05.05.08

NonProfit IPO: What does it mean?

Posted in exchanges, soft metrics at 10:12 pm by Andrea McGrath

While this blog focuses more on conversations and activities in the blended value space - social enterprises, social businesses, and now B corporations - we’ve also spoken with some groups in the nonprofit sector who have - or are looking to - develop ‘market-like’ mechanisms. For example, one such group is Altruistiq (see below) who are looking to build on earlier ideas of nonprofit exchanges. These earlier versions of “social stock exchanges” - which incude Bovespa and SASIX - were in reality online marketplaces that listed (and vetted to some extent) nonprofit organizations who were seeking grant funding. While these marketplaces did help to increase the visibilty of the nonprofits they listed, address some concerns about legitimacy, and bring new donors to the markets - the ‘investors’ were really donors who were giving through a new channel. There was no true exchange of stock or ‘equity’ in an organization - but rather an exchange of ‘value’ (donor funds for nonprofit achievements towards its missions)

In developing its exchange platform, Altrustiq is thinking through challenges such as how to create an added value to ‘owning’ a share in a nonprofit - as opposed to just donating in a traditional way (another challenge it is debating is creating liquidity, but more on that later…)

To this idea of the added value of owning a ’stock’ in a nonprofit - there are some real thoughtful people investigating ways to change the beneficiary-grantee dynamic and move towards an ‘exchange of value’ dynamic - which is at the heart of any exchange. On this topic, I had an interesting conversation with Paul Fordham of the nonprofit group Homeward Bound about a unique “IPO” campaign they have been running (Paul also sent me some great collateral materials on the program - including a copy of an IPO share certificate).

For Homeward Bound, IPO represents an “immediate public opportunity” to end homelessness - and it was launched as part of their capital campaign in 2007 (Warren Buffet was one of their first investors). While clearly in some ways it is a creative ‘twist’ on traditional fundraising - I think it also demonstrates this idea of communicating in a meaningful way to donors an “exchange of value”. Homeward bound developed some interesting metrics on the ROI for puchaasing one of their IPOs - with returns defined for the organization, its beneficiaries - and the donors themselves (things like special event invites, PR, etc..) - AND - specific “shareholder reports” on metrics achieved…

Interesting model… more at www.ipohomeward.com

 

 

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01.03.08

What to tell Google.org

Posted in Uncategorized, meaning as metrics, soft metrics at 8:09 pm by kevindjones

Sean Stannard Stockton is talking to Google.org next week about how to measure a non profit. He asked me to weigh in and I did here.

Sean is also tracking the GiveWell meltdown here and here  that’s also impacting xchangexchange.com blogger Lucy Bernholz, a boardmember of Givewell.

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12.29.07

Measuring meaning

Posted in meaning as metrics, soft metrics at 5:42 am by kevindjones

“I can say my measurement of my success is around how much meaning I’ve made,” ex-Apple rising star Tom Williams of Givemeaning.com in the Toronto Globe and Mail. From Gift Hub. It’s one answer to how you measure soft things. The perception of meaning.

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