Acumen Fund's common sense model to existence and assessment

by Nathaniel Whittemore · 2008-11-07 11:10:00 UTC
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Listening to a panel now titled "Next Steps: Leveraging Existing Measurement Tools and Applications," that features Rob Katz of NextBillion.net and the Acumen Fund.

Acumen Fund is a nonprofit social venture capital firm that invests in bottom-of-the-pyramid businesses that serve clients living on less than $4 a day. There own social entrepreneurial model matches the values of the types of businesses they support, and they're absolutely a model and field leader for those of us interested in the emerging blended value space.

It's always informative to listen to people who can clearly explain and articulate their organization and process. Rob explained that three big ideas animate the Acumen Fund's mission:

  1. Charity and aid alone can never solve the problem of global poverty

  2. Market solutions alone can never solve the problem of global poverty

  3. Dignity is more important to the human spirit than is wealth

Pretty clear, huh? Along the same lines, he said that their approach to metrics is that they should be: understandable, inexpensive, and useful.

None of this is to say that Acumen Fund doesn't have complex and thorough processes for vetting the organizations they fund - quite the opposite. But we could all learn something from the clarity and simplicity of the way they articulate their animating idea.

Nathaniel Whittemore is the founder of Assetmap. Previously he was the founding director of the Northwestern University Center for Global Engagement.
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