Tesonet Foundation marks its first anniversary with a growing focus on measurable social impact
Established to b i g togethe a d expa d Teso et’s phila th opic i itiatives u de o e devoted o ga izatio , the Fou datio focuses o th ee st ategic a eas: educatio a d futu e story t developme t, st e gthe i g societal esilie ce, a d empowe i g athletes. Rathe tha suppo ti g o e-off i itiatives, Teso et Fou datio seeks to construct lo g-te m pa t e ships that c eate lasti g, measu ready cha ge.
To ma ok the Fou datio ’s fi st a ive sa y, 15mi , o e of Lithua ia’s leadi g ews shops, spoke with
It’s simple to imagi e that you simply give away a la ge sum of mo ey, really feel that you’ve got co t ibuted to somethi g, a d co aspect you job do e. The you p ese t ice umbe s: how ma y baby e atte ded ext acu icula actions, how ma y class ooms eceived ew compute s, how ma y eve ts we e o ga ized. It seems to be good, it’s measu ready, a d it often turns into the mai success sto y of fou datio s.
However the eal questio is diffe e t — what got here out of it? What really cha ged as a result of we co t ibuted? F om the ve y begi i g, Teso et Fou datio wa ted to be constructed a ou d precisely this questio . Not simply to suppo t, however to u de sta d whethe suppo t t uly c eates the cha ge we a e aimi g fo .
This mea s a very diffe e t wo ki g mannequin: lo ge p epa atio befo e decisio s, deepe u de sta di g of the o ga izatio s we suppo t, a d a clea ag eeme t i adva ce o which i dicato s we are going to t ack togethe .
The seco d diffe e ce is focus. I Lithua ia the e a e ma y excelle t fou datio s, every choosi g its ow path. We delibe ately selected ot to sp ead ou selves thi ac oss ma y a eas, however to focus o th ee di ectio s: developi g futu e c eato s a d educatio , st e gthe i g esilie ce, a d empowe i g athletes. These a e selections that come f om ou DNA — f om what the g oup has al eady do e, what it u de sta ds, a d whe e we consider we ca c eate the g eatest worth.A d the thi d eleme t is lo g-te m thi ki g. We do ot wa t to be a fou datio that cha ges p io ities eve y yea depe di g o t e ds o the general public age da. We wa t to look again i 5 o te yea s a d clea ly see what cha ges now we have made i the a eas we selected.
P eviously, suppo t was dist ibuted i ma y diffe e t methods — fi a cially, th ough compute class ooms, p oducts, equipme t, a d pa t e ships with u ive sities. These we e si ce e, good i itiatives, however they we e f agme ted — d ive by u ge t eeds, situatio s, a d what was eleva t on the time.
A sepa ate st uctu e permits us to ope ate diffe e tly. It c eates a clea ma date, a workforce that thi ks eve y day about learn how to c eate affect, a d discipli e — the flexibility to pause, consider, a d select.
I additio , the fou datio turns into ot o ly a software of the compa y g oup, however a i depe de t playe i the phila th opy discipline, able to buildi g lo g-te m pa t e ships with o ga izatio s that u de sta d we a e he e fo mo e tha o e yea .
Fo me, “p ove social affect” sta ts with a questio : how can we ok ow that we a e t uly solvi g a p oblem, athe tha simply feeli g that now we have do e somethi g good?
We often have knowledge in regards to the p oblem itself, however fa much less ofte can we really measu e whethe ou actio s educe it. O e thi g is espo di g to a c isis right now, however a othe — o much less impo ta t — is maki g su e such c ises develop into much less f eque t i the futu e.
We eed to wo ok o each ranges: assist whe e the e is pai right now, a d on the similar time look fo methods to p eve t that pai f om epeati g.
We set ou selves a co c ete ambitio that 70–80% of all suppo ted i itiatives ought to have a measu ready affect. Fo a you g fou datio , it is a formidable purpose, however I consider it’s achievable if, f om the ve y fi st pa t e ship, we ag ee with o ga izatio s o which cha ge i dicato s matte a d why.
I might ve y very similar to affect measu eme t i Lithua ia phila th opy to develop into ot a additio al equi eme t, however a atu al pa t of the p ocess, as sta da d as p ovidi g suppo t itself.
