Through a generous grant from the Rockefeller Foundation, NFF is exploring the feasibility of various Pay for Success/Social Impact Bond models for the U.S. market and compiling a review of implementation requirements. Join our Pay for Success Learning Hub or read our press release to explore further! 

What is pay for success?

'Pay for Success' projects, also known as SIBs, align the interests of the private and philanthropic investors with the public, around a shared vision of desired social outcomes. Instead of compensating investors based on the volume of services delivered, incentives are tied to positive results. By concentrating investment in proven, high-impact interventions that create measurable social benefit, Pay for Success Financing has the potential to save taxpayers money.

Enthusiasm for the model has grown internationally, following a pilot project in the U.K. designed to reduce re-offending rates among released prisoners. The U.K. government will make payments to investors based on the program’s measurable success stemming returns to prison. (See a video about this project here!) Adapting the Social Impact Bond model for the U.S. could have tremendous implications for the way social needs are funded.

NFF's Pay for success Learning Hub

As many in the United States contemplate the applicability of Pay for Success or Social Impact Bonds models in funding social programs, we have established an online community to facilitate discussion. All are welcome!  We invite you to join the conversation at payforsuccess.org!  Below is a screenshot of what the group looks like.  Tabs across the top offer easy access to Learn out Loud (a repository of important resources), Provider Toolkit (resources for nonprofits and other service providers), Networks, Events, and Members area where you can see who else shares your interest in SIBs.  By gathering resources and interested stakeholders in one place, we're confident that this site will serve as the go-to resource for information-sharing as pay-for-performance experiments emerge.

• Events: join us for on- and off-line events
• PFS Blog
• Learn out Loud: articles, recordings, transcripts, research, and videos 
• Provider Toolkit: find out if SIB may be right for your organization
• Networks: people, providers, and key organizations

Please join us!  (Note: If you have difficulty gaining access, please contact us)

PREVIOUS PAY FOR SUCCESS/SOCIAL IMPACT BOND WEB E-VENTS

THE IMPACT ON SERVICE PROVIDERS: OPPORTUNITIES AND CHALLENGES OF PFS/SIB PARTICIPATION
Webinar on July 28, 2011

In our last webinar on Pay for Success projects and Social Impact Bonds (PFS/SIB), "First Mover States, What are They Doing and Why?", spokesmen from Massachusetts and Minnesota described their states' approaches to investigating and piloting potential PFS/SIB projects. These two states are taking different approaches to engaging state government and investors. However, one thing they clearly have in common is thattheir success will depend on the participation of high-performing service providers with a track record of successfully executing and measuring evidence-based programs. 

To date, the public dialog on PFS/SIB has provided little opportunity for the service provider voice to be heard. In the July 28th webinar, leaders of three high-performing U.S.-based nonprofit organizations representing diverse social missions and service territories will share their thoughts on the opportunities and challenges of participating in PFS/SIB projects. Each will discuss their views on:

• the resources, capacities and skills providers will need in order to participate successfully in PFS/SIB
• the potential opportunities and benefits PFS/SIB can have for service providers and the constituencies they serve
• risks and other obstacles they may face in participating in PFS/SIB
• any recommendations for service providers who may be interested in investigating PFS/SIB

Panelists

• Deborah DeSantis, President and CEO, Corporation for Supportive Housing. The Corporation for Supportive Housing (CSH) helps communities create permanent housing with services to prevent and end homelessness. CSH delivers its core services in Washington, D.C. and in eleven states: California, Connecticut, Illinois, Indiana, Michigan, Minnesota, New Jersey, New York, Ohio, Rhode Island and Texas. 
• Jeff Edmondson, President, Strive. Serving Greater Cincinnati, Strive is focused on the success of children: every child, every step, from cradle to career. Strive unites common providers around shared issues, goals, measurements and results, and then actively supports and strengthens strategies that work. 
• Dorothy Stoneman, President and Founder, YouthBuild USA. YouthBuild is a youth and community development program that simultaneously addresses core issues facing low-income communities: housing, education, employment, crime prevention, and leadership development. There are YouthBuild programs in 45 states, Washington, DC, and the Virgin Islands.

FIRST-MOVER STATES - WHAT ARE THEY DOING AND WHY?
Webinar on June 9, 2011

Social Impact Bonds (SIB) and their core concept of "pay-for-performance" have generated considerable interest in the United States, much of which centers on their potential to bring positive change to the financing, delivery, and cost of social programs.

