The presentation of Miquel de Paladella on April 15, 2013 at ESADE Institute for Social Innovation, on the future role of NGOs. He argues about the need to back to the roots for most NGOs, meaning: Social Innovation. He also proposes how social innovation could be implemented in the different NGOs playing different roles.

1. THE ROLE OF NGOs
IN THE FUTURE
Miquel de Paladella
Institut d’Innovació Social, ESADE, April 2013

2. 2

3. § INCOME 
§ PROBLEM grows faster than our SOLUTION
§ LACK OF EVIDENCE of our RESULTS
§ CLIENTELISM took us to the WRONG
ROUTE
§ OTHERS ARE MORE EFFICIENT
...
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4. 4

5. x o x SOCIAL
INNOVATION
x o x GAVE BIRTH
TO MOST
o x o NGOs.
o 5

6. SOCIAL INNOVATION
A novel solution to a social problem that is
more effective, efficient, sustainable, or just
than existing solutions and for which the value
created accrues primarily to society as a whole
rather than private individuals.
Phills et al. 2008

7. FUNDACIÓN PARAGUAYA
§ Rural schools cover their own expenses through
business units operating in the market.
§ Education methodology manages to offer better
results than traditional schools.
➔ Revised goals
➔ Different means

8. SOCIAL IMPACT BONDS
HUMAN CAPITAL PERFORMANCE BONDS (Minnesota, USA)
§ Pay-for-success mechanism to fund prevention.
§ Government agrees to pay if an outcome that decreases its
expenses is reached. NGOs/companies reach out to investors
who fund their activities to achieve the outcomes.
§ Investors get their money back and a return if outcomes are
achieved thanks to Government payment.
➔ Different goals
➔ Different means

9. UTE VILLABONA & GRUP33
BASTOY PRISON, NORWAY
§ Prison as similar to society as possible: rights and
responsibilities… managed by interns, focused on
rehabilitation.
§ Recidivism reduced from 60% to 25%.
§ Social movement to promote model.
➔ Same goals
➔ Different means

10. WHAT ROLES?
PAST FUTURE
§ Service delivery; § Service delivery;
§ Emergency response; § Emergency response;
§ Advocacy, Accountability & § Advocacy, Accountability &
Mobilisation; Mobilisation;
§ Research, assessment, § Research, assessment,
dissemination. dissemination.
§ Social R&D

11. SERVICE-DELIVERY
§ Innovation in sustainability models to scale!
⤑ Pay-for-success models can generate the necessary resources
to scale-up prevention (Recidivism in prisons, child protection,
active aging, health…).
⤑ The challenge is to develop a business model to solve a social
need, so that you can scale up the service.
§ Evidence-based interventions are essential to ensure
effectiveness and scale.
§ Social clauses in public procurement as vehicle for change.

12. ADVOCACY & ACCOUNTABILITY
§ Aim at systemic change to ensure power, opportunities and
income are well distributed;
§ Facilitate social movements to engage critical mass of
people around our causes.
§ Lead in getting the deep systemic change in the agenda of
social movements.
§ Funding coming from private sources only (AI, Greenpeace
model).

13. R&D (I+D+i)
§ Aversion to risk is too high in public institutions: R&D funds!
§ Evidence-based essay-error exercises to understand what
works and what doesn’t. Test new solutions like alternative
currencies to self-funded communities.
§ Research and facilitate the implementation of proven social
innovations that have succeeded in other countries: JUMP
Math, Fundación Paraguaya, DiscoveringHands…).

14. OPEN INNOVATION
§ Turn users into producers, beneficiaries into designers:
everyone matters! The intersect of disciplines and perspectives =
collective intelligence.
§ Cultivate a sense of belonging: to a community that is actively
searching for solutions to the problems we all care about. Cultivate trust,
as the most important agent of change.
§ No barriers to participation: Most participation barriers today no
longer exist. People can participate in rewarding ways. Even tiny units of
engagement (“Like”) contribute to finding better solutions.

15. mdepaladella@upsocial.org
GRÀCIES!
¡GRACIAS!
THANKS!
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16. § Same goals
§ Same goals
§ Improved means
§ Mixed of means
§ Revised goals
§ Different goals
§ Different means
§ Different means
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