A busy day all round with interesting stories, happy scrolling:
Tories Pledge To Build On Big Society In General Election Manifesto
Sam Burne James – Third Sector
The document says it will guarantee all children places on the National Citizen Service, increase the use of social impact bonds and give some employees three days of paid leave to volunteer.
Government Should Lean On The Private Sector For Social Services: US Scholar
Timna Jacks – Sydney Morning Herald
The Australian government should outsource social services to the private sector by providing tax breaks to corporations behind business ideas that help the vulnerable, leading US business scholar Mark Kramer has said.
The co-founder and MD of US-based social impact advisory firm FSG said the government played a key role in galvanising companies to come up with services that would be both lucrative for the provider, and beneficial to the disadvantaged and neglected sectors of society – a concept he labelled “shared value”.
“There is a tremendous opportunity for government to play a role in several ways. First, to the extent that business can come in and address problems and meet social needs in ways that would otherwise cost the government money, there is a strong case to be made for a subsidy or tax holiday, to encourage businesses to move in this direction,” Mr Kramer said during his visit to Australia for the Shared Value Forum on Tuesday, hosted by the National Australia Bank.
“Second, government itself is a huge purchaser of services, and by building a shared value component into their requirements, they can encourage companies to move in this way.
“It’s all about measure. Business is very used to measuring financial results, and not at all used to measuring social impacts of what they do. But by beginning to require measurement about social outcomes and social impacts, you begin to change the practice of business.”
Australian state governments are starting to lean on the corporate sector for social services, with the NSW state government introducing social benefit bond trials – a new breed of financial instrument used to help fill the funding shortfall needed to provide social services. The NSW government has promised investors a return for innovative funding schemes for welfare programs aiming to reduce the number of children needing foster care and affordable housing.
Former Mass Governor Patrick Joins Bain
CivSource
Former Massachusetts Governor Deval Patrick has joined Bain Capital. In his new role, the Governor will focus on social impact investments. Patrick has been hired as a MD.
Social impact investing is a new business line for the firm, and will build on Patrick’s use of social impact bonds in Massachusetts. Massachusetts was one of the first states in the US to use this type of bond structure for social and economic challenges.
The new business will focus on “double bottom line” investments that improve overall quality of life, or that create economic opportunities in communities which are economically distressed, overlooked by investors or otherwise in need of investment capital.