Social Entrepreneurship

Until very recently, popular belief held that business skills were not needed at charitable organizations. No longer. Far from interfering with an organization s ability to provide needed services, techniques such as marketing, cash flow analysis, property management, and good use of technology all contribute to a charitable organization s mission capability. Unlike a not-for-profit that thinks of itself as a charity, the successful not-for-profit is really a mission-based business. In an era of rapid change, increasing competition, and the need for more accountability to governments, foundations, insurers, and donors, knowing how to innovate, compete, and take reasonable risks on behalf of the mission is critical. It is, in short, the era of the social entrepreneur.

The skilled social entrepreneur has the ability to get the most mission out of the resources at hand including traditional business techniques. Finally, here is a book that will help you learn their techniques. In Social Entrepreneurship, you will learn how successful social entrepreneurs:
* Focus on community wants and needs
* Match those with core competencies to provide the quality services
* Assess risk and gauge opportunity
* Develop new project ideas and test their feasibility
* Write a business plan
* Project finances in the plan
* Tap into new sources of funding
* Develop the idea of social entrepreneurship throughout the organization
* Make sure that mission, not money, is the bottom line


Also included are the seven essential steps of the not-for-profit business development process, real-world case studies, sample business plans, and a self-assessment process to determine if your organization is ready for social entrepreneurism. In addition to entrepreneurs, middle managers, policy setters, volunteers, and a host of other important staff members will get value from the mission-beneficial information in this book. Most important, Social Entrepreneurship will help you to help your organization succeed and thrive and make your job more interesting and productive.

Praise for Social Entrepreneurship
The Art of Mission-Based Venture Development

"A great read . . . contains both the theoretical underpinnings and practical applications that those of us in nonprofit leadership badly need. I will...