Download or read book Scaling Global Change written by Erin Ganju and published by John Wiley & Sons. This book was released on 2018-04-24 with total page 341 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Grow your start-up into a global influence with real-world impact Scaling Global Change provides social entrepreneurs with the strong organizational foundation they need to change the world. Through the story of Room to Read, one of the fastest-growing nonprofits in the last 18 years, this book features clear, real-world lessons for growing a non-profit or social enterprise, with special insight into girls’ education and literacy programming in lower-income countries. By outlining theories of program, operational, and system-level change, the discussion delves into the meat of the entrepreneurial spirit and applies it directly to everyday strategic decisions. The book begins with an overview of essential communication, vision, and execution fundamentals, and then dives into a discussion of metrics, monitoring, planning, leadership, and more. Clear guidance on internal operations, fundraising, team building, management, and other central topics provides a roadmap for new and experienced leaders, while further exploration of influence, strategy, and government funding relates the wisdom of experience from the perspective of a successful organization. Cross the chasm from start-up to mature organization with worldwide impact Gain insight into the theoretical and practical underpinnings of nonprofit success Adopt new perspectives on effectiveness, excellence, and influence Translate ideas into action in a way that will change the world Social entrepreneurship has taken off more than ever, and the market is crowded with optimistic leaders wanting to change the world. How do you differentiate your organization from the pack? How can you stand out, stand up, and make a real impact? These lessons are gained through experience and building a strong organizational culture; Room to Read has treaded this path and found itself at the heights of success. With Scaling Global Change, you reap the benefit of experiential lessons while applying them to the success of your own organization. **All Royalties from the sale of Scaling Global Change will be donated directly to Room To Read**

Download or read book Building a Successful Social Venture written by Eric Carlson and published by Berrett-Koehler Publishers. This book was released on 2018-09-18 with total page 429 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This is the first book on creating and running a social enterprise to combine theoretical discussions with current cases from around the world, filling a huge gap in the literature. It serves as an eminently practical blueprint for those who wish to build, sustain, and grow social ventures. Building a Successful Social Venture draws on Eric Carlson's and James Koch's pioneering work with the Global Social Benefit Institute, cofounded by Koch at Santa Clara University's Miller Center for Social Entrepreneurship. Since 2003, over 200 Silicon Valley executives have mentored more than 800 aspiring social entrepreneurs at the GSBI. It is this unparalleled real-world foundation that truly sets the book apart. Early versions of the book were used in both undergraduate and MBA classes. Part 1 of the book describes the assumptions that the GSBI model is based on: a bottom-up approach to social change, a focus on base-of-the-pyramid markets, and a specific approach to business planning developed by the GSBI. Part 2 presents the seven elements of the GSBI business planning process, and Part 3 lays out the keys to executing it. The book includes “Social Venture Snapshots” illustrating how different organizations have realized elements of the plan, as well as a wealth of checklists and exercises. Social ventures hold enormous promise to solve some of the world's most intractable problems. This book offers a tested framework for students, social entrepreneurs, and field researchers who wish to learn more about the application of business principles and theories of change for advancing social progress and creating a more just world.

Download or read book The Power of Unreasonable People written by John Elkington and published by Harvard Business Press. This book was released on 2008-02-05 with total page 249 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Renowned playwright George Bernard Shaw once said "The reasonable man adapts himself to the world, the unreasonable one persists in trying to adapt the world to himself. Therefore all progress depends on the unreasonable man." By this definition, some of today's entrepreneurs are decidedly unreasonable--and have even been dubbed crazy. Yet as John Elkington and Pamela Hartigan argue in The Power of Unreasonable People, our very future may hinge on their work. Through vivid stories, the authors identify the highly unconventional entrepreneurs who are solving some of the world's most pressing economic, social, and environmental problems. They also show how these pioneers are disrupting existing industries, value chains, and business models--and in the process creating fast-growing markets around the world. By understanding these entrepreneurs' mindsets and strategies, you gain vital insights into future market opportunities for your own organization. Providing a first-hand, on-the-ground look at a new breed of entrepreneur, this book reveals how apparently unreasonable innovators have built their enterprises, how their work will shape risks and opportunities in the coming years, and what tomorrow's leaders can learn from them. Start investing in, partnering with, and learning from these world-shaping change agents, and you position yourself to not only survive but also thrive in the new business landscape they're helping to define.

Download or read book Measuring and Improving Social Impacts written by Marc J. Epstein and published by Routledge. This book was released on 2017-09-08 with total page 288 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Identifying, measuring and improving social impact is a significant challenge for corporate and private foundations, charities, NGOs and corporations. How best to balance possible social and environmental benefits (and costs) against one another? How does one bring clarity to multiple possibilities and opportunities? Based on years of work and new field studies from around the globe, the authors have written a book for managers that is grounded in the best academic and managerial research.It is a practical guide that describes the steps needed for identifying, measuring and improving social impact. This approach is useful in maximizing the impact of different types of investments, including grants and donations, impact investments, and commercial investments.With numerous examples of actual organizational approaches, research into more than fifty organizations, and extensive practical guidance and best practices, Measuring and Improving Social Impacts fills a critical gap.

