40,961. The foundation also awarded an additional $50,000 as part of its Building Vital Communities, and poverty-related grants in September.

The Guelph Community Foundation is one of many community foundations across Canada that disburse hundreds of millions of dollars to worthy causes in the communities they serve.

The advantage of a community foundation is that it centralizes the administration, management, awarding and receipting of multiple grants from multiple donors to multiple recipients. The foundation’s board of directors in each community is drawn from community leaders and volunteers. The grants committee of the Guelph Community Foundation reviews and recommends the awarding of local grants. The grants are primarily awarded in these general categories: Arts and Culture, Children and Youth, Education, Environment, Health, Social Services, and Research and Development.

Guelph Community Foundation grants this year have helped out familiar groups such as Wyndham House and the Guelph Humane Society. They also assisted environmental organizations such as the Guelph Field Naturalists and the Grand River Conservation Foundation. The foundation placed grants from anonymous donors with the charity of their choice.

The Guelph Community Foundation also regularly circulates an online Vital Signs questionnaire to hundreds of Guelph and Wellington residents. The questions concern approximately 11 local issues such as poverty, education, crime and health.

The answers are collated into a report card format to provide a snapshot of the quality of life in Guelph, and the areas for improvement.

In conjunction with other charitable organizations, the foundation works toward making Guelph a better place over the course of the next year.

Late last month, the Canadian government declared Nov. 15 to be National Philanthropy Day. Locally, philanthropy means giving to make Guelph and Wellington a better place.

The Philanthropy Day celebration falls on Sunday this weekend. Wherever you are this Sunday, whether with friends, family or with someone you are helping through a difficult time, it may be a good day to be thankful.

Thankful that we live in Guelph, one of many caring communities in Canada.

Charitable donations dropped 5.3% in 2008: StatsCan

The Canadian Press

Reported charitable donations surpassed $8.1 billion in 2008, down 5.3% from 2007. But Statistics Canada says, based on tax returns, the number of donors increased 1.7% to just under 5.8 million.


The agency says the median donation was $250 in 2008, meaning half of the donors gave more and half less -- unchanged from 2007.


Donors in Nunavut reported a median donation of $500, tops in the nation for the ninth straight year.

Donors in Prince Edward Island had the second highest median at $370, followed by those in Alberta with $360.

Donors in Abbotsford-Mission, B.C., had by far the highest median donation among cities at $600, the sixth straight year they have led the way.

Kelowna, B.C., followed with a median of $380, slightly ahead of Calgary with $360.

Community foundations launch toolkit to encourage advisors to ‘Ask the Giving Question’

OTTAWA (Nov. 12, 2009) – As National Philanthropy Day approaches on November 15, Community Foundations of Canada is launching an online toolkit to encourage financial, investment and legal advisors to ‘ask the giving question’ in their discussions with clients over the coming year.

“We know that 21% of Canadians account for 82% of the donations to charity in this country,” said Monica Patten, President and CEO of Community Foundations of Canada. “We also know individuals are three times more likely to include charity in their will when the issue is raised by a lawyer, accountant or an investment or financial advisor. We developed this toolkit to share our experience with advisors, in the hopes that it can lead to more giving.”

“Many advisors are eager to start discussing philanthropy with their clients, but it can feel like a daunting exercise when you’re not an expert, said Mathieu Paradis, Certified Financial Planner, Wealth Strategies, Investment and Financial Planning. “This new toolkit provides an easy way for advisors to access the information they need to get started.”

Professional Advisors eResource
The online toolkit, called Professional Advisors eResource, offers advisors a wide range of basic and more technical information about charitable giving including:

•    Adding giving to your practice
•    Talking about charitable giving
•    Detailed information on six common gift options
•    Handouts that advisors can personalize and to share with clients
•    Donor stories that illustrate how giving can be used to help clients meet their financial and personal goals

The toolkit can be found at http://www.cfc-fcc.ca/pa-eresource/. Advisors can also sign up for the site’s RSS feed to keep up to date on the latest news about charitable giving.

Vital Signs determines key priorities in Waterloo Region

CFC's Vital Signs Canada blog is featuring guest bloggers who are experts on various aspects of community vitality. Today's contributor is Rosemary Smith, CEO of The Kitchener and Waterloo Community Foundation


 What are the people of Waterloo Region most concerned about?  Where do we need to improve and what are we doing well?  Where should we, as a community, devote time and energy if we want to ensure that our Region is a healthy, vital place to live, work, play, and grow?
 
These are some of the questions that The Kitchener and Waterloo Community Foundation (KWCF) in partnership with the Cambridge & North Dumfries Community Foundation attempt to answer with the third Waterloo Region’s Vital Signs report.  Providing us with reliable and valid data, this learning tool has helped us identify key priorities important to the overall health of our Region.

For instance; low literacy and learning findings from the first two reports were behind The KWCF’s decision to make a $100,000 four-year commitment to the Pathways to Education program.  They were also behind this year’s strategic grant of supporting intergenerational family literacy with Project READ’s Get Set Learn 2 program.  In fact, in 2008, the largest grants made by The KWCF’s Community Fund went to support the top four priority areas outlined in the 2007 Vital Signs report: Arts & Culture, Housing, Health & Wellness, and Learning.
 
As community foundations, it is essential that we have a good understanding of the needs and trends of the communities we serve.  Whether it’s connecting donors to opportunities, making impactful grants, or providing leadership on issues of importance, we need to know what makes our community tick.
 
With each Vital Signs report we have gained a better understanding of the every day enjoyment and satisfaction experienced by those living in the Region of Waterloo.  In addition, each report has shown us that many of the quality of life issues being faced by our communities are interrelated.  For example: finding affordable housing can impact the number of people being forced to move further away and therefore effects both transportation and the environment by the number of cars on the road.  Having a vibrant arts community entices people to move to a city and directly impacts the health of the local economy.  Helping those less fortunate can lead to a decrease in health concerns and provide a stronger sense of belonging. 
 
Waterloo Region’s Vital Signs is both a celebration and an important reality check. It provides us with an opportunity to keep an eye on the future. Using Vital Signs as a tool for learning, each year we highlight a few areas on which we think a closer look must be taken.  These areas help us to focus our grant making and support others in the work that they are doing.  This year’s areas included: a lack of spending from our regional, provincial, national, and private sectors in arts and culture, concerns over the fact that many of our residents do not eat the suggested five to 10 servings of fruits and vegetables a day, a declining elder poverty rate, that we have fewer child care spaces available for our families and that we lag behind the province with our investment in child care overall.
 
In conclusion, recognizing and understanding all of these connections is vital to everyone living and working in Waterloo Region.  Only by working together do we have the ability to create positive change where it’s needed most.