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Open Philanthropy
From WikiEducator
| Work in progress, expect frequent changes. Help and feedback is welcome. See discussion page. |
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Contents |
Strategic, Scalable, and Sustainable Return on Investment (ROI)
Can modern philanthropy be an equal partner in a project, in much the same way that high tech venture capitalists share the risk, in private sector ventures?
Today's Venture Capitalists do more than simply give cash: they strategically invest in viable and scalable business models that offer high high levels of return-on-its-investment (ROI). Yes, they do expect some investments to fail - if 2/10 succeed, they're doing quite well.
However, when VCs decide to invest in a venture, and provide cash, they do so in phases (or tranches), and ALSO provide strategic counsel; take a seat or two on the Board of Directors; open doors to new people and opportunities by virtue of its own networks and connections. They leverage past success into the new venture, to increase leverage and accelerate ROI. They provide
- strategic investment partner(s)
- access to (global) markets
- access to (global) networks
- access to additional working capital
- people who have been there, done that before
- focus on scalability (i.e., generate economies of scale)
- focus on sustainability (i.e., financial viability)
Strategic Investment Partnerships
Can NGOs develop Strategic Investment Partnerships with philanthropic organizations, so that project funding requests are designed to be open, scalable and sustainable?
A Request for Open Dialogue
- How can the Venture Capitalist model of financial and strategic support be applied and adapted here?
- How can we share the successes of the Open Source movement with, and among philanthropy organizations, NGOs, other stakeholders and networks?
What are they doing to increase mutual performance, engagement and learning?
- How can NGOs collaboratively develop funding proposals (with funding organizations, partners or others)
- How and where can meaningful two-way dialogue and learning take place?
- Can we develop a repository of successful examples, case studies, models, good practices etc. that others can use?
- How can the WikiEducator Community advocate and educate others about Strategic Investment Partnerships?
- What are the opportunities for pilot projects?
- How will we know when we are successful?
- What is the timeline and metrics for success? How will we know when we are successful?
- How can we report / communicate/report our successes so that they ripple outwards?
Value Proposition for Open Philanthropy
We are developing open models – where nonprofits and funders engage in strategic dialogue -- to learn about mutual strategic interests, and to jointly develop a sustainable and scalable strategy for supporting worthwhile projects and initiatives. Free and open education within a global ecosystem is inherently renewable, sustainable and scalable.
for NGOs
- Higher visibility on the funder's radar because of this differentiated approach;
- Higher probability of receiving fund assistance
- Equitable relationship with funder
- Association with a highly credible international network (i.e., via WikiEducator and the new Open Education Resources Foundation based in NZ)
- Tangible support (Letter of Project Support) from an internationally-recognized project – among the top 100K of the world's websites, with 8,000 users and 7,500 unique visits per day – and still growing... <smile>
- Proven economies of scale and efficiencies relating to successful proposal development (WikiEducator projects develop proposals openly, so that they can be shared with others
- Assistance in preparing open proposals (as Open Education Resources)
- Example: WikiEducator's successful $100K Learning4Content proposal (2008) to the William and Flora Hewlett Foundation
- customisable by country, theme, etc
- Greater leverage by easily partnering with others in a community of shared interests and values (open education)
- Access to new models of program design and delivery (at no cost, really), through an international network of support
- A parallel, complementary channel for funding assistance (as compared to conventional funding initiatives)
for Funders
- Immediate ROI (Return-on-Investment) - by releasing materials into the public domain early and frequently
- Sustainability (by developing content as "Open Education")
- Scalability - development of scalable models across organization size, geographic and cultural boundaries, and affordable access to technology
- Increased knowledge and information-sharing across projects and grantees (development of Community of Practice)
- Thought leadership, information-sharing, knowledge-transfer, good practices
- Membership and high visibility in an international network for open education
for Open Education Community
- propagation of open source culture and values
- Access to funding proposal templates
- Access to education materials, workshops, etc.
- Increased participation and engagement
- See: Philanthropy
