The OnP column: News, views & inspiration
David Puttergill, October 2014 Associate, shares this fortnight’s highlights from the social enterprise scene, plus some insider news from the On Purpose programme.
How will you use your 80,000 working hours?
At some point everyone working for a social cause wonders “is this the best way I could make an impact?” While it can all get a bit “my impact is bigger than yours”, it’s still a question worth asking. Luckily Will MacAskill, an associate professor at Oxford and fan of effective altruism has done the sums. You may be surprised or angered by the results.
Kids Company, what went wrong?
Whatever the immediate cause, the implosion of Kids Company this week is a cautionary tale for all fast growing, popular charities and social enterprises. The ultimate culprits, according to Craig Dearden-Phillips were a cocktail of “founder’s syndrome, weak governance, and under-developed executive management”. A reminder of the importance of professionalising the social sector and bringing in talent.
Cash up for grabs from the SE 100
The SE100 are asking from applications for their 2015 awards. There’s more than £30,000 going in prizes, with categories for Growth, Impact, Trailblazing Newcomer and Resilience (for those still standing after all the slings and arrows of outrageous fortune). Applications must be in by 24th August.
What we learned last week:
Last week Ed Gardiner from the Design Council / Warwick Business School gave a great session on behavioural economics and how it can be built into service design. After that our journalist in residence, Anna Patton, gave a great session on how to write better. Sorry I’m a slow learner!
From our network:
On Purpose have announced the details of their 5th birthday celebrations. See Eventbrite for more details and to sign up. We’d love to see you there.
It’s with mixed emotions that I announce that this is my last news review, as we pass the reins of the blog on to the April 2015 cohort next week. If you’ve enjoyed the news review then please let me know.
