Buzzword 2010.2 "Sector Agnostic"

I declared Apps the first buzzword of 2010 a few weeks ago. Now we've got buzzword 2010.2 - sector agnostic.

I didn't coin this one. I give Ralph Smith of the Annie E. Casey Foundation credit for that, and it seems this blogger agrees. Smith used the term in a Nonprofit Quarterly article by Rick Cohen - here's the quote:

sector agnostic

I had written about the term in a post on the changing roles of nonprofits. That post generated lots of discussion - mostly about the term "sector agnostic" and its relevance (or lack thereof) to the work being done by readers and followers.

I've done a lot of writing about the emergence of new corporate forms for the production of social good and about impact investing. I've thought quite a bit about the "changing ecosystem of change" - new enterprises, new types of funders, new relationships. My latest book, Philanthropy and Social Investing: Blueprint 2010, provides an annual industry forecast and describes this landscape in detail. It argues strongly for how much these code-level changes matter to philanthropy.

While these changes have been brewing for many years, the response to the term "sector agnostic" was  strong enough, broad enough, and deep enough to convince me that it deserves buzzword status.

I have to say I knew I was on to something about the importance of these "B corporation, L3C, Impact Investing stuff" when a colleague emailed me this link - Rush Limbaugh blasting L3Cs as the "perversion of capitalism." If imitation is the greatest form of flattery, then getting "Rush ranted" must be the clearest sign that something has gone mainstream.

Tags: philanthropy, #bcorporation, l3c, socialcapitalmarkets, #blueprint2010, buzzword2010