Introduction
When talking about the philanthropy landscape in Philadelphia, someone recently asked me whether there was anything truly innovative going on here in our city. B Lab, GoodCompany Ventures, Wharton’s Program for Social Impact, The Center for High Impact Philanthropy, William Penn Foundation, JOIN, PlayWorks and many other high-performing nonprofit organizations and foundations came to mind as I thought about the question.
There are over 7,000 nonprofits functioning in our region today. These organizations provide healthcare, education, creative arts, social services—and focus on a myriad of other issue areas. Some organizations are performing better than others in impact terms and quality. And some would argue that there are just too many organizations and not enough funding or leadership to go around. Every dollar donated, whether coming from an individual, an institution or the government, is a vote of confidence in the work of that organization. Every dollar needs to go to an organization with strong leadership, an organization that is mission-driven and outcomes oriented, and an organization that is changing the game.
Infrastructure needs continued investment to incubate good people with good ideas and to match those people with appropriate funding. Several individuals and foundations are changing the way they put their capital to work in support of values and mission—shifting gears towards innovation and impact. Problems do not get solved with just philanthropic capital, though. Public and private sector investment is also required.
I have been part of this edition of the Philadelphia Social Innovations Journal, curating articles that highlight the innovations happening in our city in this space of philanthropy and social enterprise. And, to answer that question quite simply, yes, there are many innovative ideas, people, organizations and collaborations, which are taking advantage of and leveraging the long history of philanthropy in Philadelphia.
Going through the process of working with the many writer contributors to this edition of the Journal, three themes clearly emerged.
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There is a need to educate those with capital to move beyond just thinking about the required payout or a philanthropic grant, to also think about their investments as a way for them to increase their impact and complement their grantmaking.
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There is a need to provide support to individuals—those social entrepreneurs—with good ideas. Support means incubating ideas and turning the good ideas into businesses focused on impact. There is also a need to support executive directors at traditional nonprofit organizations as they rethink their business models to ease the constant burden of raising philanthropic capital.
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There is a need to make continued investments in the infrastructure to better link those with capital to those organizations, whether nonprofit or for-profit, focused on impact.