Last week, Root Cause held its annual Social Innovation Forum (SIF) Showcase event in Boston. With social innovation just now hitting the streets of our nation’s capital, it’s hard to believe this was our sixth Showcase event.
Since 2003, we have been searching the Boston area for Social Innovators whose models are in the early stages of being proven. After a rigorous due diligence process to select the most effective solutions, we provide the organizations with a variety of resources (consulting, coaching, connections) and the opportunity to meet with what we call Social Impact Investors − investors whose primary expectation in funding and supporting Social Innovators is measurable social impact. The idea was, and still is, that there could be a funding strategy beyond the traditional grant application cycle and direct mail piece. We could build bridges between high performing nonprofit organizations and the people that invest in them, and thereby create an alternative flow of resources and a community that supported such a flow, both on the Innovator side and the Investor side.
And create it we have. Last Tuesday was an incredible evening. Over 200 Social Impact Investors were in attendance to listen to the 2009 Social Innovators’ three-minute pitches and then decide which presentations to attend to learn more. The Showcase allows investors who want to know that they are giving to some of Boston’s most effective solutions to start on a path toward informed investment. It’s been amazing to watch this community grow.
To learn more about SIF, check out our 2008 Social Impact Report Card or the Social Impact Investment Prospectus from this year’s Showcase.
