Social Investment and Philanthropy Assessments
Assessment 1 - Critical essay
This assessment task requires that you critically reflect on the key concepts and debates in social investment and philanthropy covered in the first three weeks of the Unit.
Your task is to write a 1,500 word essay (excluding references) reflecting on how these concepts apply to one (1) of these topics.
Topic 1: Stanley Katz (2005) has likened the concept of 'new philanthropy' to the 'philanthropists' new clothes'. How novel is the new philanthropy? Use examples to support your argument.
Topic 2: Critically compare and contrast the arguments of Michael Edwards (2014) on the one hand and Matthew Bishop and Michael Green (2014) on the other. In your opinion does the 'philanthrocapitalist' turn represent a positive development for philanthropy? Use examples to support your argument.
Things to consider:
- You will need a central thesis - that is, while the task requires that you provide an analysis of the literature on a topic by comparing and contrasting various perspectives, you will need to have a central contention that outlines where you sit on this topic and why.
- Make sure you draw extensively on scholarly research - both theoretical and empirical - on social investment and philanthropy and cognate fields to support your arguments.
- You will need to consider (and cite) at least eight (8) or more quality peer-reviewed sources including scholarly journal articles, books and book chapters.
- Please do not exceed plus or minus 10% of the 1,500 word limit (excluding references).
- Please use the Harvard referencing system.
References - Stanley N Katz (2005), 'What Does it Mean to Say Philanthropy is "effective"? The Philanthropists' New Clothes' Proceedings of the American Philosophical Society 149(2): 123-131.
Learning Outcomes for this assessment:
- Apply coherent and advanced knowledge of concepts and debates in the field of social investment and philanthropy;
- Analyse and evaluate current and future trends in social investment and philanthropy.
Assessment 2 - Case Study
3000 words (excluding references).
This assessment task requires that you evaluate a fictional foundation's investment strategy (in the form of a report).
You have been hired as a consultant to review the investment strategy of a foundation of an Australian philanthropic trust with a corpus or endowment of $100 million. This means it is, by Australian standards, a large foundation with an annual grant portfolio of over $5 million.
As part of a broader strategic planning process the Board of Trustees of the foundation - which includes a range of typical trustees of a charitable trust - has requested that you explore the possibility of the foundation refashioning it approach to include social impact investment - both as a strategy to augment the impact of its endowment and provide alternatives to traditional grant making.
At present the foundation has a traditional approach to investment - that is, its trustees have adopted a relatively conservative investment strategy (and the Board is largely drawn from law, accountancy, business and academia). The focus is on growing the corpus through stable long-term investments to sustain a conventional strategy of distributing five percent of the endowment as grants to eligible not-for profit organisations.
As a consultant, you are tasked with developing a strategy for the Board of the fictional foundation (please give it a name and briefly describe its history, foci and origins) outlining:
- The benefits and limitations of the foundation deploying impact investment
- The current legal status of impact investing in Australia and what options are available for the foundation
- Three to four examples of impact investments to guide the Board in potential opportunities
- Your recommendation - should the foundation pursue impact investing or should it continue with its current approach? And if so, on what basis?
You will need to consider a range of factors:
- Its legal structure - is it a Private Ancillary Fund, Public Ancillary Fund or another type of charitable trust (this effects the scope of its activities)?
- Its area of focus - is it in the area of, for example, the arts, education, the environment etc. and how (and if) your strategy aligns with these purposes?
- You will also need to justify your approach by explaining how this aligns with a model of philanthropy - for example, traditional, strategic, venture etc.
The final report should be written in 'consultant's report' style; that is, a form of business report in which you are expected to have a structured argument, but also to support your argument with evidence and theoretical concepts covered in the Unit through references to scholarly materials.
Suggested report structure -
Your case study should follow a report structure with short paragraphs with subheadings. Also include tables and diagrams if this assists your communication with your client (note: tables and diagrams are not included in the word limit).
Below is a suggested (and very broad) report structure. Your report will have distinctive subheadings and may follow a different approach.
Introduction - Introduce your (fictional) organisation, your role (as consultant), and provide an overview of the scope of this project and your report.
Description of organisation - Provide a brief description of the (fictional) charitable trust - give it a name and describe its origins and history. You should also describe its grantmaking priorities, focus area(s), and mission (look to Australian and, where appropriate, international examples for inspiration).
Legal structure and legal status of impact investing - Outline the foundation's1 legal structure - is it, for example, a Private Ancillary Fund, a Public Ancillary Fund or another type of charitable trust?
Outline the legal status of impact investing for this legal form and the potential implications for the foundation's investment strategy. What legal obligations and considerations might need to be taken into account (particularly in relation to Trustees)? What is the relationship to investment strategy?
Social impact investment - Critically weigh up the benefits and limitations of impact investing for the trustees. Draw on the growing grey and scholarly literature on impact investing to support your arguments here.
Opportunities and cases - Provide two to four examples of impact investments - you will need to look at many to make an appropriate selection. How might these align with its grantmaking priorities?
Conclusions and Recommendations - Summary of findings, lessons and recommendations for your client to implement.
References - Please include only references that are cited in your report - that is, only sources that you have included in your in-text (Harvard) references or tangential footnotes.
It is expected that you will draw extensively on scholarly research - both theoretical and empirical - to support your analysis.
Learning Outcomes for this assessment:
- Apply coherent and advanced knowledge of concepts and debates in the field of social investment and philanthropy;
- Apply problem solving and decision making methodologies to social investment and philanthropy issues;
- Critique and evaluate models of social investment and philanthropy.
Attachment:- Assignment File.rar