Audeamus
Social Enterprise: Business with a mission
Filed in archive Social Enterprise by gautam on February 18, 2010
Any social enterprise is motivated by environmental or social purposes and I would like to salute all those who would like to go ahead with such ventures. The good thing about going forward with such enterprise is that it gives you more flexibility when compared to a charity besides carrying the tag of value first attached to it. A social enterprise brings together viable business model trading in goods or services and most importantly social ownership and social aim.

Here most of the earnings are contributed towards social or environmental causes and most of the companies don't have shareholders therefore chances of commercial profits are minimal. Social enterprises can encompass single person enterprise to mainstream businesses which contribute a part of their profits for worthy causes to charities with innovative business models. These enterprises can be opened across various sectors such as education, environment, food, travel, healthcare and transport. Coming down to registration of a social enterprise, it can be registered as a company with shareholders or a company limited by guarantee or a Community Interest Company. Finally all you need to do is getting connected with the right set of people to make it a success.

I hope the concept of social enterprise garnered your interest and I will talk more about social enterprises in the future.
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The increasing role of philanthropy advisors
Filed in archive Global Philanthropy by gautam on February 12, 2010
The number of people interested in donating their hard earned money is increasing but most of them are not aware regarding how to go about it. As a result there has been an increase in the number of philanthropy advisor to guide you towards the social cause. Normally the role of philanthropy advisor is played by accountants, family offices, law firms and private banks. Due to increasing demand of clients we are witnessing development of offerings from specialist philanthropy advisors. In a survey carried out by Scorpio Partnership it was found that around ninety percent of high net worth individuals are looking for philanthropy support from advisors.

There are generally three approaches followed by philanthropy advisors:

Direct Manner
In this case the philanthropy advisors offer direct help to the donors giving due respect to the legal and practical aspects.

Third Party Expert Reference
In this case your philanthropy advisor will refer you to third party experts such as Geneva Global or NPC who can help with various issues involved such as setting up of objectives, identification of cause to be supported and finally evaluation of impact of funding.

External Expert Reference
In this case your advisor will refer you to an external expert and continue working alongside.

A number of firms are now making efforts for developing their own in-house expertise in philanthropy. All thanks to philanthropy advisors, today we have a bunch of informed, committed and enthusiastic donors willing to contribute to noble causes around the world.
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Microfinance is not good for teens
Filed in archive Microfinance by gautam on February 5, 2010
Microfinance is not good for teens
© Sukanto Debnath
It gives us a good feeling that microfinance is reaching out to poor women but some say that the same may not apply in case of teens. A number of those related to this field feel that microfinance to teenage girls could make them more vulnerable. Since the eighties when microfinance started spreading its wings it has helped many people come out of the shadows of poverty. Ninety percent of the loans are given to women where interest rate for income generation activity can be as high as 20%.

You must be wondering how come teens are eligible for microfinance? You are absolutely correct as most of the countries do not permit contractual loan agreement with anyone under the age of 18 but despite this a few microfinance organizations still lend to teens. So this implies we have a segment of borrowers between the age of 16 and 24. Under microfinance scheme, the person participating in it has to offer some percentage of the loan as collateral and even if they manage it they are not able to repay it back or fail to pay their installments on time leading to intense pressure on them. Such kind of pressure at young age is uncalled for and definitely running business in your teens is not a child's play. As a result many of the girls tend to get into activities like prostitution, drug racket to pay back their loans since running a new business tends to be challenging and for a teenager it becomes even more difficult. This makes them vulnerable to diseases and other ills hence spoiling their future pretty early on life.

Giving loans to teenager is like committing a crime since at that age they can't distinguish between loan and grant and as most of them don't have any kind of business experience it puts them under intense pressure to pay back the loans and they end up doing things which they shouldn't be doing at an early age.

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Indian Premier League goes green
Filed in archive Go Green by gautam on January 28, 2010
Indian Premier League goes green
© B. Sandman
This game attracts billions of dollars and is watched by millions of viewers across the world. One of the biggest cricket extravaganzas in the world, Indian Premier League or IPL has decided to go green and for this purpose has entered into a tie up with United Nation Environment Program to make it happen. As a result IPL has become the first sports body in India to go carbon neutral by 2011. During every match of the season 2010, IPL will be calculating carbon footprint for each match and undertaking measures for reducing carbon emission. This would involve steps taken such as plantation of more trees, efficient usage of water and energy and eco friendly management of waste.

Since the country is cricket crazy, the league also plans to put to use its star cricketers for creating environmental awareness in India and abroad. Also environment friendly tips will be televised across the world so that people incorporate them in their lifestyle and make the world a better place to live. This can be termed as a landmark initiative as it will help in creating environmental awareness among million of cricket fans in India and across the world.

In order to cash in on the popularity of IPL, organizers will also be promoting other environmental initiatives of UNEP such as the Billion Tree Campaign, Climate Neutral Network and World Environment Day. This will be seen as a trendsetter initiative in the country since the country will also be hosting Commonwealth Games in 2010 and co-hosting ICC World Cup in 2011 and these events could be put to best use for furthering the cause of environment wellness.

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Aavishkaar: India’s First Social Venture Capital Fund
Filed in archive Social Entrepreneurs by gautam on January 20, 2010
Meet Vineet Rai, CEO of Aavishkaar, which can be termed as India's first social venture capital fund. With a corpus of just over Rs 1.65 billion, it is just a tiny drop in the Indian economy but that doesn't fetters Vineet. The social venture capital fund drawing cheers also challenges the skepticism over the prevalent idea that profit and social justice can never be combined.

Rai started working when Indian economy got into the liberalization mode and while being posted at a remote village in Orissa got first hand experience of complex structure of poverty in India. Very soon he realized that the major obstacle to livelihood generating rural enterprises in India is not the dearth of abilities but investors who are averse to taking risks. He wanted to do something to change it so he coupled with the support of business veterans and an investment of Rs 5 million started Aavishkaar.

Over the last decade Aavishkaar has invested in a number of ventures such as Vortex Engineering which is engaged in designing and manufacturing of low cost ATMs for use in remote regions, Servals Automation which creates energy solutions for the poor, Saraplast, providing mobile toilets for solving sanitation issues, Vaatsalya which is engaged in creation of rural hospitals for low income groups and Rangsutra Crafts, a company deploying a thousand textile artisans from the remote regions of India.

Conventional venture capitalists would have shied away from such ideas because the risks didn't match high potential returns and even after success of so many Aavishkaar ventures the mindset of conventional venture capitalists is still the same. Vineet Rai is also a frequent speaker at public events and his opening line at most of the events tends to be "I can't wait for the 'social' to be dropped" may sound premature but with these words he intends to convey the message that attaching the word "social" would not expand economic opportunity and social justice rather it would only happen when positive social impact gets embedded in the overwhelming majority of businesses. True words I must say!!
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