Resources
Social Entrepreneurship - General
Earned Income Strategies
For-profit Social Ventures
Venture/High-Engagement Philanthropy
Performance Measurement
Cross-Sector Partnerships
Scale
There are a growing number of publications, organizations,
and initiatives dedicated to advancing and sharing knowledge related
to social entrepreneurship. Many of them have extensive resource
lists of their own. Rather than replicate these efforts or attempt
to capture them all, we have identified several major topics of
interest and highlight some of the most relevant resources for each.
We will attempt to add new categories and update existing ones on
a regular basis. Before delving into the specifics, we list several
other initiatives that develop and disseminate practical social
sector knowledge that you may want to access directly. You may also
be interested in some of the research
initiatives and resources listed in the faculty section of this
website.
The Bridgespan
Group: A Bain-affiliated nonprofit consulting firm, The Bridgespan
Group serves nonprofit organizations and foundations. In an effort
to extend impact beyond their direct clients, Bridgespan is dedicated
to sharing
what they learn with the broader nonprofit community, to help
other organizations pursue their own missions more effectively.
The Center for
Effective Philanthropy: The Center for Effective Philanthropy
is a nonprofit research center focused on creating comparative data
and insight to enable higher performing foundations. Its mission
is to provide management and governance tools to define, assess,
and improve overall foundation performance.
Changemakers.net:
Changemakers is an initiative of Ashoka:
Innovators for the Public that focuses on the rapidly growing
world of social entrepreneurship. Its mission is to provide inspiration,
resources, and opportunities for those interested in social change
throughout the world.
The
McKinsey Quarterly: A publication of global consulting firm
McKinsey & Co., the McKinsey Quarterly is a print and online
publication that draws on the experiences and expertise of the firm
to produce articles that aim to offer new ways of thinking about
management in the private, public, and nonprofit sectors. Access
to some articles require membership.
Stanford Social
Innovation Review: Published by the Center for Social Innovation
at Stanford Business School, the Stanford Social Innovation Review’s
mission is to share substantive insights and practical experiences
that will help those who do the important work of improving society
do it even better. Subscription required.
back to top
Social
Entrepreneurship – General
Publications:
• “The
Meaning of Social Entrepreneurship,” by J. Gregory Dees,
1998.
• “Enterprising
Nonprofits,” by J. Gregory Dees, Harvard Business Review,
January 1998.
• Dees, Emerson and Economy edited two books designed to help
nonprofit leaders develop more entrepreneurial approaches to achieving
their missions by adapting many of the concepts and tools of business:
Enterprising
Nonprofits: A Toolkit for Social Entrepreneurs, edited by J.
Gregory Dees, Jed Emerson, and Peter Economy, Wiley 2001.
Strategic
Tools for Social Entrepreneurs: Enhancing the Performance of Your
Enterprising Nonprofit, Edited by Dees, Emerson, and Economy,
Wiley 2002.
• How to Change the World: Social Entrepreneurs and The Power
of New Ideas, by David Bornstein, Oxford 2004.
• "Social
Entrepreneurship and Social Transformation: An Exploratory Study,"
by Sarah H. Alvord, L. David Brown, & Christine W. Letts, The
Hauser Center for Nonprofit Organizations and The Kennedy School
of Government, Harvard University, Working Paper #15, November 2002
Organizations and Initiatives:
• Ashoka:
Innovators for the Public: Ashoka’s mission is to develop
the profession of social entrepreneurship around the world. Ashoka
has invested in more than 1,400 Ashoka Fellows in 48 countries.
• Blended
Value Map: Value is what gets created when investors invest
and organizations act to pursue their mission. Traditionally, we
have thought of value as being either economic (and created by for-profit
companies) or social (and created by nonprofit or non-governmental
organizations). Jed Emerson’s Blended Value Proposition states
that all organizations, whether for-profit or not, create value
that consists of economic, social and environmental value components—and
that investors (whether market-rate, charitable or some mix of the
two) simultaneously generate all three forms of value through providing
capital to organizations. Thus, the outcome of all this activity
is value creation and that value is itself non-divisible and, therefore,
a blend of these three elements.