Download or read book Social Investment Toolkit written by Mark Cheng and published by . This book was released on 2018-03-09 with total page 248 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Are you a social entrepreneur looking to raise investment? Perhaps you're wondering where to start, but don't know how, or what social investors are looking for? Then this toolkit is for you! In eight modules, we guide you through all key steps, from how to tell your impact story to creating a compelling investor pitch. Along the way, we'll explain the technical aspects of raising finance and what social investors are really looking for.This Social Investment Toolkit is specifically written for social entrepreneurs - people using business methods to tackle social issues. We'll show how social entrepreneurs can best find social investors: funders who are eager to put their capital into businesses that deliver measurable impact on social or environmental causes as well as profitable financial returns.This guide assumes no prior knowledge about raising capital. We de-mystify the jargon of finance, and explain in simple steps what you need to know and what you need to do in order to be able to present a compelling case to funders.Drawing upon the experience of many of the field's most successful entrepreneurs and investors, the Social Investment Toolkit is packed with:· Case Studies from entrepreneurs who've succeeded, showing how they did it· Insights from Ashoka, the global association of the world's leading social entrepreneurs· Practical advice from practitioners and pioneers in the field· Diagnostic tools to help you work out which parts of your investment proposal to work onThe Toolkit also offers unique advice specifically for social enterprises, such as:· The legal aspects of launching a social enterprise: should you be a for-profit, not-for-profit, or a hybrid?· How can you blend philanthropy and investment?· Valuing the Social Impact of your business· How to make your mission the core of your business· Key financial decisions: should you raise debt, equity or philanthropy?· How can you protect your social mission while bringing in outside investors?The Toolkit will also be of interest to social investors, students of social enterprise, and to anyone interested in learning the latest techniques from the rapidly developing field of social finance. Those with a finance background but unfamiliar with how finance operates in the social enterprise sector will also find this Toolkit useful.This is a must-read practical guide on how to raise social finance, packed with insights from one of the field's leading experts.

Download or read book Impact First written by Heidi L Fisher and published by . This book was released on 2021-01-02 with total page 224 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Impact First: the social entrepreneur's guide to measuring, managing and growing your impact is a guide with step by step actions and much more, for you to successfully measure, manage and communicate your impact. Based on the Lean Social Impact Approach, that Heidi uses with her clients, it takes impact measurement from a complicated, time consuming process to a lean and simplified process. The book covers the underlying principles of impact measurement and management; how to get clear on why you are doing impact measurement; how to define your organisation's ultimate goal; developing a theory of change; how to measure social, community, economic, environmental and tech impacts; methods for measuring impact including surveys and other alternatives; how to analyse and learn from your impact data; creating impact metrics for your staff team and your board; Social Return on Investment (SROI); impact measurement in times of crisis; and the future of impact measurement and management.

Download or read book Innovation and Scaling for Impact written by Christian Seelos and published by Stanford University Press. This book was released on 2017-01-04 with total page 257 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Innovation and Scaling for Impact forces us to reassess how social sector organizations create value. Drawing on a decade of research, Christian Seelos and Johanna Mair transcend widely held misconceptions, getting to the core of what a sound impact strategy entails in the nonprofit world. They reveal an overlooked nexus between investments that might not pan out (innovation) and expansion based on existing strengths (scaling). In the process, it becomes clear that managing this tension is a difficult balancing act that fundamentally defines an organization and its impact. The authors examine innovation pathologies that can derail organizations by thwarting their efforts to juggle these imperatives. Then, through four rich case studies, they detail innovation archetypes that effectively sidestep these pathologies and blend innovation with scaling. Readers will come away with conceptual models to drive progress in the social sector and tools for defining the future of their organizations.

Download or read book The Social Entrepreneur s Playbook Expanded Edition written by Ian C. MacMillan and published by University of Pennsylvania Press. This book was released on 2013-11-12 with total page 234 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Wharton professor Ian C. MacMillan and Dr. James Thompson, director of the Wharton Social Entrepreneurship Program, provide a tough-love approach that significantly increases the likelihood of a successful social enterprise launch in the face of the high-uncertainty conditions typically encountered by social entrepreneurs.

