Research Notes for CSR Leaders
Corporate Foundations as Partnership Brokers in Supporting the SDGs
Author: Theresa Gehringer
Provided by: Sevda Kilicalp from Philea Philanthropy Europe Association (Philea)
To what extent do Corporate Foundations (CF) consider SDGs in their processes and activities? To what extent do CF perceive themselves as initiators of cross-sector collaborative arrangements to support SDGs? This article seeks to understand whether corporate foundations (CF) proactively incorporate SDGs and agree on their role to act not only as direct financiers but also as brokers facilitating the process of cross-sector partnerships.
Barriers to social impact assessment and foundations
Authors: Elisa Ricciuti – Bocconi University | Francesca Calò – Glasgow Caledonian University
Provided by: Filippo Candela from Compagnia di San Paolo Foundation
Foundations are key players in the philanthropic sector in Italy. However, it is unclear how they are engaged in Social Impact Assessment (SIA) in terms of motivations, methods and approach. The authors explore foundations’ understanding of impact, their methods in undertaking the process and the barriers they face.
Who has a seat at the table in impact investing?
Authors: Guillermo Casasnovas – Esade Business School | Jessica Jones – University of Tennessee
Provided by: Nathalie Sauvanet from BNP Paribas Wealth Management
This article describes the current design and limits of the impact investing field and highlights the main changes needed to deliver the positive impact it aims to achieve. The authors advocate three entwined evolutions: incorporating vulnerable communities, having a systemic-change approach and addressing structural inequalities.
Aligning interests, accountabilities and Social Impact Bonds
Authors: Reinhard Millner (WU Vienna), Michael Meyer (WU Vienna)
Provided by: Sophie HersbergerLangloh (Consense Philanthropy Consulting)
The authors examine the case of the first Social Impact Bond (SIB) in Austria and take a closer look at the influence of the – often divergent – interests of the parties involved. Key questions: How do different interests and accountabilities shape the arrangement of a SIB? How do they influence its collaborative governance?
Six essential dimensions for impact investing
Authors: Kai Hockerts – Copenhagen Business School | Lisa Hehenberger – Esade | Stefan Schaltegger – Leuphana University Lüneburg | Vanina Farber – IMD
Provided by: Bob Galesloot from BGEZ
Impact investing aims to generate social and environmental impact alongside financial returns. However, the exact definition and the concept itself are not always clear, which affects the use and potential of impact investing. In this article, the authors provide a way to understand the concept of impact investing and introduce critical questions to facilitate discussions regarding whether a case can be described as impact investing.
How socialization influences informal volunteering
Authors: Marlou Ramaekers – Radboud University | Ellen Verbakel – Radboud University | Gerbert Kraaykamp – Radboud University
Provided by: Katy Adams from the University of Heidelberg
Concerns have been raised over the potential decline of community life. This study discusses the impact of parents and current partners on behaviours during adulthood that foster social bonds. The study questions whether parents and partners modelling and encouraging prosocial behaviour affects adults‘ informal volunteering.
The rise of benefit corporations as the new form of firm altruism
Author: Livia Ventura | University of Cambridge Institute for Sustainability Leadership | University of Geneva
Provided by: Theresa Gehringer from SKKG Stiftung für Kunst, Kultur und Geschichte
Over the past decade, companies have increasingly recognized the importance of achieving positive environmental and social impacts beyond generating profits. In response to civil society’s demands, new hybrid organizational forms such as the “benefit corporations” have emerged in the U.S. These corporations are characterized by a governance structure that incorporates altruism into the decision-making processes. As such, benefit corporations represent a new governance model that goes beyond philanthropy and corporate social responsibility. The voluntary inclusion of a “public benefit” for society and the environment in the corporate purpose is the main characteristic of such organizations.
Balancing financial and social goals in dual-purpose companies
Authors: Julie Battilana – Harvard University | Tomasz Obloj – HEC Paris | Anne-Claire Pache – ESSEC Business School | Metin Sengul – Boston College
Provided by: Ana Pimenta from Blink CV
There is a growing trend of companies attempting to balance financial and social goals simultaneously. However, they often face challenges because different stakeholders have different expectations. When these challenges become more intense, companies might prioritize one goal, which can lead to them losing their original mission or even going bankrupt. In this article, the authors explore the conditions that influence the intensity of the financial/social trade-offs experienced by dual-purpose companies.
Who is most likely to volunteer with refugees?
