ACE Social Venture Fund Case Write Up.pdf - ACE Social...

ACE Social Venture Fund:
Estimating Social Value
ACT 516 Non-profit Accounting
Steven Cao, Alicia Hong, Fiona Li, Olivia Sun, Bingfei Zhou

Page 2
Q1. Questions that Matt should ask donors
From the case we know that donors wanted the ACE Venture Fund to be used in places
in the greatest need. They wanted to be informed of how they could help most effectively,
measure progress using reliable performance metrics, and manage the Fund and the
projects for results according to these metrics.
Matt should ask donors questions that addresses specific causes, actions, and impact:
Causes Actions
► Issue: What issues are you
most concerned about (e.g.,
access to clean water, gender
and income inequality)? Why?
► Target: Who do you want to
impact with your giving (e.g.,
school-age children, young
women, elderly)?
Where do you want your giving
to make a difference (e.g., local
community, city, a country)?
Impact
► What process do you want to
use to effect change (e.g.,
advocacy, education, direct
service)?
► What specific action do you
hope our organization to take?
► What real-world effects or
difference do you expect to
see?

Page 3
Q2. Questions to ask non-profits
►
Are expenses
reasonable given the
projected income and
the scope of the
organization’s work?
►
How diverse are the
funding sources of the
nonprofit
organization?
►
Does this nonprofit have
the capacity to
successfully deliver
programs and services?
►
What is the investment
policy of this nonprofit
organization?
►
What is the tax exempt
status of the
organization and is it in
good standing?
►
Are the organization’s
mission, programs and
services aligned with the
philanthropic agenda?
►
Are the programs in
need of funding aligned
with the mission of the
organization?
►
Is there a strategic plan
and how will it be
implemented?

Page 4
Q3. Benefits and limitations of each of the
three measures
►
Cost effectiveness analysis would be great to be used in the fields where it may be difficult or
inappropriate to monetize the benefits. However, no monetary values will be assigned to the
benefits. Since this method does not reduce benefits to common units, it will only be project
specific.
►
As for cost-benefit analysis, benefits and costs will be converted into common units. This method
will allow for comparison. Nevertheless, benefits and costs that cannot be expressed into dollar
amounts cannot be compared and will be excluded from the analysis.