The challenge with ethically responsible investing is that the average person may not have the knowledge of exactly how their invested money is being used.
For the investor who wishes to deputize a financial expert to ensure a diverse strategy to mitigate risk, many will invest in ethical mutual funds. In this scenario, mutual fund managers will seek companies or indices that meet a set of predetermined--but often reasonably obvious-- parameters or screens: no tobacco, no armaments, no pornography, no child labour and no companies with unsavory management or environmental practices.
The average investor, unless they are particularly motivated to engage the company at a shareholder meeting (or through proxy voting through a mutual fund provider like Meritas, for example), has to expect that the fund managers in charge of their money are vigilant in both adhering to the parameters and willing to divest if they become aware of a change in the company’s behavior.
Even knowledgeable investors who manage their own portfolio typically can’t have access to the inner workings of a company in which they hold stock except through quarterly reports, press releases or other external communications. Even with their savvy, they have to read between the lines produced by marketing and communications experts in order to make a best guess about a company's business.
As we’ve witnessed recently with the Madoff and Enron scandals, the mortgage market collapse, and the financial meltdown, even the most experienced investors may be the last to know if there is a problem. This recent experience further complicates the market for the investor who wants assurance that they are investing ethically.
Aside from an obvious desire to feel secure about their investments while generating a modest return, the ethical investor may want their investments to meet more than minimal criteria: they want to be proud of their support, in the same way that donors to reputable charities can be proud of their philanthropy.
For these investors, an investment in La Siembra is a worthwhile consideration. La Siembra is a worker owned Canadian cooperative that has grown each year since its inception in 1999. Their business is to import, produce, and distribute fairly traded cocoa, sugar and other high quality chocolate and baking products while minimizing their ecological footprint.
La Siembra offers investors a direct link to supporting good business. Such an investment is a credible alternative to “green” or “ethical” mutual funds offered by banking institutions or investment companies. Holding an investment with La Siembra simply makes sense in any ethical investment portfolio, and offeres competitive returns on investment when compared to other ethical fund returns.
Investors in La Siembra correspond directly with the cooperative, the shares are eligible for a registered retirement savings plan, and the investment supports a business that is founded on ethical principles of providing a fair market value to farmers, producers, retailers, investors, and customers across the world.
La Seimbra is tackling poverty by providing fair wage employment to more than 12,000 individuals in five developing countries.
If a person wants to be absolutely sure that their money is invested ethically, there are many options, but an investment in La Siembra offers individuals a guarantee that their money is working to improve the common good and is supporting a higher standard of international business.
Thursday, February 11, 2010
Monday, February 8, 2010
Social Entrepreneurs are powerful change agents
In a blog on using marketing tools and techniques to change individuals’ behavior, I would be remiss if I did not at least mention the good work and the support of Ashoka and their network of fellows, volunteers, and experts worldwide.
Ashoka is a global organization that is dedicated to recognizing and supporting social entrepreneurs in order to develop meaningful social change. Their belief is that it is possible to develop a social marketplace for ideas where everyone can be a changemaker.
I recently was invited to an event where Ashoka Canada inducted eleven new fellows, each of whom are leading measurable projects of transformational change in social policy and social service delivery in Canada. Although they are certainly not the only Canadians who are making significant contributions, it is delightful to see them recognized and supported by Ashoka Canada.
A social entrepreneur can be defined in many different ways. Ashoka explains their use of the term as follows:
There is nothing as powerful as a new idea in the hands of a first-class entrepreneur.
Just as entrepreneurs change the face of business, social entrepreneurs act as the change agents for society, seizing opportunities others miss and improving systems, inventing new approaches, and creating solutions to change society for the better. While a business entrepreneur might create entirely new industries, a social entrepreneur comes up with new solutions to social problems and then implements them on a large scale.
The discipline of social marketing is a swiss army knife for social entrepreneurs.
It is a box of tools to assist the social entrepreneur as they implement their ideas on a wide scale. Social marketing can help transform one person’s ideas into group action.
What differentiates a social entrepreneur from any executive director of a charity, or leader of a church congregation, or member of a service club, or even a political activist? The difference lies in the application of entrepreneurial spirit: the desire to find new scalable mechanisms to tackle endemic, significant, social problems. Many social entrepreneurs establish charities as a vehicle to house their action. Others perhaps work through social networks, social affiliations, family foundations or even in a private or non-profit business setting.
Social entrepreneurs are not limited to one sector. Nor is the term a simple reinvention of the celebration of voluntary activity or civil society organization. Nevertheless, the term social entrepreneur is a way to identify the global leaders who are championing transformational changes to perspectives, policy and citizen engagement in order to improve society.
In the words of David Bornstein, author of How to Change the World, social entrepreneurs are “positive disrupters.” They are in business to improve the social fabric, even if that means challenging the social mores. One might say that they don’t have a profit motive to drive their efforts, but they have an ethical imperative that governs their entrepreneurship.
Ashoka is a global organization that is dedicated to recognizing and supporting social entrepreneurs in order to develop meaningful social change. Their belief is that it is possible to develop a social marketplace for ideas where everyone can be a changemaker.
I recently was invited to an event where Ashoka Canada inducted eleven new fellows, each of whom are leading measurable projects of transformational change in social policy and social service delivery in Canada. Although they are certainly not the only Canadians who are making significant contributions, it is delightful to see them recognized and supported by Ashoka Canada.
A social entrepreneur can be defined in many different ways. Ashoka explains their use of the term as follows:
There is nothing as powerful as a new idea in the hands of a first-class entrepreneur.
Just as entrepreneurs change the face of business, social entrepreneurs act as the change agents for society, seizing opportunities others miss and improving systems, inventing new approaches, and creating solutions to change society for the better. While a business entrepreneur might create entirely new industries, a social entrepreneur comes up with new solutions to social problems and then implements them on a large scale.
The discipline of social marketing is a swiss army knife for social entrepreneurs.
It is a box of tools to assist the social entrepreneur as they implement their ideas on a wide scale. Social marketing can help transform one person’s ideas into group action.
What differentiates a social entrepreneur from any executive director of a charity, or leader of a church congregation, or member of a service club, or even a political activist? The difference lies in the application of entrepreneurial spirit: the desire to find new scalable mechanisms to tackle endemic, significant, social problems. Many social entrepreneurs establish charities as a vehicle to house their action. Others perhaps work through social networks, social affiliations, family foundations or even in a private or non-profit business setting.
Social entrepreneurs are not limited to one sector. Nor is the term a simple reinvention of the celebration of voluntary activity or civil society organization. Nevertheless, the term social entrepreneur is a way to identify the global leaders who are championing transformational changes to perspectives, policy and citizen engagement in order to improve society.
In the words of David Bornstein, author of How to Change the World, social entrepreneurs are “positive disrupters.” They are in business to improve the social fabric, even if that means challenging the social mores. One might say that they don’t have a profit motive to drive their efforts, but they have an ethical imperative that governs their entrepreneurship.
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