Here’s a local way to bring more money to worthy nonprofits in our region — and you don’t even have to get wet. But you can make it fun. It’s the RiseDetroit Challenge, powered by CrowdRise, a fundraising platform co-founded by Robert Wolfe.
If the world is to solve its huge environmental and social problems, it’s going to take more than government spending and private philanthropy. These sources can bring in billions of dollars, but what’s really needed is trillions—the sort of money only business and the markets can provide.
Phillip Fisher’s Mission Throttle and Marjorie S. Fisher have teamed up with CrowdRise to launch the RiseDetroit Challenge. Metro Detroit nonprofits are encouraged to sign up now for the Challenge, which begins on September 15 and ends on October 30.
Mission Throttle and the Marjorie S. Fisher Fund of the Community Foundation for Southeast Michigan are donating a total of $100,000 in cash prizes to encourage people to fundraise on behalf of and donate to their favorite Detroit area nonprofit organizations. Using the CrowdRise platform, fundraising teams participating in the RiseDetroit Challenge will compete to raise the most money for their organization and win additional cash prizes. The organization that raises the most money by the end of the Challenge will receive a $50,000 donation, second place will receive a $20,000 donation and third place will receive a $10,000 donation. An additional $20,000 will be given to participating nonprofits throughout the campaign through weekly bonus Challenges. Organizations that don’t win prizes keep the money they raise.
“We’re excited to partner with CrowdRise to expose nonprofits to different fundraising methods” said Mission Throttle founder Phillip Wm. Fisher. “While Mission Throttle is primarily an impact investing and consulting firm for mission-driven organizations, we support crowdfunding in particular as a way to encourage and empower every member of our community in giving to others and to complement traditional philanthropic activity.” The Fisher family has a long history of giving in the Detroit community and beyond. “My mother (Marjorie S. Fisher) always says you start with your heart and then use your mind when giving back to the community. My hope is to find and fund innovative tools and programs that help people to do both,” says Fisher.
“We’re so, so psyched to work with so many amazing organizations in Detroit,” said CrowdRise co-founder and CEO, Robert Wolfe. The idea of leveraging the incredible generosity of Mission Throttle and the Fisher Family to raise a crazy amount of money for Detroit area charities is awesome.”
Metro Detroit area nonprofit organizations can sign up here until October 3. CrowdRise helps nonprofits get the most out of their campaigns, providing resources, custom emails and customer service every step of the way. For additional information, contact RiseDetroit@CrowdRise.com.
This report, Private Capital, Public Good: How Smart Federal Policy Can Galvanize Impact Investing – and Why It’s Urgent (June 2014), by the US National Advisory Board on Impact Investing (NAB) provides a framework for federal policy action in support of impact investing. Simply put, impact investing generates measurable, beneficial social or environmental impacts alongside financial returns.
Simply put, impact investing generates measurable, beneficial social or environmental impacts alongside financial returns. The proposals in this report—some near-term and concrete, others longer-term and more ambitious—have the power to unlock dramatic economic activity and immense positive impact. Ultimately, they may serve as a catalyst to help change the way investors think about long-term risks and returns.
Are you a nongovernmental organization wondering how to benefit from impact investors? You are not alone. The Nonprofit Finance Fund recently surveyed U.S. nonprofits, and 20 percent of respondents said they will be seeking funding other than grants and contracts — such as loans and other types of investments — within the next year. In addition, 26 percent are considering pursuing an earned income venture as a way to diversify their sources of revenue. And the timing couldn’t be more perfect. Global investors are expected to commit 19 percent more capital to impact investments this year than they did in 2013, according to a joint study from JP Morgan and the Global Impact Investing Network. A growing percentage of their portfolio is projected to be deployed to sub-Saharan Africa and Asia as well.
It’s safe to assume that impact investing will play an increasingly important role in the funding of organizations involved in making an impact in developing countries. While the appeal of impact investing is undeniable, nonprofits should know that taking investors on board is a major step, and implies a vast number of changes in the way their organization operates — changes that might conflict with their mission. When would it make sense, then, to transition to a revenue-generating model and when would it be better to remain a “traditional” nonprofit? This guide will hopefully allow you to get a better sense of what impact investing means for your organization.
In recent years, Detroit has been the setting of several prominent business success stories, from the growth of restaurants like Slows Bar-B-Q to the rise of high-end watch manufacturer Shinola. These profitable companies have contributed to and benefited from the Detroit revival narrative and we are all familiar with their stories.
But there is a growing number of Detroit business ventures concerned with more than simply making products and earning profits, and their success is equally as important to Detroit’s future as that of traditional businesses. They’re called “social enterprises,” and their story deserves the same amount attention we give to traditional business development in the city.
Mission throttle is proud to partner once again with Michigan Corps for the 2014 Michigan Social Entrepreneurship Challenge, the nation’s first statewide competition in social entrepreneurship.
Mission Throttle will be sponsoring the Social Entrepreneur of the Year Prize, open to all social entrepreneurs across the state of Michigan who have created a sustainable model to address one or more of our state’s social or environmental challenges. Entries must demonstrate a clear revenue model, need for investment and potential for scale. The winner will be provided a $5,000 cash grant and admission to Michigan Corps’ Impact Investment Fellowship, valued at $15,000. Other prize tracks include health, urban revitalization, education and more.
Registration is open today and will close April 30th. Registered individuals and teams are asked to complete submissions by May 30th in order to compete.
In 1955, my parents founded the The Max M. & Marjorie S. Fisher Foundation on the philosophy that life’s purpose is found in service to others, in creating opportunities for those who lack them, in supporting human community in all its forms and empowering individuals in self-sufficiency. My father, ahead of his time, always said that he was interested not just in philanthropy, but in social responsibility to meet the obligations each one of us owes to society and introduced me to the idea of “Tzedekah” – giving to others not as charity, but as a mutually beneficial interaction.In 2009, I founded Mission Throttle, an impact investment firm dedicated to bringing those concepts to life by helping evolve the role capital plays in philanthropy and our communities.
As experienced investors, philanthropists and community leaders, the Mission Throttle team is privileged and uniquely positioned to deliver on what we see as our social responsibility, and we stand on the shoulders of other pioneers around the world who are already using their hearts and their heads, proving increased value to society while seeking financial returns.
