Common innovation traps

By Gabriel Kasper, managing director; and Justin Marcoux, senior manager (Deloitte LLP)

Innovation, it seems, is easier said than done. Despite growing interest in applying innovation methodologies to social sector challenges over the past decade, more often than not, philanthropic efforts to support innovation fall short.

That’s because the processes, strategies, and structures that funders need to deliberately seek out and support innovation are often quite different from the ones they use for traditional grantmaking—a lesson many funders learn the hard way.

In our Standford Social Innovation Review (SSIR) article “The Re-Emerging Art of Funding Innovation”, we highlighted many specific approaches that innovation funders are now using. But we find that many grantmakers still end up falling into one or more “innovation traps”—common mistakes that can prevent them from succeeding as they try to find and fund breakthrough social change.

Read more at the Stanford Social Innovation Review.