In 2013, the Innovation Investment Alliance, a funding and learning partnership between the Skoll Foundation and U.S. Agency for International Development’s Global Development Lab, with support from Mercy Corps, committed to investing $44.5 million in social enterprises across the globe. Their goal is to create systems-level change by supporting transformative social enterprises in reaching scale and to share findings from that work.
In 2016, Mercy Corps, as the Innovation Investment Alliance’s implementing partner, engaged CASE to analyze and share early lessons from the initial scaling grants. What were their scaling strategies and tactics? What were the biggest surprises and pivots? What have we learned from their successes – and failures – along the way?
The Scaling Pathways case studies series includes the Scaling Pathways paper, exploring the cross cutting lessons learned and trends we have found studying the social enterprises and their pathways to scale. We also do a deep dive into selected social enterprises funded by the Innovation Investment Alliance, looking at their organizational backgrounds, pivots made along their scaling journeys, and what they learned along the way.
Scaling Through Mass Disruption
In light of the mass disruption caused by COVID-19, we are working with our Scaling Pathways partners on a new video interview series called Scaling Through Mass Disruption, which captures how social enterprises are adapting, pivoting, managing finances, engaging teams, and so much more in times of crisis. Watch the series.
Scaling Pathways Theme Studies
Using Data to Power Scale
Learn how to use data to scale your impact.
People Matter: Evolving Talent to Drive Impact at Scale
Strategies and advice from the field to manage the unique people challenges organizations face as they scale.
Leveraging Government Partnerships for Scaled Impact
Learn how to successfully leverage government partnerships
for scaled impact.
Financing for Scaled Impact
Uncover the strategies and lessons learned in navigating which financing strategies to use and when.
Scaling Snapshots
The Health Care Without Harm Story
Health Care Without Harm has employed several scaling strategies to achieve impressive reductions in greenhouse gas emissions and use of toxic chemicals. Learn how it leveraged networks and resources to create sustainable change. Read the case study
The Fundación Capital Story
After rapid expansion to multiple countries, Fundación Capital shares that its scaling success is the result of deeply engaging multiple stakeholders from all sectors. Learn how it involved partners in the co-creation process.
The Living Goods Story
On its journey to impact, Living Goods has had an aggressive scaling strategy including direct expansion, assistance to other implementing organizations, and government partnerships. Learn how it homed in on the non-negotiables to achieve scale.
The One Acre Fund Story
As it scaled, One Acre Fund found that taking strategic pauses was vital to sustainable and high impact growth. Learn how it assessed its impact and cost equations before resuming its scaling efforts.
The Water & Sanitation for the Urban Poor Story (WSUP)
To expand impact beyond its six core countries, WSUP identified short and medium-term consulting as a less resource-intensive path. Learn how this effort led to the creation of a hybrid structure.
Pivoting to Impact
Addressing critical lessons learned on pathways to scaling impact across geographies and sectors.
Scaling Pathways Case Studies
Based in Belém, Brazil, Imazon has been working to decrease deforestation and greenhouse gas emissions in the Brazilian Amazon for over 25 years. Its unique combination of data-backed research, innovative technology tools, and multi-sector partnerships has led to many successes and hard fought lessons learned.
Unsafe water is estimated to cause more than a half million diarrheal deaths annually. Through the Dispensers for Safe Water program, Evidence Action is tackling this problem by installing chlorine dispensers at community water points. Its interventions are evidence based (see key performance indicators here), focused on driving cost efficiency and required key pivots to ensure sustained adoption and impact.
VisionSpring provides affordable eyeglasses to people in areas that otherwise would not have access. VisionSpring has experimented with different business models through the years – from direct sales to retail to wholesale – resulting in distribution of glasses to over 3.5 million people in 40 countries. This case looks at the retail launch in El Salvador, what was learned, and how that’s impacted future scaling plans.
