Photo by Toa Heftiba on Unsplash
Over the past few decades, the world has slowly transformed into a truly global village. Advances in telecommunications, travel, the delivery of goods and services have paved the way for a borderless community that exists both in the physical as well as the online. Despite all this progress, however, every country has its own unique set of challenges. Human displacement, underperforming schools, corruption, food insecurity, rising sea levels, and stagnating economic growth are just a few of the problems plaguing countries and societies on unprecedented levels. Social issues are on the rise, but studies show that so is humanity’s sense of togetherness, with over 44% of people worldwide confessing that they’ve helped a stranger in the past month.
For better or for worse, many governments respond to these complex issues with legacy approaches; increased taxes, paying for subsidies, passing laws, or the enforcement of new rules. It seems that the use of such tools stems from a misconception that government and government alone should be the primary agent when it comes to meeting the needs of society with the rest of us footing the bill (something we’re happy to do with over €80 billion donated in Europe alone).
For decades, private entities and nonprofit organizations have leveraged individual as well as corporate resources to supplement government services in response to social needs. In many cases, such services outright replace those of the government, or are provided in the complete absence of government services altogether. With over 10 million NGOs worldwide, there are countless organizations, both for-profit as well as nonprofit, that do a great deal of humanitarian work in the areas of healthcare, equity, race relations, education, conservation, poverty alleviation, and more, all of which can be given as shining examples of social welfare being promoted by private and corporate players.
Photo by Anes Sabitovic on Unsplash
The New Impact Economy — A Force For Good
The Impact Economy is a network of social enterprises and private individuals working for, or contributing to, the greater good, along with all of those who invest in and with them, those who work for or with them, and those who benefit from them. From private investors funding a novel research technique, to developing sustainable tools for philanthropic organizations investing in education in rural areas, these organizations are part of a movement that aims to do good while at the same time doing well for themselves. They combine the desire to address social issues with wealth creation in an effort that is intended to benefit all parties involved.
There are numerous ways in which charity and welfare organizations can raise the resources needed to promote change and development whilst pursuing other social goals. A popular method is private investor events that have been known to raise as much as $1m in a single event from sponsors and on-the-day donations.
Foundations with a mandate to sponsor projects of a certain type are another good source of resources, provided the recipient organizations can pinpoint and identify such foundations and successfully elicit funds from them. Banks, and even venture capitalists are known to invest heavily in social projects that promise high returns, and institutional investors such as mutual funds, union funds, pension funds, and insurance companies can also provide substantial amounts of funding if they are targeted the right way. One measure of how deeply the social impact philosophy runs in the corporate sector is the growing use of Social Impact Bonds, or SIBs, that have slowly gained popularity as an investment vehicle. These bonds provide investors the opportunity to invest in select projects, collect profits generated therefrom, and hold project leaders accountable for meeting stipulated mandates, goals, and project outcomes.
impactMarket
impactMarket will help funders manage and measure their giving, engage with changemakers and support impact-driven projects/causes, in a transparent, borderless and autonomous way.
Users will be able to exchange and verify virtually any asset of data, track transactions from end to end, and use smart contracts to manage and enforce transactions, governance, and processes. Not having intermediaries enables processes to be faster and cost-effective, extends financial inclusion to the unbanked, and serves as a public repository of data for crowdsourced impact measurement.
At impactMarket supporters can back projects using crypto as collateral through Crowdlending and beneficiaries can raise and transfer funds, start campaigns and report outcomes. It also enables grantmaking solutions, community funds management and proof of impact repositories for crowdsourced impact measurement.
To learn more about impactMarket and get all the latest news visit www.impactmarket.com