Social Innovation Fund

2014 National Conference Opens to Themes of Urgency, Impact

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By Ebonie Johnson Cooper on behalf of Exponent Philanthropy

Although we may not realize it, Americans today make data-driven decisions almost instinctively. Who books a hotel room without reading online reviews or makes a restaurant reservation without consulting Yelp? We rely on crowdsourced evaluations to inform our choices on everything from dating to shopping. Yet how many of us consider data when making philanthropic decisions? How many ask about a nonprofit’s impact? About the number of lives transformed?

MichaelSmith-PlenaryThis was the challenge presented this morning by Michael Smith, newly appointed head of the White House initiative My Brother’s Keeper, at the opening plenary of Exponent Philanthropy’s 2014 National Conference.

Smith talked about why we must think about investing in communities in new ways—why we “must move [all support] to organizations with evidence of impact.” As former director of the Corporation for National and Community Service’s Social Innovation Fund, which uses the federal government to mobilize public and private support for community solutions with strong results, Smith knows a thing or two about focusing on outcomes.

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Growing Community Solutions That Work: A New Way for Government

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By Hanh Le, Exponent Philanthropy

Last month, the Social Innovation Fund (SIF) announced $33.7 million in grant investments to seven organizations that address youth development, economic opportunity, and healthy futures through innovative, evidence-based approaches.

What Is SIF? SIF is a White House initiative and program of the Corporation for National and Community Service that aims to demonstrate a “new way that government programs can operate.”

SIF cornerstones include:

  • Bringing together public and private resources
  • Focusing on solutions
  • Requiring evidence of results
  • Sharing successful ideas with more people
michael-smith

SIF Director Michael Smith will keynote Exponent Philanthropy’s 2014 National Conference

“Five years ago,” said SIF Director Michael Smith in a press release announcing SIF’s recent grantees, “the Social Innovation Fund was created to find solutions that work, and make them work for more people – signaling a shift in the way the government and philanthropy invest in community solutions. Five years later, we’ve become a national solutions accelerator and amplifier, investing hundreds of millions of dollars, along with our private sector partners to prove, improve and scale solutions that work.”

Who did SIF support in 2014? Two of its seven grantees, The Boston Foundation and Silicon Valley Foundation, are community foundations – a first for SIF. And all seven grantees will be using a collective impact model.

See the full list of grantees

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