• Draper-Richards
Foundation: Provides funding and business mentoring to social
entrepreneurs as they begin their nonprofit organizations.
• Echoing
Green: Echoing Green provides first-stage funding and support
to visionary leaders with bold ideas for social change. Through
a two-year fellowship program, Echoing Green helps passionate social
entrepreneurs develop new solutions to some of society’s most
difficult problems.
• Fast
Company/Monitor Group Social Capitalist Awards: Recognizes entrepreneurial
organizations that are using the disciplines of the corporate world
to tackle daunting social problems.
• The
Manhattan Institute: The Manhattan Institute Award for Social
Entrepreneurship honors non-profit leaders who have found innovative,
private solutions for America’s most pressing social problems.
• Schwab
Foundation for Social Entrepreneurship: Supports social entrepreneurs
around the world.
• The Skoll Foundation: Provides support for social entrepreneurs,
researchers, and efforts to build the capacity and infrastructure
of the social sector. Also maintains the online community SocialEdge
and a comprehensive list of social
sector and technology resources related to social entrepreneurship.
• Youth
Venture: Encourages teens to start and lead their own organizations
for the betterment of their communities
back to top
Earned
Income Strategies
Publications:
• “Putting
Nonprofit Business Ventures in Perspective,” by J. Gregory
Dees, Chapter One in Generating and Sustaining Nonprofit Earned
Income: A Guide to Successful Enterprise Strategies, Edited by Oster,
Massarsky, and Beinhacker, Wiley 2004.
• “Developing Viable Earned Income Strategies,”
by Beth Battle Anderson, J. Gregory Dees, and Jed Emerson, Chapter
Nine in Strategic
Tools for Social Entrepreneurs: Enhancing the Performance of Your
Enterprising Nonprofit, Edited by Dees, Emerson, and Economy,
Wiley 2002.
• “Charities
Doing Commercial Ventures: Societal and Organizational Implications,”
by Brenda Zimmerman and Raymond Dart, Ontario: Trillium Foundation,
1998.
• New
Social Entrepreneurs: The Success, Challenge, and Lessons of Non-Profit
Enterprise Creation, by Jed Emerson and Fay Twersky, Roberts
Enterprise Development Fund, 1996.
• Managing
the Double Bottom Line: A Business Planning Reference Guide for
Social Enterprises, by Sutia Kim Alter, Pact Publications, Washington
DC, 2000.
• Social Entrepreneurship: The Art of Mission-Based Venture
Development, by Peter C. Brinkerhoff, Wiley 2000.
• Venture
Forth! The Essential Guide to Starting a Moneymaking Business in
Your Nonprofit Organization, by Rolfe Larson, Wilder Publishing
Center, 2002.
Organizations and Initiatives:
• Social
Enterprise Alliance: A membership organization for nonprofits
and funders seeking to advance earned income strategies. Offers
extensive resources, activities, and events, including the npEnterprise
Forum, a very active public listserv, and the largest annual gathering
of practitioners, grantmakers, and technical assistance providers
dedicated to this topic.
• Community
Wealth Ventures: A consulting firm that helps nonprofits generate
revenues through business ventures and corporate partnerships.
• NESsT:
An international nonprofit, NGO that supports the development of
social enterprises in emerging democracies worldwide.
• Yale-Goldman
Sachs Partnership on Nonprofit Ventures: provides educational
and financial support for nonprofit enterprise, primarily through
its National Business Plan Competition for Nonprofit Organizations
and Online Resource Center.
• The
Institute for Social Entrepreneurs: Offers seminars, workshops
and consulting services for nonprofits seeking to develop earned
income business ventures.
back to top
For-Profit
Social Ventures
Publications:
• “For-Profit Social Ventures,” by J. Gregory
Dees and Beth Battle Anderson, International
Journal for Entrepreneurship Education, 2004. Read
abstract.