Download or read book A Financial Guide for Social Entrepreneurs written by Collectif, and published by Die Keure Publishing. This book was released on 2020-09-15 with total page 149 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This book provides what it promises to the reader, i.e. A financial guide for social entrepreneurs. It departs from the challenges that social entrepreneurs face to fund their ventures. We discuss three main challenges in this context: 1. Access to funding; 2. Complexity of business models; 3. Predominant focus on social impact. This book offers an overview of the different funding possibilities while presenting the main funding actors in Belgium as an illustration. Yet, we think that more is needed to survive the financial wilderness of social entrepreneurship. Therefore, we advise attention to a solid business model, supportive ecosystem, impact measurement and effective communication. The illustrative case studies and the presentation of ecosystem actors that can provide support to social entrepreneurs make this book a quite practical guide. All cases and ecosystem actors presented here come from the Belgian context, which is what we know best. We are confident that this Belgian view can inspire the international community as well. This book could be useful to social entrepreneurs, impact investors, universities, vocational training centers, corporates supporting social entrepreneurs, social impact incubators and accelerators, policymakers or everyone who wants to help a social enterprise in their journey. And please enjoy reading, our societies need more social entrepreneurship! ABOUT THE AUTORS Nikolay Detchev. Associate Professor of Entrepreneurship and Corporate Social Responsibility at VUB, Belgium. He holds the Solvay Business School Chair of Social Entrepreneurship at VUB, with founding partners Close the Gap, BNP Paribas Fortis and Euroclear. Nikolay is a member of the Investment Committee of Trividend, an executive board member of the International Association for Business and Society and the International New Business Model Conference Series, and board of directors member at VUB related incubator ICAB nv. Philippe Eiselein a PhD Candidate and Research Assistant at the Department of Business at the Vrije Universiteit Brussel (VUB). He is preparing his doctoral dissertation on the Business Models and Scalability of Social Entrepreneurship. His ongoing research has been presented over several international conferences. He has been actively supporting the VUB Chair of Social Entrepreneurship since its inception, contributing to several international projects and events, while coaching (social) entrepreneurs coaches and acting as the Chair’s webmaster. Kris Vander Velpen holds an MBA from Cornell University and a Business Engineer degree in Computer Data Processing as well as a Bachelor in Thomistic Philosophy from the KU Leuven. Kris is now an independent consultant, building and implementing tailor-made top-line growth practices within major profit and non-profit organisations. Furthermore, he is Professor “Entrepreneurship and Innovation” at Flanders Business School and a Visiting Professor at KU Leuven. Maxime Bouckaert studied business and applied economics at the Vrije Universiteit Brussel (VUB). Shortly afterwards, he launched a company called ‘Koalect’. This company helps organizations create more impact through fundraising, crowdfunding and crowdsourcing. He has a team of fourteen people that currently support over 120 organizations to engage with their community in a better way. Abel Diaz Gonzales a PhD Candidate and Research Assistant at the Department of Business at the Vrije Universiteit Brussel (VUB). For his doctoral dissertation, Abel has conducted field research in Bolivia, Ecuador, Colombia, and Belgium. His research has been presented at different international conferences (among which are the Academy of Management, IABS, EMES and New Business Models). Abel has acted as a reviewer at various conferences and for journals, and as co-organizer of numerous events.

Download or read book The Mission Driven Venture written by Marc J. Lane and published by John Wiley & Sons. This book was released on 2015-01-20 with total page 294 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Practical guidance to maximize financial results while driving positive social change The Mission-Driven Venture provides actionable guidance for leveraging the power of the marketplace to solve the world's most vexing social problems. Written by attorney and financial advisor Marc J. Lane, a renowned thought leader and expert on entrepreneurship, social enterprises, impact investing and entrepreneurial finance, this book reaches the full spectrum of interests represented at the intersection of business and social change. Whether a social entrepreneur, impact investor, socially conscious individual, or a nonprofit or foundation leader, any reader committed to social innovation can benefit from this practical roadmap to the rapidly developing arena of social enterprise. Through real-world accounts of the journeys and successes of mission-driven ventures, Lane effectively illustrates the transformative potential of social enterprise, inspiring the reader to be an agent of change. Among the many tools offered through The Mission-Driven Venture, readers will: Find functional guidance to move from idea to reality with a step-by-step guide to designing and implementing a successful mission-driven venture Assess the benefits and challenges of the business models and entity choices available to the social entrepreneur Examine the entrepreneurial linkages between nonprofits and for-profits Recognize governance issues that can arise when mission and profit objectives clash, and discover tools for managing them Explore evolving trends and developments in financing social enterprise Discover methods and tools for measuring and reporting social impact Develop an effective strategy for achieving both financial success and meaningful social impact

