I have a confession. For as much as I talk about it, I've never actually made a social investment. So, I decided to own up and finally do it. After much deliberation, I chose the Village Enterprise Fund to support.
I chronicled how I came to VEF for Yes! Magazine. I laid it out as a simple three-step guide to social investment, so if you have never done it before, or if you are a casual donor interested in taking the next step with your donations, check it out. I hope my example can help.
Frequent readers of this blog will notice I don't use the same language in the article as I do here. I don't actually even mention the word "investing" once. Some people are uncomfortable with business-y terminology and I didn't want to exclude through word choice. As long as people are doing it, it doesn't matter what they call it.
Personal thanks to Holden at GiveWell for talking through this process with me.
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Jeff,
ReplyDeleteI saw your blog here and with YES! Magazine. Many thanks for sharing your thoughtful criteria and process for choosing an organization to donate to. As Board Chair for Village Enterprise Fund, I want to THANK YOU for your gift to VEF and for encouraging others to give -- either to VEF or to other effective groups through the careful selection process you advocate.
I joined the VEF board for all the reasons you cited: focus -- the organization is very focused on poverty alleviation in East Africa; work -- by sustainable, starting small enterprises, VEF works to ensure (and measure) that it helps improve the lives of its new entrepreneurs; and size -- VEF is large enough to have a solid operation but small enough to deliver grass-roots effectiveness. Every $200 contributed provides money to train, fund (for $150), and mentor group of five people to start a business. And the profits will help improve the lives of up to 25 people.
Again, I thank you!!
Debbie Hall