Tuesday, October 19, 2010

Golf for Good

Support Youth Village Resources of Dallas on Monday, November 8 by putting your golf team together (details below). See their impact and watch this video on their dog training program: http://bit.ly/984XFn.

The Tribute Golf Club
1000 Lebanon Road
The Colony, Texas 75056

Golf Registration Fee: $120 per golfer
Golfers, in addition to supporting a great cause and having a great time, are invited to participate in a hamburger buffet at 12:00 noon which includes: hamburgers served with tomatoes, onions, pickles, and appropriate condiments, with chips, homemade cookies, and fudge brownies.

To register, please visit Youth Village on the web at: www.youthvillagefoundation.org
or contact Jerry Silhan
Phone: 214-957-7057
E-Mail: jsilhan@youthvillagefoundation.org.

NOTE: As a result of player cancellation, tournament fees will be donated to the the Youth Village Resources of Dallas

Sunday, October 17, 2010

Dallas cultivates Social Entrepreneurs

Social Entrepreneurship is the hottest topic around.
On October 21, four collaborating organizations invite you to hear from local social entrepreneurs on how they are developing new business strategies and models to measure a triple bottom line -measuring profits alongside social and environmental impact.

PKN Volume 5 - featuring Social Entrepreneurs
Join us on 10/21 from 6-8PM
University of Dallas

To make things interesting, all presenters will follow the Pecha Kucha format. Don't know what it is? It's 20 slides automatically rotating forward every 20 seconds. Fast, fun and informative!

Free event and wine and cheese reception to follow. Please RSVP to secure your place. See you there!

Sunday, October 10, 2010

20 Burning Questions from Social Capital Markets 2010 Conference

There seems to be a theme in your undergraduate studies around the learning process. You come in from highschool, all cocky, thinking you know everything. Then after your freshman year, like a stunned deer, you leave feeling humbled and as if you know nothing. Then another year passes and at the end of your sophmore year, you have just enough knowlege to formulate and ask alot of questions. You then spend your Junior year trying to answer those questions; and finally in your senior year, you start to feel cocky again...untill you land your first job and the cycle starts all over.

This year would count as my sophmore year at SOCAP10, and here are my sophmoric questions.

1. What is "syndication" as it relates to the investment world?

2. What is the UN PRI program and how are they involved in this space?

3. Is there a Responsible Endowment Coalition for Foundations?

4. With different languages between Nonprofits and Investors, what role do trustees and board members play in helping translate?

5. How will the social enterprise movement develop and solidify models that become a standard? How are existing consulting firms and universities talking to standardize language and best practices?

6. What are the incentives that will move investors, philanthropist and entrepreneurs into the Social Capital Marketplace?

7. How do Charter School Bonds work?

8. Not a question, but a great quote: "The goal is to catalyze a marketplace by crowding in competition." - William Foote, Root Capital

9. Where are the demonstrations popping up around the world and can we craft demonstrations of this activity?

10. How about scenarios? If there is not a demonstration, can we craft new scenarios?

11. Are there examples of a fund focused on one geography?

12. Who are these "Women who lend to shirtless men" on kiva.org?

13. Has anyone mapped all the Social Entrepreneur Communities bubbling up like Unreasonable Institute, B-Labs, Bizdome U, etc.?

14. Is Nick Jankel of WeCreate an Anthropologist like me? And what role do anthropologist play in the translation of these converging communities of practitioners, funders and investors?

15. How do CDFI's become a formal part of the discussion?

16. How can we create a Slow Money capter in Dallas, and how do we replicate the cool Slow Money community in Austin?

17. Where will The Hoop Fund be one year from now?

18. Why doesn't SOCAP provide a lite of twitter users related to SOCAP presenters?

19. Does Matt Bannick of Omidyar Network have a presentation for the Foundation Capital Market he can share?

20. Can Social Venture Partners launch a Mission Markets?

Friday, October 1, 2010

Uncharitable by Dan Pallotta

Recently, I had the pleasure of meeting and hearing Dan Pallotta present at the Texas Nonprofit Summit.

Dan Pallotta is an expert in nonprofit sector innovation and a pioneering social entrepreneur. He is the founder of Pallotta TeamWorks, which invented the multi-day AIDSRides and Breast Cancer 3-Days. He is the president of Springboard and the author of Uncharitable: How Restraints on Nonprofits Undermine Their Potential.

He is an inspiring presenter who is working to revolutionize the social sector by changing perception on how nonprofits should operate and the expectations that we as donors and funders have in those missions.

I encourage everyone to read the book Uncharitable and check out the presentation here. It is up for another week. When you watch it, start the video at 23 minutes to skip to his presentation.

Some of my favorite points he made:
  • There are two rule books: one for charity and one for the rest of the economic world.
  • We expect the nonprofit sector to rectify the results of a capitalist system but with using the tools of capitalism.
  • We have made a market around overhead. As funders we ask the question, and as nonprofits we present them and stand behind them, even if the itemizing is subjective.
  • Of the three major charity rating organanizations, Charity Navigator, Better Business Bureau and American Instute of Philanthropy...they rate 7700 charities and cummulatively have 28 staff members.

Social Innovation and the Nonprofit Sector

Last week, Bob Wright and I had a chance to present at the Texas Nonprofit Summit LINK in Austin, Texas. Our Texas Social Innovation collaborators One Star Foundation co-hosted the event with Greenlights Austin. The theme of the event was “Igniting a Nonprofit Revolution” and the keynote and presentations inspired just that. The energy was palpable as nonprofit leaders showed up to do things differently…to innovate.

Bob and I had two tracks, and in typical yin-yang fashion, each of us took the lead on the presentation style and agenda. I think the highlight of our time was meeting all the super cool nonprofit leaders who want to lead the charge on this revolution and explore new ideas. Plus, we got in trouble for having such a rowdy session each time. A success in both of our minds!

Highlights of our 90 minute sessions included:

Speed Networking - as refined through our informal network @SparkClub
Best thing about Speed Networking is how it (1) provides a structure for those who do not feel comfortable flitting about an event networking; and (2) forces unlikely connections among the "jeans and the suits"

Social Media Discussion - How web-based tools cannot be ignored in the world of giving and action. Plus, they offer a way to stay connected after an awesome speed networking experience.
After a quick review of Twitter, Facebook and LinkedIn, we showed a cool social media “Conversation Prism” that shows myriad of tools and networks available.

Finally we shared how Dallas Social Venture Partners is working to help spark a social innovation ecosytem in North Texas through our efforts with the Texas Social Innovation Initiative and bigBANG! See the presentation.