Our Approach - Why Be The Difference?
We know that as philanthropists, companies and other changemakers, you’re purpose-driven to use your impact assets strategically as a force for good, maximising their positive impact (and scaling where appropriate), whilst ensuring that you apply due diligence to them every step of the way.
We do business development for social good – taking the good bits of business, adding our hallmark #GoodSynergy (and, whenever possible, advocating for an inclusive approach) and supercharging philanthropists’ social impact and businesses’ impactful partnerships. We believe that the key to creating #GoodSynergy is to develop, build and nurture the ecosystem around your chosen signature cause(s) or approach(es).
Building and Nurturing the Ecosystem
Applying an ecosystem lens means acknowledging the starting point as accepting that no single individual or organisation working in isolation has all the answers - all the players hold different parts of the solution - be that funders, policy makers, those with lived experience (and their advocates), campaigners, companies, thought leaders, etc. Bring these people together in a facilitated and planned collaboration(s), and the #GoodSynergy will soon be unlocked, creating and elevating social impact around the issue(s) that you’re passionate about solving. The key elements are connections, relationships, partnerships and networks.
The Missing Link
Philanthropy tends to function differently to the open market’s supply and demand. Geneva Global succinctly explains the situation thus:
“Instead of market forces channeling feedback from the communities served by nonprofits to dictate which organizations thrive and which die, that feedback loop is interrupted by donors acting as decision makers around funding flows. The actual “consumers” of a nonprofit’s services (e.g. communities and beneficiaries) are structurally cut out of most resource allocation decisions. In short, our feedback loops are broken.”
Embedding a more inclusive approach where appropriate can help redress this imbalance.
An Inclusive Approach
By advocating an inclusive approach, all the stakeholders are offered the opportunity to be involved equally (if they so wish to be) with a level playing field, genuine transparency and trust, and a commitment to giving them a place at the table (both strategically and operationally). There are various ways of doing this from embedding lived experience, to user-centred design, participatory consultation and participatory grant making.
The UN’s Sustainable Development Goals
It’s possible to amplify your impact even further through aligning your social social good with the United Nation’s Sustainable Development Goals (UN’s SDGs).
The UN’s SDGs are “the blueprint to achieve a better and more sustainable future for all. They address the global challenges we face, including those related to poverty, inequality, climate change, environmental degradation, peace and justice”.
By adopting this as the broader framework, it’s possible to see how your social good fits in, how and where others are contributing (and where the gaps are). This could result in big picture thinking focusing on addressing particular areas of highest need where issues interlink, such as climate change refugees.
Be The Difference’s absolute North Star is SDG17 - Partnerships which is fundamental for unlocking the #GoodSynergy in our work and maximising impact when contributing to the SDGs.
The UN says:
#1 a successful sustainable development agenda requires partnerships between governments, the private sector and civil society. These inclusive partnerships built upon principles and values, a shared vision, and shared goals that place people and the planet at the centre, are needed at the global, regional, national and local level.
#2 Urgent action is needed to mobilize, redirect and unlock the transformative power of trillions of dollars of private resources to deliver on sustainable development objectives.
Our HOW is to help you achieve your WHY through skilfully building and nurturing relevant dynamic relationships and partnerships which deliver for all stakeholders. Through this, our shared approach for shaping the ecosystem and building the infrastructure will elevate your philanthropic aspirations and supercharge your social impact, whilst tracking it against the SDGs.
There are many super-connectors and relationship builders in this world but none like Annie - she is very well connected, respected and liked in the social good space and she genuinely cares about this sector and making more impact…Many of the people she’s connected me to have become partners, collaborators, clients and in some cases, good business friends.
- Louise Graham, Impact Mentor for conscious changemakers and social entrepreneur at Glasgow Basket Brigade CIC
The key elements of #GoodSynergy, designed in a bespoke package, are:
Connections – connecting you to the key people both within and beyond the impact space who are should be on your radar (if they’re not already) and starting those vital conversations. For example, this could be as straightforward as connecting with the leading influencers in the field such as thought leaders and practitioners.
Relationships – Nurturing those new or established transformational relationships that are key to opening doors and creating opportunities which would otherwise remain inaccessible. Great relationships are the building blocks for successful partnerships.
Partnerships – Every amazing partnership is underpinned by multiple relationships which are working incredibly well. Adopt the same approach at an organisational level and you have the multiplier effect for creating sustainable, effective partnerships. Be The Difference excels at this!
Networks – Extending the philanthropists’ and companies’ networks leading to other high-quality connections. Tapping into the right networks at the right time and, where they don’t exist, create a forum for interested parties to come together. This creates communities, perhaps lending itself to a platform for the philanthropist or company to become an influencer in the field.