• RISE
CAPITAL MARKET REPORT: The Double Bottom Line Private Equity Landscape
in 2002/2003, produced by the Research Initiative in Social
Entrepreneurship (RISE), Columbia Business School, 2003.
• “The
Hard Numbers on Social Investments,” by Manda Salls, HBS
Working Knowledge, November 10, 2003.
Organizations and Initiatives:
• Community
Development Venture Capital Association (CDVCA)
• Investor’s
Circle
• Pacific
Community Ventures
• Social Venture
Network
back to top
Venture/High-Engagement
Philanthropy
Publications:
• “Virtuous
Capital: What Foundations Can Learn from Venture Capitalists,”
by Christine W. Letts, William Ryan, and Allen Grossman, Harvard
Business Review, March-April 1997.
• “If
Pigs Had Wings: The Appeals and Limits of Venture Philanthropy”
by Bruce Sievers, Address to the Waldemar A. Nielsen Issues in Philanthropy
Seminar, Georgetown University, November 16, 2001.
• Venture Philanthropy Partners and Community Wealth Ventures
have produced a series of reports surveying the field of venture
philanthropy and high-engagement grantmaking. These reports include
articles from thought leaders as well as The following reports are
available for download at www.vppartners.org:
Venture
Philanthropy 2000: Landscape and Expectations
Venture
Philanthropy 2001: The Changing Landscape
Venture
Philanthropy 2002: Advancing Nonprofit Performance Through High-Engagement
Grantmaking
High-Engagement
Philanthropy: A Bridge to a More Effective Social Sector
• Roberts Enterprise Development Fund (REDF) has written extensively
on the topic of venture philanthropy. In particular, the REDF
Box Set - Social Purpose Enterprises and Venture Philanthropy in
the New Millennium (1999) offers perspectives from both practitioners
and investors as well as profiles of practitioners.
• A
Case Study in Venture Building: NewSchools Venture Fund’s
Work
With New Leaders for New Schools, New Schools Venture Fund,
September 2004
Organizations and Initiatives:
The 2002
Venture Philanthropy Partners/Community Wealth Ventures report
contains a fairly comprehensive list of venture philanthropy organizations
and initiatives.
back to top
Performance
Measurement
Publications:
• Roberts Enterprise Development Fund (REDF) produced
the Social
Return on Investment (SROI) Collection in 2000. This set of
publications captures REDF's efforts to calculate the SROI within
its portfolio of social purpose enterprises. In 2002, REDF published
An Information
OASIS, which walks through the process of developing a comprehensive,
customized client information and tracking system known as OASIS
(Ongoing Assessment of Social ImpactS).
• “Guidelines for Social Return on Investment,”
by Alison Lingane and Sara Olsen, California Management Review,
Spring 2004, vol. 46, no. 3. Download
excerpts from the full article.
• “Measuring
what matters in nonprofits,” by John Sawhill and David
Williamson, The McKinsey Quarterly, 2001 Number 2.
• "Strategic Performance Measurement and Management in
Nonprofit Organizations," by Robert Kaplan, Nonprofit Management
& Leadership, Spring 2001.
• “Performance Information That Really Performs,”
by Fay Twersky and Jill Blair, Chapter Eight in Strategic Tools
for Social Entrepreneurs: Enhancing the Performance of Your Enterprising
Nonprofit, Edited by Dees, Emerson, and Economy, Wiley 2002.
• “Social
Impact Assessment: A Discussion Among Grantmakers,” The
Rockefeller and Goldman Sachs Foundations hosted a conversation
among grantmakers and investors on the topic of Social Impact Assessment
in March 2003. The report includes case studies from New Profit,
Inc., the Edna McConnell Clark Foundation, the Roberts Enterprise
Development Fund, and Coastal Enterprises, Inc.
• Double
Bottom Line Project Report: Assessing Social Impact in Double Bottom
Line Ventures. The Rockefeller Foundation’s Double Bottom
Line Project produced the first catalog of methods that for-profit
and nonprofit social ventures and enterprises are using to assess
the social impact of their activities. March 2004.
