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Product Approach for Sustainable Impact

Medium
This article is deemed a must-read by one or more of our expert collaborators.
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Giving Compass' Take:

• Vice President of Impact at Vulcan Inc., Art Min, discusses Paul Allen’s legacy and his own company’s efforts to find affordable solutions to conservation problems.

• How can other organizations in the social impact space lead on sustainability through better product design, as Min describes? Investors should take a close look at the benefits of a “trickle-up” innovation strategy.

• Read more about Paul Allen’s visionary philanthropy, including his plan to reverse-engineer the human brain.


I’ve had the opportunity to participate in a number of government, multilateral, and philanthropic events where the term “sustainable philanthropy” is commonly referenced. While there doesn’t seem to be a standard definition, there is general alignment around the idea that sustainable philanthropy is when at some point, a beneficiary is able to complete a project on their own without external funding. This is an admirable goal, but rarely achieved.

There’s a long history of projects that fail to meet funding goals and ultimately become abandoned due to shifting priorities of funders. As a result, sustainability programs end up as a cost sharing model across multiple funders as a way to diversify funding risks. I believe that it is possible to achieve sustainable impact with a transparent and thoughtful business model.

Our impact products focus on hard conservation problems where customers can’t afford to pay much for solutions. This is a forcing function to ensure that our products provide tremendous customer value, which in turn justifies charging customers to use. While this won’t meet any traditional investment criteria, this is a big step towards achieving sustainability. Once we feel like we have product market fit, we begin scaling to commercial markets which increase revenues and enables product innovation.

Read the full article about a product approach for sustainable impact by Art Min at Medium.

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Since you are interested in Conservation, have you read these selections from Giving Compass related to impact giving and Conservation?

  • This article is deemed a must-read by one or more of our expert collaborators.
    Click here for more.
    Conservationists As Project Developers: Show Them the Money

    More than $3 billion in committed capital that has already been raised for investments in food and agriculture, habitat protection, clean water initiatives and other conservation projects was sitting on the sideline waiting for attractive deals last year. That presents an enticing opportunity for developers who can package conservation projects that deliver both environmental and financial returns. The Nature Conservancy, World Wildlife Fund, Conservation International and other major conservation organizations are stepping up to stock that deal pipeline. "Conservation organizations like World Wildlife Fund are uniquely positioned to engage local communities, corporations and governments in conservation projects," Paul Chatterton, founder of the WWF’s Landscape Finance Lab, said in a recent report published with Clarmondial, a Swiss investment advisor. Now, he said, such projects must "include investors and harness capital markets to drive conservation goals." The trick is to package a bundle of revenue-generating activities into a project that also delivers significant environmental benefits. Sustainably produced fish, produce or timber are relatively easy to monetize. The business models for other conservation outcomes are more complicated, including "payments for ecosystem services" such as biodiversity, ecosystem resilience, carbon reduction and watershed improvements. Read the full article about large-scale conservation investments by David Bank at ImpactAlpha.


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In addition to learning and connecting with others, taking action is a key step towards becoming an impact giver. If you are interested in giving with impact for Conservation take a look at these Giving Funds, Charitable Organizations or Projects.

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