Yay Team! » Social Entrepreneurship

Do you know the answers?

J. Michael Cavitt — Sun, 29 Aug 2010 01:41:45 +0000

You are a nonprofit entrepreneur, a social entrepreneur or a volunteer leader.

Can you answer these questions* about your organization, your enterprise, your board, your committee, your program or your project?

• What are you building?

• Why does this [organization, enterprise, board, committee, program or project] exist?

• What results will you measure?

• How will you build this [organization, enterprise, board, committee, program or project]?

• What is the work to be done?

When you have the answer to these questions, there are two more.

• How will you track results?

• How will you track progress?

If you can’t answer these questions easily, you are seriously limited in your ability to get the best results.

Questions? Comments?

* Questions from One Page Business Plan by Jim Horan.

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photo credit: SMJJP

Using Social Media

J. Michael Cavitt — Wed, 25 Mar 2009 19:17:16 +0000

Wow! Yesterday, I watched Chris Brogan’s video seminar “Using Social Media to Find a Job“.

The other neat thing was to have Chris refer me to his free ebook Using the Social Web to Find Work.

I am a discoverer. A person who wants to know what’s around next corner. These were a couple of great resources to help me see ‘what’s around the next corner’ in social media. The opportunities to ‘discover’ are endless. I am especially interested in areas like social networking and nonprofits, organizing nonprofits, recruiting and training volunteers, solving organizational and operational problems for nonprofit, finding resources for nonprofits, etc.

So, the more I can learn from people like Chris Brogan and others the better I will be at helping volunteer leaders get the best results for their nonprofits.

photo credit: p373

Social Entrepreneurs: Source of Nonprofit Income

J. Michael Cavitt — Fri, 27 Feb 2009 22:48:09 +0000

Lazone Grays posted to the Non-Profit Tools Group an article by Jonathan Ortmans, President, The Public Forum Institute “Entrepreneurs: Engines for Job Creation and Innovation“.

I endorse Mr Ortmans’ belief that entrepreneurs create jobs from the new opportunities that they see.

When they turn their attention to nonprofits they will create new jobs and new sources of income for nonprofits also.

Entrepreneurs look for nonprofits that interest you. Use your ability to create new sources of income for them.

Photo Credit:Celebrating Social Entrepreneurs, originally uploaded by jurvetson.

Social Entrepreneurship: new economy, new-funding

J. Michael Cavitt — Mon, 09 Feb 2009 17:36:20 +0000

Show me the money!

We all need it so our organizations can achieve our goals. With the state of our economy, one of the most pressing challenges as a leader of an all volunteer non-profit is that many of the old sources are drying up.

Financial fears are infecting our economy from the biggest corporate donors down to individual donors of modest means. Getting enough money from reliable sources becomes more of a challenge as grantor’s portfolios lose value and donors have less disposable income. Even more difficult to address is the almost universal perception of loss that has everyone holding on to what they have for fear of what is yet to come.

Of course, for those of you who are serving vulnerable populations the need for your services increases just as your resources decrease.

I know your boards, committees and members are exploring alternative sources of funding. Now it’s time to explore social entrepreneurship. As you look for income outside “normal” funding sources, explore what service or product you can deliver that people are willing to pay for.

Jump start your idea generation by searching the internet for nonprofits which are selling a product or service. Start an Entrepreneur Committee to develop ideas for your nonprofit. Assign ideas to task forces to prove and to develop a mini-business plan. Survey your members for their ideas and remember to ask them what they could contribute to a saleable item with time, materials or skills.

C. J. Heyden has some great definitions at http://www.socialentrepreneurcoach.com These can help you decide which form of social entrepreneurship you want to use.

Photo Credit:Show me the money, originally uploaded by Piez.