Someone asked me today what kind of return “social” investors are willing to settle for. I hear that question often asked aloud. -100%: I think I first heard this at SRI in the Rockies, or maybe it was from the Heron Foundation, but I’ve seen a few characterizations of donations as essentially being a social investment [...]
Archive for January, 2010
How Low Can You Go?
Posted in Capital Thoughts on January 26, 2010 | Leave a Comment »
Investing in Haiti
Posted in Along the Way on January 23, 2010 | Leave a Comment »
Most of my readers by now have likely made at least one donation to the Haitian relief efforts, help that is urgently needed. Many intermediaries have created compilations of non-governmental organizations (NGOs) with pre-earthquake operations in Haiti, my preference because they will have existing local knowledge and relationships to aid their own effectiveness. Conversation has already [...]
Food for Thought: criticisms of microfinance
Posted in Along the Way on January 23, 2010 | Leave a Comment »
While researching Haitian charity, I discovered that GiveWell.net, a blog focused on non-profit effectiveness, has written a bunch on why they don’t like microfinance nonprofits, and don’t like Kiva and Grameen in particular. I’m sharing for your next idle moment that pairs with an urge to know more about microfinance as an industry! The core criticism: Too [...]
Notes on the online money marketplace
Posted in News of Interest on January 20, 2010 | Leave a Comment »
I’ve got a tab that’s due for update on the online money marketplace focused more on investing and lending. That field has evolved over time as we work out the question of what’s appropriate to offer to non-accredited investors. MicroPlace came out and registered as a broker to offer securities from the get-go. Prosper started out as [...]
