European Venture Philanthropy Conference

Last week our Responsible Business Club attended the 3rd Annual European Venture Philanthropy Conference. It was the first time in the Club's history that participants were sent to the event. In addition to helping with the logistics of the conference there were many networking opportunities.

What is Venture Philanthropy?

According to the EVPA website it is as follows:

Venture philanthropy is a field of philanthropic activity where private equity / venture capital models are applied in the non-profit and charitable sectors. There are many different forms of venture philanthropy but the EVPA believes it can be characterised as:

• The active partnership, or engagement, of donors, volunteers and/or experts with charities to achieve agreed outcomes such as organisational effectiveness, capacity building or other important change;
• The use of a variety of financing techniques in addition to grants, such as multi-year financing, loans or other financial instruments most appropriate for a charity's needs;
• The capability to provide skills and/or hands-on resources with the objective of adding value to the development of a charity;
• The desire to enable donors to maximise the social return on their investment whether that be as a financial donor or as a volunteer of time and expertise.

In essence it is a partnership between the charitable organization and the investor that is bound together by one overriding objective; maximize the return on the investment. The only difference is that the definition of return includes social and environmental in addition to financial returns. In my opinion venture philanthropy is no different than any other philanthropy that is done well. All it does is bring to the table business skills and acumen that are potentially lacking in a charitable organization.

To me a more interesting angle to venture philanthropy is when they partner up with a social entrepreneur in order to help the entrepreneur scale his/her business. It is these venture philanthropists that are bridging the gap between traditional philanthropy and traditional investment and are helping social entrepreneurs not only create economically viable and sustainable businesses, but also tackle some of the world's toughest challenges.

IESE Students Present the DGDW at the 6th Annual EABIS Colloquium to Great Success

On September 20, 2007 three IESE full-time MBA students presented the Doing Good and Doing Well Conference at the 6th Annual European Academy of Business in Society Colloquium. Ranjeet Kapur, Elliott Gansner and Tammy M from Canada presented the conference as part of the 3rd EABIS Corporate Responsibility Education & Training Exchange. The theme of the event was "Executive Education, In-Company Training, and the Changing Role of Business in Society” and the objective was to share innovative ideas that are helping to mainstream corporate responsibility into the education of business leaders.

The DGDW was the only initiative being presented that actively engages full-time MBA students and challenges them to think critically about the responsibility of business to society and the environment. The majority of the other initiatives presented were either research based or focused on working with businesses and/or executives. The students are therefore very proud of their initiative and they are looking forward to the 5th Annual DGDW that will be held on February 29th and March 1st, 2008 and supported by the IESE Platform for Strategy and Sustainability (IPSS).

2008 IESE Doing Good and Doing Well Conference

Doing Good and Doing Well is the leading European MBA student-organized conference on responsible business. It is a two-day event presented by the IESE Responsible Business Club and it brings together hundreds of business school students, professors, and professionals from all over the world to discuss current trends and initiatives on a broad range of issues.

The 5th Annual DGDW will be held February 29th and March 1st, 2008

Look around you and what do you see. Businesses across all industries are now striving to get a piece of the "responsible" business action. High profile consultancies are being paid by big foundations to tackle issues such as health and water. Financial institutions are designing products that have both a financial and a "social" return. Even venture capital and private equity has found a role to play. Sounds counter-intuitive, but it is true! Micro-Credit has become old news and Micro Venture Capital is receiving the latest buzz. Energy - do we really have to say anything about energy! FMCG's, Brewery's, Hotel Chains, Telecom's (pick your industry!) are collaborating with NGO's and Governments in order to not only increase their profits, but also stimulate economic development in impoverished communities. And how about Google? Did you know that their philanthropic arm Google.org makes profits! Not to mention Clean Tech, Natural Capitalism, Ethical Supply Chains, Ethical Hedge Funds, Social Entrepreneurship, and more. The list can go on and on.

This isn't about non-profit and bleeding hearts any more people! This is about BUSINESS! This is about our FUTURE! This is about strategies and ideas that you won't see inside the classroom.
Visit www.iese.edu/dgdw for more details.