Meet the Blog’s Host
Rolfe Larson provides consulting and training in areas such as strategic planning, market research, feasibility analysis, business planning, marketing and implementation strategies.
[Read more ...]Earned-Income Generation
Low/no profit is not a virtue
The way you hear some social enterprisers talk, you’d think it’s an inherently good thing to lose money, or if you have to make a profit, keep it small. For example, the new Low-Profit Limited Liability (L3C) corporate structure, which allows an SE to have social objectives and attract investors, has that low profit mentality [...]
Use social media to increase sales
Social media is not novel any more. Facebook and Twitter are now household names, worldwide. They connect people and causes, they build online communities, sure. But they also sell products, big time. The corporate sector has discovered this power, and recently many nonprofits are finding these online, interactive communities to be powerful places to build [...]
Social Franchises Mostly Fail
A recent discussion on the npEnterprise Forum (the global social enterprise listserv) revealed several key points about social franchises owned by nonprofit organizations. First, and foremost, they rarely succeed in meeting the nonprofit’s goals.
Tax/Legal Topics for Social Enterprises
Some of the most complex and confusing issues around social enterprise involve legal and tax topics. Will we get in trouble if we do it that way? Do we have to pay taxes on that revenue? Which tax forms do we have to fill out? Those concerns are made more difficult by the tendency of the [...]
Connect with ~7500 SE fans
Just wanted to mention a listserv devoted exclusively to social enterprise. Its focus is learning more about how organizations can develop successful social enterprise strategies to generate earned income to pursue mission, build capacity and achieve greater sustainability. If you’re interested, you’re invited to join the 7500-subscriber npEnterprise Forum listserv, the official listserv partner of the Social Enterprise Alliance. [...]
Social Enterprise Goes to Graduate School
In case you haven’t noticed, there’s been an explosion of colleges and universities offering social enterprise or variations of that theme at the graduate level. Many of these programs are tied to a business school, which can really help when you bring your great social change idea to the marketplace. And if you’re already mid-career [...]
Social Capital Markets
If there’s one challenge many social enterprises have in common, it’s finding capital. Insufficient capitalization is a primary reason that small businesses fail or fail to grow, and that’s also the case for social enterprises. The good news: that seems to be changing. A new field is emerging, so young that it still goes by [...]
Social Enterprise: A Portrait of the Field
This recent report summarizes a recent survey of 740 organizations on the current state of the SE field in the US. This work was prepared by the Social Enterprise Alliance, in partnership with Community Wealth Ventures and Duke University’s Center for the Advancement of Social Entrepreneurship. REDF funded the survey. Some interesting findings include: Top [...]
Book Review: Succeeding at Social Enterprise
Earlier this year, the Social Enterprise Alliance published Succeeding at Social Enterprise: Hard-Won Lessons for Nonprofits and Social Entrepreneurs (Jossey-Bass). Anyone interested in starting or strengthening a social enterprise would benefit from reading this informative book. The book’s sixteen chapters are organized into three sections: Startup and Structure, Methods, and Leadership. Each section contains chapters [...]
Ask Them and They Will Come
This blog was written by guest writer Andy Horsnell. While working for a nonprofit capacity building service, I had occasion to put together an “Executive Director Boot Camp” that would help EDs identify and begin addressing issues that were critical for their on-the-job effectiveness. Early in the development of this project, I almost had myself [...]
