An analysis of PFS projects in the US and some bon mots from a UK Government Minister about expanding SIB deployment…
David Cameron’s Civil Society Minister Visits Worcester To Push ‘Social Impact’ Bonds
Tom Edwards – Worcester News
Robert Wilson, an up-and-coming Tory MP who represents Reading East, is calling upon counties like Worcestershire to tap into the Whitehall-led ‘Social Impact Bond’.
The bond is worth £80 million this year and allows the likes of councils to bid for cash grants to offer services which are deemed to help society.
It works in a “pay by results” way, so local authorities need to set out what they aim to achieve from it at the outset, and are then funded on that specific basis.
Pay For Success Projects Gets Examination
Mark Hrywna – The NonProfit Times
The Nonprofit Finance Fund (NFF) has released the first-ever compilation of the nation’s first Pay For Success (PFS) projects, examining a wide range of details on each of the 10 projects.
“Pay for Success has generated a flurry of ‘hype’ and ‘hate’ disproportionate to its limited applications in the field to date,” said NFF Vice President Jessica LaBarbera. “We believe that the legacy of these early projects will be their role in lighting the way toward a social sector more focused on collaboration, outcomes, and a commitment to understanding and paying for the full costs of positive change,” she said.
“The market is too young for us to draw conclusions,” said Dana Archer-Rosenthal, NFF’s Pay for Success program manager and lead author of the report. “The challenge – and opportunity – in the next phase of the PFS market’s development is not to advance a particular financial innovation but to collectively improve our ability to deliver better results,” she said.
“Pay for Success: The First Generation” examines project goals and project design; partners and stakeholders involved; underlying data, evidence, and evaluation plans; governance and investment structures, including repayment terms and investor profiles; and, project costs. The 36-page report breaks down the size and history of each PFS project as well as details on investors and lenders, service providers, evaluation, methodology and outcomes tied to success payments.
There are few generalizations or conclusions that can be made about the 10 projects, or about the PFS field more broadly given its early and rapidly evolving nature, according to the report.