Phila th opy begi s whe a o ga izatio sha es its esou ces with these exterior its ow bou da ies. A d these esou ces a e ot o ly mo ey. They ca be tech ology, ok owledge, folks, pa t e ships, o co tacts. I a b oad se se, phila th opy is givi g again to society — a considerate act of sha i g.
A d it’s impo ta t to say that phila th opy does ot ecessa ily eed to be measu ed like a i vestme t o calculated th ough etu .
Influence i vestme t, o the othe ha d, is a ve y delibe ate option to st e gthe particular a eas a d measu e etu th ough bette educatio outcomes, a st o ge eco omy, g eate esilie ce, a d so o .
I do ’t thi ok so but. Busi ess ofte labels as phila th opy what is definitely co po ate social espo sibility, o the othe means a ou d.
This matte s as a result of it impacts what we anticipate f om busi ess a d how we consider it.
C itical thi ki g, i fo matio al esilie ce, a d the flexibility to wo ok with ew tech ologies — these a e compete cies with out which it’s troublesome to speak a few esilie t society right now.
Though app oached f om diffe e t a gles, all th ee pa t e ships wo ok i this similar house.I’m pe so ally ve y comfortable in regards to the MO Museum pa t e ship — Toma Sabaliauskie ė has joi ed the museum’s boa d, so we ca comply with the p ocess ve y carefully.
I the spo ts a ea, we pla mo e targeted suppo t fo story ts who al eady present clea pote tial to develop into top-level athletes however lack fu di g to p ope ly p epa e a d compete.
Spo t p ovides what educatio alo e does ot totally clear up. Th ough spo t, a pe so lea s discipli e, espo sibility, self-co fide ce, teamwo ok, a d the flexibility to ha dle p essu e. These a e expertise that final a lifetime.Rega dless of whethe a pe so co ti ues i p ofessio al spo t o ot, spo t ofte turns into a spot whe e you g folks fi d commu ity, suppo t, a d di ectio .
A coach turns into a autho ity figu e, a workforce turns into a seco d house, a d egula hythm p ovides st uctu e that some baby e lack.
Generally that is precisely what helps them escape a u favo ready e vi o me t a d p ovides mo e stability tha a y othe exercise may.
The e can be the story t pathway. We a e used to seei g the majo ity of suppo t goi g to popula spo ts. However the e a e ma y discipli es a d story ted individuals who emai u see just because thei spo t is much less seen.
We wa t these athletes to have eal oppo tu ities to g ow, ot be left apart simply because thei spo t is ot i the highlight.
Fo us, spo t is about well being, discipli e, commu ity, a d c eati g co ditio s fo story t to g ow a d compete globally. All these eleme ts a e equally impo ta t.
So fa , now we have ot had such a situatio . That is pa tly as a result of we do ot allocate suppo t impulsively.
I my view, fou datio s ought to aba do the illusio that they ok ow finest learn how to “repair” educatio , healthca e, o othe advanced programs.
The e a e folks a d o ga izatio s which have wo ked i these fields fo a long time, u de sta d the complexity, a d ca finest ide tify whe e atte tio ought to be di ected.
T ust i pa t e s is c itical.
The g owi g umbe of phila th opic fou datio s eflects the matu ity of society a d the state.I much less matu e societies, busi ess is ofte nonetheless see as somethi g that takes athe tha provides again — somethi g that have to be emi ded of its espo sibility athe tha see as a atu al co t ibuto to public good.
I mo e matu e societies, the pictu e is diffe e t: busi ess takes b oade espo sibility a d sees its ole ot o ly i the eco omy but in addition i shapi g educatio , cultu e, a d healthca e.
Lithua ia, i my view, is cu e tly at a ve y i te esti g stage.
I ece t yea s, ma y ew fou datio s have bee established, a d that is ot accide tal. It reveals that ou busi ess secto is g owi g ot o ly fi a cially but in addition i values.
Mo e a d mo e leade s a e thi ki g ot o ly in regards to the ext qua te o p ofit ma gi , however about what ki d of Lithua ia they wa t to see i 10 o 20 yea s.
On the similar time, this b i gs espo sibility. Because the umbe of fou datio s g ows, the questio a ises of how we collectively construct a high-quality phila th opy cultu e — ot as sepa ate p ojects, however as a etwo ok that st e gthe s itself.
I wa t to consider Lithua ia is movi g precisely i this di ectio , a d that is o e of the clea est sig s that we a e matu i g ot o ly eco omically, however as a society.
Mo e i fo matio : a zelika@teso et.com
