Social Impact Bonds (SIBs) are a powerful new tool to align the interests of social organisations, governments and investors around proven social impact. While this form of funding is still in its early stage, there are some principles that are emerging. It is clear that a SIB will not be appropriate for all social programs - the need for robust proof of impact attributed to the intervention, and the involvement of investors and multiple government departments makes SIBs complicated instruments. We encourage social organisations to think about the future of outcomes-based funding for programs. With new SIB funding rounds opening up, social organisations are asking - do I have the right kind of program and support to be successful in applying for a SIB? There are several key dimensions to consider before beginning your application for a SIB. > A visionWhat is it that you are trying to achieve and for whom? A SIB is a long, challenging process, so your senior management need to have a clear and unified vision of why you want to proceed. While this will help sustain you when the complexity is greatest it will also help you convince Government that your organisation – your intervention – is ready to be taken through this process. > A clearly defined problemSIBs allow you to create, fund, measure and adapt an existing or new service response to a specific health or social need and for a specific cohort of people. The organisation needs to be very clear about the target cohort for the program. Develop a view on why, where and how the existing sets of services are inadequate. Demonstrate (ideally with existing evidence) how your proposal will solve the problem. Ideally, you have an existing intervention that you wish to ‘scale’ through a SIB, although this is not essential.
Latitude Network is excited to announce that we are supporting Sacred Heart Mission in negotiating one of Victoria’s first Social Impact Bonds (SIBs). Sacred Heart Mission was one of two organisations successful in applying to the Victorian Government to enter negotiations to conclude SIB contracts this year based on expanding its Journey to Social Inclusion program, which is setting a new benchmark for addressing long-term homelessness in Australia. Social Impact Bonds are being explored by commissioning agencies around the world in an attempt to find more effective ways of funding social and health services. SIBs (also known as ‘Pay For Success’ or ‘Payment by Results’ contracts) are part of an emerging set of funding mechanisms which aim to pay for service outcomes instead of service outputs – something the Productivity Commission discussed in depth in its recent report into competition, contestability and informed user choice. Russ Wood is leading this work for Latitude, and is acting as strategic adviser and project manager through the ‘Joint Development Phase’ of the SIB which is expected to run until the end of 2017. If your organisation is interested in exploring which programs might be suitable for outcomes-based commissioning such as Social Impact Bonds, then let us know - we'd be happy to share our learning. Just email us. |
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April 2024
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