The MasterCard Foundation - one of Canada's largest - is independent, private foundation based in Toronto, with an endowment of over $1 billion. The Foundation primarily invests in microfinance and youth education, and has recently made some significant investments in microfinance internationally. The Foundation is hiring for a Program Manager for the Microfinance Program.
Investing Responsibly in Canada: Yes it's RRSP season again, and thegreenpages.ca has pulled together a useful guide of some of the key resources and RRSP-eligible funds that you can invest in.
The Potential for Social Entrepreneurship in Ontario (via Tonya Surman's blog): Working paper by Andrea Baldwin from Canadian Business for Social Responsibility on why social entrepreneurship can be an important driver of economic and social growth, and what conditions are needed for social entrepreneurship to reach its growth potential in Ontario.
First Loss Capital (hat tip: Tactical Philanthropy): The Lemelson Foundation in Portland has started a financing program, First Loss Capital, to help help nonprofits and social entreprises obtain debt financing through a “cash cushion” into the deal.
Investing in Microfinance Funds: Despite (or because of?) the financial turmoil in credit markets, there have recently been a string of investments in microfinance funds.
Turning on the Development Finance Tap: An interesting article from Ethical Corporation Magazine around the potential overlap between development policy and base of the pyramid business in emerging markets.
Riskmetrics to Acquire Innovest: The combination of two prominent providers of ESG research and analysis, RiskMetrics Group and Innovest Strategic Value Advisors, should greatly enhance the quantity and quality of data available to socially responsible investors, and go some way towards pushing the boundaries of the measurement/metrics debate.
Why Philanthropy Wins in a Web 2.0 Culture: An excellent post by Sean from Tactical Phlanthropy on the role of social media for philanthropy. The implications are profound - read it!
10 online resources for social entrepreneurs: Dan Martin's list includes Social Edge, UnltdWorld, Ashoka, and Change.org
This blog was first published on December 31st, 2008 on the PLAN Institute for Caring Citizenship website. Al Etmanski, co-founder of PLAN, has been described as the Jimmy Pattison of the social sector. He is one of the first two Canadians elected to the prestigious Ashoka global fellowship of social entrepreneurs.
New infrastructure spending in response to our economic crisis is expected to produce multiple wins – jumpstarting the economy, providing employment, repairing our aging sewers, roads and bridges and expanding transit services. Another potential big win is possible – ending the scourges of poverty, homelessness, child hunger, loneliness and exclusion.
The voluntary sector in Canada is a key part of Canada’s economic engine. It employs 12% of our active workforce, as many full time workers as all branches of the manufacturing sector combined and has an annual payroll of $22 billion. Its $120 billion in annual expenditures is more than Canada’s retail, mining, oil and gas sectors combined. Studies suggest a high correlation between stimulating spending in the voluntary sector and new jobs.
But it is caught in a double bind. It faces the same challenges as other sectors of our economy - lack of investment in infrastructure and access to capital - while demand for taking care of society’s most vulnerable increases.
The Skoll Awards for Social Entrepreneurship are accepting applications until March 3rd, 2009! This prestigious award is provided to social entrepreneurs from around the world whose work has the potential for large-scale influence on critical challenges of our time. The 3-year award supports the continuation, replication or extension of programs that have proved successful in addressing a broad array of critical social issues.
The following is a guest post by Richard Bridge, Barrister & Solicitor from Nova Scotia, based on his presentation delivered at the Social Finance Forum in Toronto on November 18, 2008.
I have had the good fortune to look at the UK and US hybrid models in some detail through a project initiated by Stacey Corriveau of the Fraser Valley Centre for Social Enterprise with support from Coast Capital Savings Credit Union. This project has involved a group of bright folks experienced with social enterprise in various ways debating the relative merits of the UK and US structural approaches and possible lessons for Canada. It is a lively debate, but no consensus has emerged as to whether something similar would be helpful to social enterprise in Canada.
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Your Guide helps social entrepreneurs learn how to attract financing for their social ventures.
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Your Guide to Social Finance
SocialFinance.ca hosts an online guide that helps social entrepreneurs learn how to attract financing for their social ventures.
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