PLY: Innovation has become such an overused word, I no longer believe the public sector appreciate what it means anyway. Nevertheless the final Peterborough report makes a degree of sobering reading. The fact that committed partners may make more difference than SIBs per se is a canard, of course, because anybody who spends much time in the soulless incompetence of the government sector would soon realise that being motivated is an oxymoron in the civil service of most nations. SIB incentives clearly work therefore so there is innovation – of the most obvious kind! The semantics of the PFS argument are quickly hijacked by the same old NGOs desperate to maintain their ‘no strings attached’ succour from government which, as has been seen in the UK with the ghastly shambled of the ghost aid adminstered by “Kids Company” gets society nowhere. (That government HAS NO MORE MONEY is just a sideshow here as various political classes continue to pander as if the end of the rainbow is in sight with a pot of gold, which doesn’t help those who, like me, are not totally fiscally illiterate, nor does it help to frame a debate – natural resources are limited). However the status quo has much power – even this week in the UK Parliament left wingers were proposing a broader enablement for charities to engage in political activity – which just shows how the UK NGO sector is in severe danger of losing its focus, having already shredded much of its credibility in the eyes of the middle classes of Britain.
However drawing battle lines is no bad thing – the SIB message, however, needs to be pushed more coherently with the political consensus which has been particularly evident in the USA.
…In other stories, the in-house guidebook to stasis, er, the Australian civil servants’ magazine (well, same difference), notes that other much abused word: “complex” which amongst mandarins of course means nothing other than “not the way we traditionally do things (badly) around our offices populated with the sad and the superannuated.” We need to prove this wrong once again as the truth is SIBs are a wondrous tool and the blob has no desire to make a better world, only feather its own nest.
Thankfully there is a happy note to end on. It’s great to see Third Sector Capital co founder, Caroline Whistler listed in the Chronicle of Philanthropy lists. All good publicity in the business of doing good is welcome and well done to one of our readers on achieving some recognition for the SIB movement.
Here are today’s stories:
Peterborough SIB Did Not Foster Innovation, Evaluation Finds
Alice Sharman – Civil Society
A report into the first-ever social impact bond at HMP Peterborough has concluded that the pilot was a success, despite not necessarily fostering innovation.
The pilot, which took place between 2010 and 2015, aimed to reduce reoffending. The Peterborough project worked with prisoners released after short sentences to steer them away from crime.
The project was the first example of a SIB, a type of payment-by-results contract where investors provide a not-for-profit organisation with capital to carry out interventions.
Social Impact Bonds Report Card: Learning Lessons In NSW
The Mandarin
Social benefit bonds are complex, expensive and limited in use. Federalism makes them even harder to arrange, with savings split between tiers of government. But there are other ways to harness investment.
Caroline Whistler: Dividends For Doing Good
Nicole Wallace – Chronicle of Philanthropy
Caroline Whistler, 29, Co-Founder and Co-President Third Sector Capital Partners
Caroline Whistler’s time studying nonprofits in Brazil reinforced something she learned working at the Nonprofit Finance Fund: Philanthropy is a drop in the bucket compared to government funds.
That realization is a big part of why she returned to the United States in 2011 to help found Third Sector Capital Partners, a nonprofit that helps government agencies, charities, and other entities develop social-impact bonds.