Social investment
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As social investment , and social investment is called the support of projects and companies that an ecological and sustainable contribution to society afford. This support can be provided both monetarily and in the form of services . In a broader sense, however, the term social investment should not be limited to private contributions, as the extensive literature on the term shows.
In colloquial language, “ social ” means a person's reference to one or more other people; This includes the ability (in most cases) a person to care for others, to empathize, to keep in mind (the good of others altruism ) or caring to think of the general public.
Origin of the term
The term social investment originally referred to donations for charitable organizations and projects in the social field, as well as in the field of development aid in emerging and developing countries . It even became the subject of university research.
With the emergence of so-called social investment communities (e.g. Kiva or one million people), the meaning of the term has changed so that not only charitable projects and aid projects are supported, but all projects and companies that are considered sustainable for society and for the environment. Furthermore, in the changed meaning of the word "is social ," meaning " social ", commonly understood within the meaning of and together. In a social investment community , people come together in a community to jointly create an investment volume with which more can be achieved than with a donation from a single person. In contrast to an investment fund , the social investor participates with relatively small amounts and can decide for himself which projects he would like to support.
In the community of Kiva people can e.g. B. to form groups to provide microloans for business start-ups in developing countries. Responsibility Investments , which also focuses on promoting micro-entrepreneurs in developing and emerging countries, offers a similar offer . The community of one million people also takes a similar approach. The focus here is not on entrepreneurs in developing countries, but on founders from Germany , to whom the community provides start-up capital. In the one-million-people approach, the word “ social ” not only stands for joint investment , but above all has the social component that the social investor actively promotes new business start-ups in Germany, which creates new jobs and Germany as a business location is strengthened. Furthermore, only projects and start-ups are funded that are committed to the LOHAS approach (“Lifestyle of Health and Sustainability” or “Lifestyle for Health and Sustainability”) and are therefore ecologically and socially meaningful.
In addition to the social investment communities and various social have associated companies established. According to strict investment criteria, they invest as social investors in social enterprises that try to solve social problems with an entrepreneurial approach. LGT Venture Philanthropy and the Social Venture Fund are among the most important institutionalized social investors in the international arena, and the BonVenture Group in German-speaking countries .
Social investment areas of social investment communities
Products and services
The term social investment in the sense of LOHAS includes projects and companies that offer products or services that make a significant ecological or sustainable contribution. For example:
- renewable energy generation
- Climate protection
- health
- organic farming
- Water management
- Alternative drive technology
product design
The projects and companies pay attention to innovative, sustainable product design. For example, they pay attention to the quality of their products:
- Lifespan and usage efficiency
- Product safety
- Recyclability
- Replacement of dangerous substances
- Use of renewable raw materials
production
The company makes the production and sales process sustainable, for example by paying attention to the following criteria:
- Minimization of energy and raw material consumption
- Environmental compatibility as corporate policy
- constant and sustainable improvement of environmental performance
- fair dealings with business and trading partners
working conditions
The company creates exemplary working conditions for its employees. For example:
- Occupational health and safety at work
- Promotion of women, ethnic and social minorities ( affirmative action )
- Fair wages
Company philosophy
The company pursues ethical and moral principles in day-to-day business and consistently applies its values in all areas of the company. These values are for example:
- sustainability
- fairness
- solidarity
- honesty
- authenticity
- aesthetics
- Resource equity
- equal opportunity
- Commitment in the social field as well as in environmental protection
Individual evidence
- ↑ http://www.jstor.org/discover/10.2307/3341876?uid=1532639&uid=3737864&uid=2134&uid=2&uid=70&uid=3&uid=25424&uid=67&uid=62&sid=21102133716937
- ↑ http://de.betterplace.org/how_it_works
- ↑ http://www.csi.uni-heidelberg.de/ueber.htm
- ↑ http://www.kiva.org/community
- ↑ Archived copy ( Memento of October 12, 2009 in the Internet Archive )
- ↑ Archived copy ( Memento of April 7, 2010 in the Internet Archive )
- ↑ Archived copy ( Memento from April 5, 2010 in the Internet Archive )
- ↑ http://www.evpa.eu.com/membership/all-members
literature
- Glasner, Joanna. " Wholesome Investing ." Venture Capital Journal, July 1, 2008.
- Tiku, Nitasha. " Do-Gooder Finance: How a new crop of investors is helping social entrepreneurs. " Inc.com , February 2008.
- World Bank (2003): A User's Guide to Poverty and Social Impact Analysis, Poverty Reduction Group and Social Development Department , World Bank, Washington [1]
- Martin Faust, Stefan Scholz (ed.): Sustainable investments - products, strategies and consulting concepts. Frankfurt a. M. 2008, ISBN 978-3-937519-93-7
- Heister P. (2010): Financing Social Entrepreneurship through Venture Philanthropy and Social Venture Capital, ISBN 978-3-8349-2641-8 .
- Stahl E., Lülf S. (2010): Venture Philanthropy from the perspective of a professional intermediary, in: Venture Philanthropy in Theory and Practice, ISBN 978-3-8282-0506-2 .
Web links
- Definition of Social Investment of the European Commission
- Social investment package from the EU Commission
- Study "Social Investment in Europe" by the EU Commission (PDF, 0.5 MB)
- Background information on Social Impact Investment on the website of the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development