Dictionary of Terms
Sector Definitions
Venture Philanthropy
 A type of philanthropy that applies the principles and discipline of the venture capital model to selectively fund and support innovative and emerging social programs with the aim of achieving widespread and lasting impact. SVA practices venture philanthropy when supporting the ventures in our portfolio.
Engaged Philanthropy
A more deeply engaged way of giving that allows individuals, private foundations and corporations to do more than just give money by enabling them to see the impact of their philanthropy and feel the passion and journey of the people involved in making change happen.
Social Entrepreneurs
Individuals with innovative solutions to society’s most pressing social problems. They are ambitious and persistent, tackling major social issues and offering new ideas for wide-scale change. Rather than leaving societal needs to government or community alone, social entrepreneurs find what is not working and solve the problem by changing the system, spreading the solution and persuading entire societies to take new leaps.
Social Ventures
Innovative, entrepreneurial non-profit organisations established to generate sustainable change for the better.
Social Enterprise
Although there is no universally agreed upon definition for a social enterprise (and in fact the term is used and misused to describe a wide variety of organisations), a social enterprise is commonly referred to as an enterprise that operates with the primary goal of achieving a social outcome. Social enterprises are part of the broader social economy, but whereas many voluntary organisations and community groups may be involved in some kind of trading activity for goods and services, social enterprises see trading as a significant and defining part of their business. At SVA, we define a social enterprise as a non-profit business whose purpose is to create employment for marginalised people. Marginalised people include people with disability, people with mental illness, refugees, indigenous Australians and other long-term unemployed people.
A social enterprise has a modified workplace that caters for the specific needs of marginalised individuals who would otherwise struggle to find employment in the mainstream workforce.
Social Investment
A philanthropic commitment that generates tangible, measurable and enduring benefits to society.
Social Return on Investment
An estimate of the total social and economic value and community impact generated by a non-profit organisation.
Theory of Change
A theory of change refers to the causal processes through which change comes about as a result of a program's strategies and action. In a non-profit context it relates to how we believe individual, group or social change happens and how, specifically, our actions will produce positive societal results.
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