Innovation lessons of past decades have fallen by the wayside. Challenges offer better value for money, more diversity of approaches, and a means to shape markets ripe for development – and could provide the moonshot advances that society needs.
Greater use of tiered funding, innovation challenges and outcomes finance will help organisations across the impact space “blaze new paths to shape our world for the better”, EVPA Conference delegates told.
Social sector organisations – and those they exist to help – have been deeply shaken by Covid-19. As they tread slowly towards a longed-for recovery phase, Big Issue Invest CEO Danyal Sattar shares what social investors can do now to support them.
Large firms tend to dedicate CSR efforts to tracking and measuring, while their innovation teams focus on growth. It’s time to connect the two – or miss a massive opportunity to drive social impact.
Almost half of social enterprises are led by women, finds the latest German Social Entrepreneurship Monitor. And more than 80% say their product or service is a market first.
“Innovation is merely creative masturbation” – Liam Black writes candidly about turning creative ideas into tangible business opportunities in the next extract of his book The Social Entrepreneur’s A to Z.
Action Aid and New Philanthropy Capital have released a collection of essays spelling out the benefits of innovation. Rodney Schwartz of impact investors ClearlySo is also a fan, as he explains here.
The overriding culture in public services is "to avoid failure at all costs rather than chasing the next big idea". Andrew Laird argues this must change and looks to the likes of Dyson and the traditional design and manufacturing sector for inspiration.
This week the 31st annual Volunteers’ Week aims to encourage millions of people across the UK to give up some of their time in the name of social impact. Code Club's Sarah Sheerman Chase offers her top tips on engaging volunteers online.
