Investment Criteria in Social Entrepreneurship Organizations - Coursework Example

Investment Criteria in Social Entrepreneurship Organizations: Surfaid International, Direct Relief, Cry America and Save The Children, India Surf Aid International SurfAid International or Surfaid is a nonprofit humanitarian organization founded in January 2000 by Dr. Dave Jenkins which aimed to improve the health and well being of the Mentawai people. It started in 1999 when Dr. Jenkins went on a surf charter to the Mentawai Islands off the west coast of Sumatra Indonesia. At first, he had but one goal in mind and that is to find the perfect waves. However, he found out that there were Mentawai people who were suffering and dying from the ravages of malaria and other preventable diseases. On one of his visits to the nearby village, he offered to return and treat the people. Hence many diseases were easily cured through the use of education and modern medicine (Surfaid International 1). These events then inspired him to establish Surfaid International, a nonprofit organization dedicated to the alleviation of human suffering through community-based health programs. Later on, he was joined by Andrew Griffiths, an investment banker who also felt the similar urge to help the people of the Mentawai Islands after visiting them. Apparently, it was the latter’s management and finance skills that helped in building Surfaid into the professional development organization that it is today. In the process of establishing the organization, Dr. Jenkins and Griffiths were joined by a wealth of people and organization that believed in their mission; these include: (1) international corporations, (2) government agencies and (3) global health organizations. To ensure the attainment of its goals, Surfaid comes up with those programs which demonstrate proven impacts, cost effective, sustainable and replicable. Hence, investors are assured that every dollar contributed will be allocated in proven programs, measuring performance and typically exceeding humanitarian objectives. In order to aid the aforesaid, Surfaid International then makes use of the so-called community development strategy. The community development strategy has often been used by Surfaid International in order to guarantee its investors that the programs they come up with continue to generate proven results. This is generally because of the fact that their programs are aimed towards aiding the people of the community help themselves (Surfaid International 2). The researcher believes that the use of this particular strategy in acquiring investments from individuals, governments and other private organizations has been of paramount importance for it ensures the latter that the money they are donating go to programs that are launched by the organization for the communities they have chosen in Indonesia. Aside from this, this particular strategy also guarantees the investors that the programs they have supported remain continuous for the former are established in order to aid the members of the community in helping themselves out. Through the community development approach, Surfaid International assures its investors of the continuity of its projects. However, the organization must come up with initiatives and other programs that would establish the strength of its programs as well as its competitive advantage in order to further ensure its success. Direct Relief Unlike other nonprofit organizations, Direct Relief does not rely on any funding from government grants. Generally, the support they receive comes entirely from private individuals, associations, foundations and businesses that provide them with the necessary resources in order for them to fulfill their humanitarian mission. Investors usually consider the programs developed by the organization as well as its sustainability before they actually donate a certain amount of money for their use (Direct Relief 1). Apparently, these two factors have been considered by Direct Relief for it has been properly incorporated into their policies with regard to transparency and accountability in relation to donations. In their donation policy, the organization expressly stated that they are committed in spending the investors’ money in the most productive and efficient way possible. Furthermore, they have also given the investors the chance to determine to which part of their initiatives their contributions should go to. Direct Relief, however, must come up with other policies that would strengthen their image as an organization in order to attract more investors that would help in funding their programs. It is believed that it is through the promulgation of such policies that the investors will be assured of the continuity of the former’s programs. Moreover, Direct Relief, being a social entrepreneurship organization must also come up with initiatives that would encourage funding from government grants rather than merely relying on private individuals, associations, foundations and businesses alone. Through this shift in policy, more funds can be acquired for the use of their organization. Cry America Cry America listed the following as the characteristics that they possess which make them different from other social entrepreneurship organizations: (1) their independence thereby being unaffected by political will or donor ideology; (2) their belief in the philosophy of partnership which is thereby implemented in all their relationships with project holders, volunteers and donors; (3) their partnership with an Indian Non-governmental organization; (4) their inclusive approach; and lastly, (4) the importance they give to events as opportunities to reinforce credibility, enhance image, increase awareness levels, create media excitement and raise resources (CRY America 1). In general, the abovementioned enumeration can nevertheless be effective for it illustrates the stability of the organization as one that is devoted to programs falling under the social entrepreneurship category. Aside from this, the list above also shows the continuity of the programs for unlike other organizations, CRY America is independent, thereby unaffected by political will or donor ideology. Moreover, the value given by CRY America to partnership as perceived from their relationship with their donors and volunteers could also strengthen their image as a social entrepreneurship organization. In this regard, without a doubt, the company was able to somehow highlight its competitive advantage. Nevertheless, it is recommended that the company continues to strengthen its competitive advantage so as to guarantee the continuous influx of investors into the organization for it to achieve the charitable goals that it has set in place. Save the Children, India Save the Children India is also another social entrepreneurship organization whose aim is to safeguard the rights of the children by fighting against child labor, child trafficking, corporal punishment, sexual abuse and the like (Save the Children India, 1). Moreover, the organization also promotes the need to promote education and health in order to safeguard the children from abuses. In order to attain the said goals, the organization focuses on the following: (1) child rights programming, (2) working in partnership, and (3) investing in its staff. With regard to the first, the organization engages in research, advocacy and other initiative in order to properly ensure their investors that they are knowledgeable in relation to the rights of the children. Meanwhile, the second factor is concerned with their implementation of programs with partner organizations that provide both funding and non-funding support. Lastly, the third factor presupposes the need to invest in the staff members for they are of paramount importance in making sure that the organization attains it goals (Save the Children India, 1). The abovementioned enumeration points out that the organization gives paramount importance to investments that are backed by extensive research and planning. Thus, supports given to them are not just in the form of monetary contributions but in other kinds as well. It is however, recommended that the organization establishes its competitive advantage through other initiatives in order to further establish the inflow of investments into their organizations. Also, it is important that Save the Children, India be able to ensure its investors of the continuity of its programs in order to guarantee their trust and support. Works Cited CRY America. Web. 05 December 2009 Direct Relief. Web. 05 December 2009 Save the Children India. Web. 05 December 2009 Surfaid International. 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