Guest Blogger: Nell Edgington, Social Velocity

September 17th, 2009 - Posted by Nell Edgington - No Comments

Growing Sustainable Social Impact

America is facing unprecedented social, economic, environmental and cultural challenges. As our population continues to grow, our need for new ideas to solve these challenges increases. Social innovation consists of new ideas that solve social problems, like social entrepreneurship, social enterprise, venture philanthropy, strategic fundraising, growth and capacity capital, and social investing. Social innovation is happening along the American coasts, but less so in the middle of the country.

At its essence, social innovation is about a growing convergence of the three sectors (private, government and nonprofit) that have previously remained largely separate. We must reconfigure the assets of all three sectors and turn them into more effective, more productive, higher functioning sectors that can work with, not separate from, each other to create solutions.

What does this mean for nonprofit organizations that have been working to create social impact for a long time? It means we need to increase the amount of money available to the nonprofit sector. It means we need to help nonprofits become more effective at solving the root causes of social problems. It means we need to create sustainable revenue engines for social impact organizations. It means we need to ensure that the majority of nonprofit organizations that have an interest in and capacity for growth have access to growth capital and management expertise to scale. It means that policy makers need to remove some of the many hurdles in the way of nonprofits. It means we need to overcome the bias against building the capacity of nonprofit organizations. It means nonprofit boards of directors must step up and invest in organization building. And much more.

If you are interested in learning more about social innovation and what it means for nonprofit organizations, join me at the 2009 Governor’s Nonprofit Leadership Conference from December 9 – 10, 2009, in Dallas. I will be leading two sessions on social innovation. The session description is below. I hope to see you there!

Thinking Outside the Box: Social Innovation for Nonprofits

In this seminar, attendees will learn how to employ new models in the social and philanthropic sectors (including social entrepreneurship, venture philanthropy, growth capital, strategic fundraising and social enterprise) so they can more effectively address the social issues in their communities. If nonprofit organizations are strategic with the resources at their disposal, they will be better able to confront social challenges. Particularly in the midst of the economic downturn, nonprofits need new ideas and models for doing what they do more effectively and strategically.

About the Author: Nell Edgington is President of Social Velocity, a social innovation company that helps nonprofits and social businesses grow and generate new revenue.

Tags: GNLC 2009·Nonprofit Organizations·OneStar Foundation·Social Impact·Social Innovation