By Rolfe Larson on September 22, 2011
If you haven’t heard about it yet, check out the Social Enterprise Summit, put on by Social Enterprise Alliance. For those interested in social enterprise, there’s no better way to learn, network and get inspired by the incredible people who organize and put on these conferences. I’ve been to ten of them, and gained something [...]
By Rolfe Larson on June 14, 2011
This blog was written by guest writer Jan Cohen. As we discussed last time, when most nonprofit staff and Boards think about earned income, they typically think about doing “something new”. This Risk Chart helps organizations to clearly see how risk increases as they go from “things and people they know” to those they have no [...]
By Rolfe Larson on June 8, 2011
This blog was written by guest writer Jan Cohen. When most nonprofit staff and Boards think about earned income, they typically think about doing “something new”. The Risk Chart helps organizations to clearly see how risk increases as they go from “things and people they know” to those they have no experience with.
By Rolfe Larson on June 3, 2011
It’s very rare for social enterprises to merge. And when they do, it’s usually because one of them is failing. But let’s consider a situation where impact and sustainability might be enhanced if two successful social enterprises were to merge. Should they?
By Rolfe Larson on March 24, 2011
Evaluating the impact of a social enterprise is often difficult to do. For most sectors, there are no agreed-upon metrics to rely upon to tell others how successful you have been. But you don’t have to start from scratch. Here are some perspectives and suggestions that might be helpful:
By Rolfe Larson on March 1, 2011
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.
By Rolfe Larson on February 11, 2011
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 [...]
By Rolfe Larson on January 25, 2011
Well, yes and no. They all want their grantees to develop “sustainability” strategies, by which they mean they want you to continue into the future without their money. So if social enterprise will help an organization diversity its funding sources and rely less on philanthropic support, they’re all for it. They like reading about it [...]
By Rolfe Larson on January 7, 2011
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. [...]
By Rolfe Larson on December 30, 2010
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 [...]
Rolfe Larson provides consulting and training in areas such as strategic planning, market research, feasibility analysis, business planning, marketing and implementation strategies.
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