Organizations and Initiatives:
• The
Balanced Scorecard Institute
• The
Research Initiative on Social Enterprise (RISE)
Business Planning/Business Plan Competitions:
• “An
Introduction to Business Planning for Nonprofits,” by
Zoe Brookes, The Bridgespan Group, April 2002. Includes two sample
business plans available for download.
• “Business
Planning for Social Enterprises” by Sutia Kim Alter, The
Grantsmanship Center.
• Global
Social Venture Competition: An international business plan competition
for start-up for-profit and nonprofit social ventures with at least
one MBA student on the team.
• Yale-Goldman
Sachs Partnership on Nonprofit Ventures: A national business
plan competition for nonprofits seeking to develop/grow earned income
ventures. The website contains sample business plans from past winners
as well as an extensive database of resources, including “A
Brief Tutorial on Business Planning for Nonprofit Enterprise,”
by Partnership Co-Director Cynthia Massarsky.
Some websites that offer information on business planning/entrepreneurship
not targeting social entrepreneurs but that might be useful include
entreworld.org,
Inc.com,
Bplans.com,
and Bulletproof
Business Plans.
back to top
Cross-Sector
Partnerships
Publications:
• The Collaboration Challenge: How Nonprofits and Businesses
Succeed Through Strategic Alliances, by James E. Austin, Wiley 2000.
• Common Interest, Common Good: Creating Value Through Business
and Social Sector Partnerships, by Shirley Sagawa and Eli Segal,
Harvard Business School Press, 2000
• Corporate
Partnerships: A Guide for the Nonprofit Manager, by Dennis Young,
National Center on Nonprofit Enterprise.
• “Profits for Nonprofits: Find a Corporate Partner,”
by Alan R. Andreasen, Harvard Business Review, November-December
1996.
• “Collaborative Advantage: The Art of Successful Alliances,”
by Rosabeth Moss Kanter, Harvard Business Review, July-August 1994.
Organizations and Initiatives:
• The Independent Sector: Mission
& Market – The Resource Center for Effective Corporate-Nonprofit
Partnerships
• The Leader to Leader Institute: Collaboration
• The Synergos Institute Global
Philanthropy & Foundation Building – Building Bridges
Across Sectors Initiative
back to top
Scale
Publications:
• “Scaling Social Impact,” by J. Gregory Dees,
Beth Battle Anderson, and Jane Wei-Skillern, Stanford
Social Innovation Review, Spring 2004. Earlier working paper
version available from CASE.
• “Going to Scale,” by Jeff Bradach, Stanford
Social Innovation Review, Spring 2003.
• “Nonprofits:
ensuring that bigger is better,” by Maisie O’Flanagan
and Lynn Taliento, The McKinsey Quarterly, 2004 Number 2.
• “The Question of Scale: Finding an Appropriate Strategy
for Building on Your Success,” by Melissa A. Taylor, J. Gregory
Dees, and Jed Emerson, Chapter 10 in Strategic Tools for Social
Entrepreneurs: Enhancing the Performance of Your Enterprising Nonprofit,
edited by Dees, Emerson, and Economy, Wiley 2002.
• “A
Point of Light in Mumbai,” by Rukmini Banerji, Madhav
Chavan, Paresh Vaish, and Atul Varadhachary, The McKinsey Quarterly,
2001 Number 1.
• “Managing Multisite Nonprofits,” by Allen Grossman
and V. Kasturi Rangan, Nonprofit Management and Leadership; vol.
11, no. 3; Spring 2001.
• Social Franchising: A Worthwhile Alternative for Development
Co-operation, German Foundation for World Population.
• Replicating
Social Programs: Approaches, Strategies, and Conceptual Issues,
Nico van Oudenhoven & Rekha Wazir, International Child Development
Initiative.
• Lessons
from the Street: Capacity Building and Replication, The Milton
S. Eisenhower Foundation.
Organizations and Initiatives:
• Growth
Philanthropy Network
• New
Profit Inc.
• New
Schools Venture Fund
• The School for Social Entrepreneurs: Ready,
Steady, Grow
back to top
|
