The Mission–Driven Venture: Business Solutions to the Worlds Most Vexing Social Problems

PRAISE FOR THE MISSION–DRIVEN VENTURE

"Go ahead and sue me for saying it...but attorney Marc Lane haswritten perhaps the most thorough yet accessible volume I′ve yetseen on social enterprise. Here, you′ll pick up both the finerlegal points of the new hybrid business models and the inspirationof Dr. Yunus, and everything in between. Keep it at yourfingertips!"
Kevin Lynch, President and CEO, Social EnterpriseAlliance

"Marc does a masterful job of equipping the mission–drivenentrepreneur with an understanding of various pathways forchanneling enthusiastic passion towards actionable operation. Iparticularly appreciate his use of real–world examples to bothinspire and make potentially intimidating concepts much moreaccessible."
John Tyler, General Counsel and Chief Ethics Officer,Ewing Marion Kauffman Foundation

"The Mission–Driven Venture is one of the mostcomprehensive and understandable books on the fast–growing andrapidly–changing social enterprise sector. Whether you are anemerging social entrepreneur, a seasoned veteran, or just someonewho wants to learn more about social enterprise, this book is wellworth the read."
Eric Weinheimer, President and CEO, Donors Forum

"A wealth of information and practical advice for anyoneconsidering starting a mission–driven venture, from one of the mostknowledgeable experts in the field."
Daniel Diermeier, Dean, Harris School of PublicPolicy, The University of Chicago

Preface xi

Acknowledgments xv

About the Author xvii

About the Website xix

1 Nothing Stops a Bullet Like a Job 1

Father G and Homeboy 5

Vanessa Bartram and WorkSquare, LLC 6

The Origin of Mission–Driven Ventures 7

Businesses Drive Social Change 9

Profits and Purpose 13

Our Agenda 17

2 Where to Begin? Constructing the Mission–Driven Venture19

Maximizing the Prospects of Financial Success and MeaningfulSocial Impact 22

Tracking Input, Output, and Outcome Indicators 27

Entity Design Choices 28

Moving from Ideation to Realization 30

Preparing for Launch 35

Zeroing in on Size and Scale 38

3 Communities of Interest: Benefit Corporations and CertifiedB Corps 40

Delaware Rejects Stakeholderism 43

The Benefit Corporation s Impact 46

Delaware, the Outlier 49

Patagonia s Values and Vision 50

Public Good Software Supports Civil Society 52

Ensuring Accountability to Stakeholders 53

4 PRIs and L3Cs 55

The Low–Profit Limited Liability Company (L3C) 59

The Sustainability Mayor Leverages His Impact62

Counseling Data, L3C: A Case Study in Collective Impact 64

5 The Poor and Their Banker Lead the Way 67

Professor Yunus Journey 68

The Visit to Jobra 70

The Banking System s Failure 71

Yunus Ingenious Solution 72

The Advent of the Social Business 74

Grameen Bank and Its Strategy 75

6 Leveraging Grameen 79

The Power of Cause–Related Marketing 81

The Grameen Family Expands 84

Social Venture Franchising 86

Grameen Empowers Entrepreneurs 88

7 The Mondragón Miracle: Scaling the Peaks Beyond thePyrenees 91

Italy s Social Co–Operatives 97

France s SCOPs 99

Why Worker–Owned Co–Ops Succeed 99

The Evergreen Cooperatives Build on Mondragón sSuccess 100

8 Social Impact Bonds: Aligning Financial and Social Returns105

Funding Targeted Intervention Strategies 106

Pay for Success 112

The Massachusetts Initiative 113

New York City Leads the Way 115

Pay for Success Gains Traction 117

Where Social Impact Bonds Work 118

The Social Impact Bond s Progeny 119

Empowering the Social Sector 120

9 Building and Rebuilding Communities 121

Donor–Advised Funds 126

The Role Foundations Play 126

Lessons Learned 130

10 Investing for Impact 132

The Origin of Impact Investing 137

Impact Investing Takes Root 142

11 How Impact Investing Works and Why 147

The Form of the Investment 150

Managing Risk 152

Judging Investment Performance 156

Quantifying Social Returns 157

Cashing Out 159

The Challenges of an Impact Investing Market 161

12 Impact Investing: Pursuing Its Destiny 163

The Importance of Public Policy 165

The Institutional Investors Weigh In 170

The Growth Trajectory Is Clear 174

13 Keeping Score: What Success Looks Like 178

A Safe Haven s Social Impact 179

Crediting the Causes of Positive Social Change 182

REDF and Social Return on Investment 186

Root Capital and Its Social and EnvironmentalScorecard 189

Acumen Fund and Its Best Alternative CharitableOption 190

14 Answering the Call: The Demand for Social Metrics192

Scaling Success 194

Shared–Outcomes Networks 198

15 Toward a Universal Metrics Language 210

Creating More Social Good 214

The Industry Steps Up 215

Impact Reporting and Investment Standards (IRIS) 216

The Global Impact Investing Rating System (GIIRS) 218

B Analytics 219

Other Universal Standards 219

The World Takes Note 220

16 What the Future May Hold: The Triumph of theMission–Driven Venture 222

The Poorest of the Poor Have Reason for Hope 222

The Growing Role of Business 223

Social Enterprise Gains Influence in the Developing World224

Business Raises the Bar 225

Governments Reach Out to Mission–Driven Ventures 227

Measurement of Social Performance Becomes

More Sophisticated 228

Stakeholders Look to Substance Over Form 228

Social Capital Takes Center Stage 230

The Stakes Go Higher 231

Collaboration Becomes the Watchword 233

Index 235

Marc J. Lane, a nationally recognized business and tax attorney and financial adviser, practices law at The Law Offices of Marc J. Lane, P.C. in Chicago (www.MarcJLane.com) and serves as the President of Social Enterprise Alliance s Chicago chapter.

An innovator in helping social enterprises, foundations, investors, lenders and philanthropists leverage capital to maximize financial results while driving positive social change, Marc has taught Social Enterprise at Northwestern University School of Law.  He is also the pioneer behind the Advocacy Investing® approach to socially responsible and mission–related investing (www.AdvocacyInvesting.com).