Author(s): Maikel Meijeren – Radboud University | Marcel Lubbers – Utrecht University | Peer Scheepers – Radboud University
Provided by: Ksenija Fonovic from CSV Lazio
Socio-Structural Determinants in Volunteering for Humanitarian Organizations: A Resource-Based Approach” helps volunteer coordinators, advocacy leaders, and volunteer support centers understand the characteristics of individuals most likely to engage in volunteer activities for integration. The authors distinguish between ‘activist,’ ‘interest,’ and ‘leisure’ organizations; each of these types attracts potential volunteers with somewhat different characteristics.
Benefits and downsides of unrestricted funding to non-profit organisations
Author(s): Pamala Wiepking – IU Luly Family School of Philanthropy and Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam | Arjen de Wit – Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam
Provided by: Esther Edlundh-Rose from SEB
The authors have studied how unrestricted funding affects a number of capacities of non-profit organisations. This provides a starting point to better understand how unrestricted funding supports the development of non-profit organisations and guidelines for grant makers and philanthropists in their strategic planning. The key question in this article is what positive and negative effects unrestricted funding has on non-profit organisations.
Rethinking volunteering as a natural resource
Author(s): Stephanie Koolen-Maas – VU Amsterdam | Lucas Meijs – Erasmus University | Philine van Overbeeke – Erasmus University | Jeffrey Brudney† – University of North Carolina
Provided by: Megan Burgoyne from The Centre for European Volunteering
The article focusses on redefining the concept of volunteering as a natural resource. It proposes to break down this concept into three distinct volunteer resources, each with its own characteristics and dynamics. The paper aims to provide a more nuanced understanding of volunteering and its various forms and dynamics. The key concept is that volunteering can be understood as a human-made, renewable resource that can be grown and recycled. The concept of volunteering is compared to a natural resource and suggests that, as a result, better management of volunteering is required to manage this ‘resource’.
A particular type of intervention
Author(s): Georg Mildenberger – Heidelberg University, Center for Social Investment | Gudrun-Christine Schimpf – Heidelberg University, Center for Social Investment |Jürgen Streicher – Joanneum Research, Institute for Economic, Social and Innovation Research
Provided by: Alina Porumb from the Association for the Practice of Transformation – Inspire Change.
The problems we are facing today, such as climate degradation, energy shortages, increasing inequality, and demographic change, require new approaches and far-reaching changes. Technology innovation can help address them, but we cannot rely on technology alone, we also need social innovation (SI) – new ideas, paths, and measures for dealing with society challenges – as a driver of society change. In comparison to technology assessments, research about the SI impacts is in its early stages. New concepts are needed to better record and evaluate SI effects, especially on the systemic and society level, and to develop standards for the assessment process.
Exploring Employee involvement in corporate philanthropy
Author(s): Beth Breeze – University of Kent | Pamala Wiepking – Indiana University Purdue University Indianapolis
Provided by: Elisabetta Gazzola
This research presents a qualitative study of shop floor employees’ experience with, and involvement in, CP decision-making related to fundraising in the workplace. The authors focus on the following questions: How are lower level employees involved in decisions related to CP? What are the criteria involved when lower level employees make CP decisions, in particular in relation to the selection of charitable beneficiaries? And which CP decisions and activities are most likely to improve employee morale and foster other corporate and social goals?
Creating social innovation in urban development via collaborative processes
Author(s): Georg von Schnurbein – University of Basel | Oto Potluka – University of Basel | Anne Mayer – University of Basel
Provided by: Caroline Broadhurst from The Rank Foundation
The success factors that create effective social innovation in an urban context is contested with two different schools of thought and approaches; the systemic approach, which accounts for the social practices and subsequent changes as a result of the innovation; and the pragmatic approach, which follows a well-trodden planning process, which focuses on creating solutions to a defined social problem. What conditions enable successful social innovations to emerge from collaborative processes in urban development?
The role of people’s life stories when making sense of impact investing, as an alternative to either charitable giving or traditional investing
Author(s): Arthur Gautier – ESSEC Business School | Anne-Claire Pache – ESSEC Business School| Filipe Santos, Católica Lisbon School of Business and Economics, Universidade Católica Portuguesa
Provided by: Martin Löfman from The Association of Finnish Foundations
The articles’ aim is to uncover how individuals respond to the hybrid practice of Impact Investing based on their prior experiences with the logics of philanthropy and finance. The article unveils important information for practitioners in a time when philanthropic actors seek to increase the impact of their funding, while Impact Investing has emerged as a possible alternative to traditional giving by blending financial mechanisms and philanthropic purpose.
