Eastside is holding an event at the Adam Street Club on November 4th to launch our new Foundation.
The Foundation is dedicated to nurturing talent for the social economy. Over the last two years, we have run a successful internship scheme and worked with some 30+ MBA students and young professionals.
This has proved of genuine value to all concerned - to the charities and social enterprises who have benefited from the work of these young professionals, to the individuals as a stepping stone in their careers and to Eastside. We are planning to roll out a fuller series of activities branded under the Eastside Foundation.
We all excited by this. So do come and join us if you can.
The party is scheduled with a serious bit to begin with (discussion on creating sustainable opportunities for young professionals) and then a less serious bit (drinks).
For more info please contact our intern manager, Tim at: tim@eastsideconsulting.co.uk.
About Eastside:
Thursday, 16 October 2008
How will the banking fall-out affect the third sector?
I guess you may have heard some news recently about financial markets collapsing, governments bailing-out banks and mind-boggling amounts of $$ being wiped off stock markets.
But what I really care about is what does this mean for the third sector and for charities, social enterprises and our clients?
I read a recent article by Rod Schwartz in the Guardian on this subject and some interesting ideas on the potential impact of the current 'meltdown' for the third sector (or more specifically what Rod calls 'social business and investment market').
It was refreshing to hear an optimistic vision standing out among the gloom. One of the key ideas being that the current economic crisis might just herald in an evolution – or rather a revolution – to a more social-minded economy with a new rapprochement between public, private and civil society.
In our own work we have also noticed a number of indicators that support this idea and a convergence happening in some parts of the public, private and civil society around a social enterprise model (more on this due course).
But this is all rather hard to conceive right now. What I want to address here is what is actually happening on the ground to the charities and social businesses. And what is happening to the people who are in need of the services of the charities and social businesses?
Well, first lets be clear here that we're all part of a guessing game to some extent which is going to play out over the coming weeks and months.
On a general level, we will see an increase in the need for the services provided by third sector organisations as unemployment, homelessness and other social problems consistent with a worsening economy take hold. At the same time the economic sustainability of these same organisations will tend to weaken.
On funding, I see a more favourable situation for social enterprises than faced by conventional small businesses. Financing will not be easy but established social enterprises will still have access to specialist social funds (who are sitting on capital). New philanthropic/social investment will be harder to come by.
Organisational resources will inevitably become more stretched as demand for services increases. Careful management, some cost cutting in non core areas and a renewed focus on financial viability will be important. In these conditions, we may find organisations seeking to consolidate and merge (a positive thing) and we may see a greater focus on enterprise/innovation as means of achieving sustainability.
For Eastside right now, I hope that our work becomes more essential - and we're able to help organisations navigate the rocky road ahead.
Do let us know your comments and how the current economic situation is affecting you or your organisation.
But what I really care about is what does this mean for the third sector and for charities, social enterprises and our clients?
I read a recent article by Rod Schwartz in the Guardian on this subject and some interesting ideas on the potential impact of the current 'meltdown' for the third sector (or more specifically what Rod calls 'social business and investment market').
It was refreshing to hear an optimistic vision standing out among the gloom. One of the key ideas being that the current economic crisis might just herald in an evolution – or rather a revolution – to a more social-minded economy with a new rapprochement between public, private and civil society.
In our own work we have also noticed a number of indicators that support this idea and a convergence happening in some parts of the public, private and civil society around a social enterprise model (more on this due course).
But this is all rather hard to conceive right now. What I want to address here is what is actually happening on the ground to the charities and social businesses. And what is happening to the people who are in need of the services of the charities and social businesses?
Well, first lets be clear here that we're all part of a guessing game to some extent which is going to play out over the coming weeks and months.
On a general level, we will see an increase in the need for the services provided by third sector organisations as unemployment, homelessness and other social problems consistent with a worsening economy take hold. At the same time the economic sustainability of these same organisations will tend to weaken.
On funding, I see a more favourable situation for social enterprises than faced by conventional small businesses. Financing will not be easy but established social enterprises will still have access to specialist social funds (who are sitting on capital). New philanthropic/social investment will be harder to come by.
Organisational resources will inevitably become more stretched as demand for services increases. Careful management, some cost cutting in non core areas and a renewed focus on financial viability will be important. In these conditions, we may find organisations seeking to consolidate and merge (a positive thing) and we may see a greater focus on enterprise/innovation as means of achieving sustainability.
For Eastside right now, I hope that our work becomes more essential - and we're able to help organisations navigate the rocky road ahead.
Do let us know your comments and how the current economic situation is affecting you or your organisation.
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