The idea is not new but implementing a timebank so that any Oregonian, child-adult-senior, could bank their volunteer community service. This could be validated for donating art or performance for people in the hospital, cutting hair for shut-ins, street sweeping, cleaning up public buildings, and parks, serving on a neighborhood association board, donating $$s or goods to charity, almost any worthwhile endeavor that improves the quality of life for an individual or group. Those participating would get a credit/debit card that would be used for reclaiming those time-banked hours, goods or dollars. Participating businesses could provide food from farmers markets or food coops, tme at a community or fitness center, massages, newspaper subscriptions, discount coupons for dining or items at the Rebuilding Center or participating hardware stores, get movie, athletic or event tickets, redeem banked hours for a weekend B&B, or ...anything a person might want but usually have to pay for with dollars. This would not only validate community service and heart-felt community building but would unite Oregonians in a way that they've never been united. Businesses participating in providing benfits, goods and/or services could also get incentives.

Nonprofit Organizations create more than 8% of the jobs in Oregon. Economic crises and a challenging market environment require social service, arts, health, youth and other nonprofit organizations to innovate, to create new services with fewer resources, and to identify new partnerships or funding sources. Public private partnerships, social marketing and a growing interest of private investors in social innovation create opportunities for entrepreneurial nonprofits and social entrepreneurs. Such circumstances require strong, ethical, visionary and competent nonprofit leaders in our region. Strong leaders need excellent leadership education and development. Therefore we need a center that provides state of the art knowledge and skills to master the current and future challenges. The Institute for Nonprofit Management at Portland State University has been providing professional education in nonprofit management and leadership since the early 1990s. In partnership with other actors like the Nonprofit Association for Oregon, Grantmakers and Ashoka, PSU could create a CENTER OF EXCELLENCE FOR SOCIAL INNOVATION AND THE NONPROFIT LEADERSHIP, which strengthens the capacity of the region for social innovation and for nonprofit service delivery. An investment in such a center of excellence at PSU provides a social platform for current and future leaders to meet with each other, with scholars and experts to master current challenges and to develop future strategies in a climate of collaboration and innovation. To invest in an endowment for this center would ultimately lead to more jobs in the third sector, a higher contribution of nonprofits to the economic development of the region and an improved quality of life in our state.

Business Innovation Center and Micro Venture Finance support providing seed capital to innovative local social entrepreneurs for startups.

Social entrepreneur business innovation centers offer a new type of place for local social entrepreneurs to gather and work in a collaborative and open environment.

Organizations within the innovation center would be connected with other innovation centers in other locations and all would be connected online.

Micro Venture Finance offers a different type of capital investment instrument. There are over 10,000 microfinance institutions worldwide with less than 5% of those being financially sustainable. Within the realm of microfinance 9 out of 10 borrowers would rather have a job, than borrow through microfinance and be "entrepreneurs". Micro Venture Finance aims find local and innovative entrepreneurs and business models focused on building products and services with market demand targeting when possible scalable models for social innovation.

Micro Venture Finance addresses incubation, acceleration, financing, guidance and growth of early stage local innovative business models. Initial Micro Venture Finance would be done in investment tranches of $10,000-$25,000.

Innovation centers would provide social entrepreneurs with a location that has great quality Wi-Fi appropriate technology, low cost portable furniture for easy collaboration, and experienced startup entrepreneur to help guide the startups. We would also work to build solid development of meaningful collaboration partnerships with such organizations as Ashoka.org, Endeavor.org, Kiva.org, Ycombinator.com, Globalgiving.com that would add great value to all parties.

The innovation center would optimally be at cash-flow positive and totally self-sustainable within 3-6 months of launch (already done this). Social entrepreneurs and businesses within each center should all have a working prototype of their business model within 16 weeks of launch. Following the rapid 16 week prototype businesses would either be taken to the next level of financing with local angel/VC's, or they would be guided into execution and development of building a solid, ongoing cash flow positive business that hires and grows locally.

Step one of measurement will be traditional financial return on investment (ROI) methods. Equally important a second level of measurements will include social return on investment (SROI). SROI measurements will include transparency, replication, scale, open reporting, decentralization, adaptive blueprinting, and other impact analysis criteria that will be developed.

The Micro Venture Finance and Innovation Center could help social entrepreneurs whose business models include the following categories: community building, health, environment, social services, arts and culture, youth development, economic development, transportation, energy, technology, media, education, and housing.

The Northwest Social Venture Conference (SVC) would be a one-day event designed to bring together inspired thinkers/doers and community organizers under one roof. The event would feature the thinkers/doers making short (18 minute) presentations on the latest community improvement concepts to an audience who pay to attend and learn the latest in community development ideas. SVC would be modeled after the world class TED (Technology, Entertainment & Design) event held in Southern California each year. The presenters would be people from around the region - and country - who have new and tested ideas on how to improve communities, with an emphasis on providing social-service-related solutions. The audience would consist of people looking for ideas on how to improve their community/region, and would include - in addition to those people who might implement the ideas - also those people who could finance them. (Social venture capitalists, angel investors, philanthrophy organizations, etc.) Once up and running, the event could be designed to be cash flow neutral or better, similar to how TED has evolved.
Jim Schell
Partnership to End Poverty
Executive Director
521 SW 6th Street, Suite 101
P.O. Box 147
Redmond, Oregon 97756
Phone: 541-504-1389
Fax: 541-504-1399
Email: jim@partnershiptoendpoverty.org
Web: www.partnershiptoendpoverty.org