President Obama's budget for 2012 galvanized this interest in its proposal to provide $100 million in funding to support "Pay for Success"projects.  Recently, some states have begun to take concrete steps to investigate the possibility of implementing comprehensive pay-for-performance financing programs.

In this webinar, two first-mover states that are taking different approaches to pay-for-performance financing, Massachusetts and Minnesota, discuss: (i) what factors led them to take their respective approaches, (ii) what their approaches involve, (iii) the current status of their efforts and (iv) what they hope to accomplish.

Massachusetts' Request for Information (RFI)
In issuing its Request for Information to explore 'Social Innovation Financing,' Massachusetts is the first state to take formal steps towards a comprehensive social innovation financing program that includes social impact bonds or pay-for-success contracts in response to President Obama's Pay for Success initiative launched earlier this year. 

Minnesota's 'Human Capital Performance Bond'
The Minnesota House and Senate recently passed a State Government Bill that contains a provision for a $20 million pilot for 'human capital performance bonds.' Under this provision in the bill, the bonds would be issued in the municipal bond market by Minnesota, under the bonding authority of the State. Bond proceeds would provide a pool of capital that would be used to support pay-for-performance based programs delivered by pre-qualified service providers (learn more here). Minnesota's human capital performance bond legislation is based on Twin Cities Rise!, a successful, 13-year pay-for-performance contracting program in the State. This is the first approach to consider issuing bonds in the capital markets for the sole purpose of supporting pay-for-performance programs. 

Panelists

• Greg Mennis: Assistant Secretary for Finance and Infrastructure, Massachusetts Executive Office for Administration and Finance 
• Steve Rothschild: Founder and President of Invest in Outcomes (IIO). IIO is a nonprofit piloting a "Human Capital Performance Bond"

Visit the Pay for Success Learning Hub to review a transcript of this webinar!  

PAY FOR SUCCESS PROJECTS AND SOCIAL IMPACT BONDS:
STRUCTURING CONSIDERATIONS AND ADAPTATION ARISING FROM THE FIELD
Webinar on April 28, 2011 

NFF partnered with The Young Foundation (UK) and the Center for Social Impact (New South Wales) in a webinar exploring:

• What SIB models exist for risk sharing and rewards incentives
• How other countries have come to determine the right SIB structures for their transactions
• Initial implications for structuring SIBs/Pay for Success projects in the United States

Visit the Pay for Success Learning Hub to review a transcript of this webinar!  

THE FEDERAL GOVERNMENT'S ROLE IN IMPLEMENTING THE SOCIAL IMPACT BOND IN THE UNITED STATES  
Webchat on February 23, 2011 

Panelists:

• Jitinder Kohli , Senior Fellow at the Center for America Progress, joined the Center for American Progress in November 2009 as a Senior Fellow. His work at the Center focuses on government efficiency, regulatory reform, and economic issues. Prior to joining CAP, Kohli spent 15 years in the British government.
• Jeffrey Liebman, Malcolm Weiner Professor of Public Policy at Harvard's Kennedy School of Government, teaches courses in social policy, public sector economics, and American economic policy. In his research, he studies tax and budget policy, social insurance, poverty, and income inequality.
• Kippy Joseph, works on innovation at the Rockefeller Foundation, supporting an integrated approach of grant-making and internal capability-building. She came to the Foundation in early 2010 from the UK’s Young Foundation, which focuses broadly on social innovation by conducting research, consultancy and incubation. At the Young Foundation, Kippy led the education portfolio, capitalizing an education innovation fund and developing a new network of small innovative schools across the UK. Having started her career in the US, she has also directed several New York City youth programs in partnership with under-served local communities and public schools. Kippy is a trained facilitator of large and small groups, and has consulted to many NGOs and foundations on strategy and program development. Kippy holds Masters degrees in Social and Organizational Psychology from Columbia University and in Systemic Management and Consultation from the University of London. She earned her BA in Public Policy and Education at Brown University. 
• Kathy Stack is the Deputy Associate Director for Education, Income Maintenance, and Labor at the U.S. Office of Management and Budget.  Her division oversees budget, policy, legislation, regulations, and management issues concerning the U.S. Departments of Education and Labor, the Social Security Administration, the Food and Nutrition Service of the U.S. Department of Agriculture, and the Administration on Children and Families and the Administration on Aging within the U.S Department of Health and Human Services. She formerly served as an examiner and as Chief of the Education Branch of OMB, and has held several management and budget positions at the U.S. Department of Education.  She is a graduate of Cornell University and a fellow of the National Academy of Public Administration.  

Visit the Pay for Success Learning Hub to review a transcript of this webchat!