Strategy and Approach

Strategy

To bring about the greatest possible impact for people, we invest in social entrepreneurs. These creative businesspeople set up innovative projects or companies with the goal of achieving large-scale, systematic and sustainable social change.

We provide business development support to "owners" of such innovative initiatives and invest in these social ventures.

The initiatives we choose contribute to establishing integral, sustainable development. This means equal attention is given to the economic, ecological and social aspects of development.

Approach

d.o.b foundation applies the venture philanthropy model to investments: we offer risk-bearing capital with a focus on social and financial results, and an active involvement over the long term.

The type of initiatives that d.o.b foundation supports each require a specific financial package consisting of shares and loans. Donations can continue to be a part of the funding support that we provide to cover things such as the (initial) overhead costs of projects and the development and testing of an idea.

We launch initiatives ourselves or give existing ones an extra push. Yet at a certain moment, d.o.b foundation hands every initiative over to the "owners" and/or other investors. From the very first evaluation and at each subsequent evaluation, consideration is given to identifying the right moment to make this "exit". The continuity of every initiative always takes top priority in deciding when to leave.

To participate in a project or company, d.o.b foundation asks to be given a formal position such as becoming a member of the board. This is done to provide a channel for our active involvement and enables us to review and participate in the internal operations and progress.

We also make this progress and the impact achieved visible for each project or investment to enable us to make an inventory, share the achievement and to integrate the learning experiences into our approach.

Continue reading to learn about investments and the package of services.