The civic action of volunteering through flexible forms of organising
Author(s): Cristine Dyhrberg Højgaard – Copenhagen Business School | Liv Egholm – Copenhagen Business School
Provided by: Inés Sevilla Cabedo from Centre for European Volunteering
Volunteering is evolving and adapting to people’s needs and preferences, and it is important to understand how these new forms of volunteering can contribute to community well-being and how different ways of organising volunteering can impact the community actions. How do more flexible forms of organisation influence volunteering actions?
Informal Place Leadership: A Challenge to Formal Political Leadership?
Author(s): Oto Potluka – University of Basel, Center for Philanthropy | Lenka Svecova – University of Chemistry and Technology Prague, School of Business | Lucie Zarubova – University of West Bohemia, Faculty of Economics
Provided by: Leigha McCarroll from Carleton University, Canada
In response to a growing trend of dissatisfaction with political representation (e.g., Brexit, the 2016 U.S. presidential election), there has been an increased focus on place-based approaches to political decision-making. In this article, the authors further investigate this dynamic in the context of the EU Cohesion Policy, analyzing the relationship between formal and informal leadership and politics to illuminate whether informal place leadership is filling the void created by growing dissatisfaction with formal political leadership.
NGO Resilience in Czech Republic during Ukrainian Refugee Crisis
Author(s): Tara Kolar Bryan – University of Tennessee at Knoxville | Monica Lea – University of Nebraska at Omaha | Vladimír Hyánek – Masaryk University
Provided by: Daria Rybalchenko from National Network of Local Philanthropy Development
The central topic of this paper is the resilience and governance challenges faced by NGOs in the Czech Republic during the Ukrainian refugee crisis that began in February 2022. The practical relevance lies in understanding how NGOs can maintain their operations and provide essential services amidst such a large-scale humanitarian crisis. The key research question is: How do NGO leaders perceive the resilience of their organizations in responding to the Ukrainian refugee crisis, and what challenges do they face?
Are foundation investment funds a solution for sustainable investing at grant-making foundations?
Author(s): Berenike Wiener – Leuphana University | Georg von Schnurbein – University of Basel
Provided by: Ana Pimenta from Blink CV
Grant-making foundations use the financial returns on their investments to pursue their charitable purposes. Foundations are usually conservative in their investment strategies and separate their investments strategy (focus on financial returns) from their spending and mission (focus on purpose). Simultaneously, investments funds are offering Socially Responsible Investing (SRI) opportunities increasing the potential of foundations to generate a social benefit also through their investments. In this article, the authors explore the characteristics of the market for foundation investment funds in Germany and whether these funds are useful for foundations pursuing an SRI strategy.
A Social Innovation: Addressing Relative Food Insecurity and Social Exclusion
Author(s): Lucas Meijs, Erasmus University Rotterdam | Femida Handy, University of Pennsylvania | Frans-Joseph Simons, Erasmus University Rotterdam | Lonneke Roza, Erasmus University Rotterdam
Provided by: Joseph Street from the Centre for European Volunteering
‘Food insecurity’ is a relative phenomenon, as the perceived applicability of the definition will vary depending on the area of the world it is being studied in. Development, whilst not as crucial to the Minority world as it is to the Majority world, should still be strived towards, even in already ‘developed’ nations. This paper focuses on the case study of relative food insecurity, manifested in the issue of Dutch children who are unable to afford the ‘culturally appropriate foods’ used to celebrate birthdays in the Netherlands, and how this can have a domino effect on such children’s mental and social wellbeing.
Driven by values or results: can nonprofits do both?
Author(s): Gerhard Speckbacher – WU Vienna University
Provided by: Kate Sullivan from The Human Safety Net
Results-based management is shown to have helped for-profit companies to overcome challenges in people management when the team members have overlapping or unclear perimeters of their roles. There are often very clear organisational goals, such as profit, which can be translated into individual or team-level goals. Instead, in the case of non-profits, organisational goals are famously complex. Rather than seeing values as a means to an end (e.g. customer orientation to boost revenue), staff in nonprofits often are highly dedicated to values such as justice, human dignity and service as an end in itself. How can nonprofits be enabled to reach their goals and live up to their values given these characteristics?