The Canadian Task Force on Social Finance (TFSF) is asking the public and organizations to welcome, endorse or provide feedback on its recently released report on how to build a robust social finance marketplace in Canada.
The report, entitled Mobilizing Private Capital for Public Good, was released Nov. 30 and details seven recommendations to address three main challenges for social finance; to mobilize new sources of capital, develop an enabling tax and regulatory environment, and create an investment pipeline providing social entrepreneurs with business support to launch, operate and scale their innovative ideas.
Tim Draimin, executive director of Social Innovation Generation (SiG), which founded the task force, says they are hoping the endorsement initiative builds more momentum for the report and its ideas.
“It’s really an important report and what we are interested in is the report starting a national conversation about the role of social finance in helping mobilize private capital for public good,” he says.
Draimin says the task force is in the process of ensuring the report “gets out and is disseminating — crossing the right desk at the right time with whatever kind of supporting information people need to be able to process it.”
TFSF will be following up on these connections in the first quarter of 2011.
The task force is also reaching out to the sectors it has identified as critical to the success of the movement to enhance engagement.
While it’s important to have the report resonate with people involved in social finance, Draimin says the goal is to move the conversation into the broader public sphere.
“We want to demonstrate that there is residency for these ideas that goes beyond just the core group of organizations that have played a leadership role,” he says.
TFSF recognises it may take some time to spark this national dialogue, as social finance or impact investing, as it is also known, is still new to Canada.
“While we have a series of very specific ideas we recognize that this is a new conversation for many people so we are trying to engage them in a discussion of it,” he says.
As more people become familiar with the ideas of social finance, the task force would like to see people consider how the recommendations could impact their own organizations now, and in the future, as well as the best ways their constituency can participate in moving forward the recommendations.
People are able to endorse the report on the SocialFinance.ca website.
More than 10 organizations have formally endorsed or welcomed the report, including think tank Cardus, Canadian Business for Social Responsibility (CBSR) and Imagine Canada.
“We see that as a really proficient start and we look forward to other people piling on,” says Draimin.
Related Stories:
1. B.C. ‘Pays Tribute’ to Work of Social Finance Task Force
2. Canadian Task Force on Social Finance Launches 7 Recommendations
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