Download or read book Getting Beyond Better written by Roger L. Martin and published by Harvard Business Review Press. This book was released on 2015-09-15 with total page 265 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Who drives transformation in society? How do they do it? In this compelling book, strategy guru Roger L. Martin and Skoll Foundation President and CEO Sally R. Osberg describe how social entrepreneurs target systems that exist in a stable but unjust equilibrium and transform them into entirely new, superior, and sustainable equilibria. All of these leaders--call them disrupters, visionaries, or changemakers--develop, build, and scale their solutions in ways that bring about the truly revolutionary change that makes the world a fairer and better place. The book begins with a probing and useful theory of social entrepreneurship, moving through history to illuminate what it is, how it works, and the nature of its role in modern society. The authors then set out a framework for understanding how successful social entrepreneuars actually go about producing transformative change. There are four key stages: understanding the world; envisioning a new future; building a model for change; and scaling the solution. With both depth and nuance, Martin and Osberg offer rich examples and personal stories and share lessons and tools invaluable to anyone who aspires to drive positive change, whatever the context. Getting Beyond Better sets forth a bold new framework, demonstrating how and why meaningful change actually happens in the world and providing concrete lessons and a practical model for businesses, policymakers, civil society organizations, and individuals who seek to transform our world for good.

Download or read book The Social Entrepreneur s Handbook How to Start Build and Run a Business That Improves the World written by Rupert Scofield and published by McGraw Hill Professional. This book was released on 2011-04-08 with total page 273 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Make the business of society your business No one knows the business of social entrepreneurship better than Rupert Scofield. Cofounder and president of FINCA International—a nonprofit microfinancing institution with 7,000 employees serving 750,000 customers in 21 countries—Scofield has been a social entrepreneur for 40 years. In The Social Entrepreneur’s Handbook, Scofield leads you through the entire process of starting up and running a nonprofit, sharing personal success stories and advice on what not to do—valuable lessons he learned the hard way. The process, while risky, isn’t as difficult as you might think. Practically speaking, you need only two things: an idea and a plan. The former comes from you and you alone. This book supplies the latter. The Social Entrepreneur’s Handbook illuminates the path to building a successful nonprofit from the ground up. You’ll learn how to: Create a realistic plan for getting started in your chosen cause Assemble the perfect team for putting your plan into action—and keeping it rolling in the right direction Develop a business model specifically designed to run a nonprofit organization Keep yourself, your staff, and your cause in solid financial shape One of the many beauties of social entrepreneurship is that it’s never too late to start. You can be right out of school or working in the highest ranks of corporate America. It doesn’t matter. Social entrepreneurship begins with a noble cause, which turns into a passion, and soon becomes a mission worth dedicating your life to. The Social Entrepreneur’s Handbook is the one and only resource you will need to attain your dream of working full-time in service to others—and making a real, measurable difference in the world.

Download or read book Entrepreneurship in the Social Sector written by Jane Wei-Skillern and published by SAGE. This book was released on 2007-05-24 with total page 425 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Written for students and practitioners of social entrepreneurship, this text is about the opportunity and challenge of applying leadership skills and entrepreneurial talents creatively and appropriately to create social value.

Download or read book Brand the Change written by Anne Miltenburg and published by BIS Publishers. This book was released on 2018-02-13 with total page 224 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Brand the Change is a guidebook to build your own brand. It contains 23 tools and exercises, 14 case studies from change making organisations across the world and 7 guest essays from experts.

Download or read book In the Business of Change written by Elisa Birnbaum and published by New Society Publishers. This book was released on 2018-05-29 with total page 194 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Meet the social entrepreneurs who are using business to disrupt the status quo and rebuild their communities Our communities are facing the fallout from the demise of vital industry, bankrupt economies, bad policy or policing, and political mismanagement. People are looking for answers, and the "same old" simply won't do. In the Business of Change is a practical and inspirational guide that showcases how social entrepreneurs from places such as New York, Chicago, Los Angeles, San Francisco, and Vancouver, who are weary of waste, injustice, and government inaction, are using business savvy to tackle challenges in their communities. Part storytelling, part lessons learned, coverage includes: Profiles of remarkable individuals and companies in such diverse sectors as employment, food, art, education, and social justice An overview of lessons learned and real impacts on the ground Tips for getting started, connecting to the local community, and scaling up. In the Business of Change is for everyone who wants to rebuild their communities and believes that business can be a powerful, positive force for change.

Download or read book Strategic Tools for Social Entrepreneurs written by J. Gregory Dees and published by John Wiley & Sons. This book was released on 2004-01-30 with total page 360 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: A complete set of tools for applying entrepreneurial strategies andtechniques to your nonprofit As a follow-up to their book Enterprising Nonprofits, the authorsof Strategic Tools for Social Entrepreneurs provide a full set ofpractical tools for putting the lessons of businessentrepreneurship to work in your nonprofit. The book offershands-on guidance that helps social sector leaders hone theirentrepreneurial skills and carry out their social missions moreeffectively than ever before. This practical and easy-to-use bookis filled with examples, exercises, checklists, and action stepsthat bring the concepts, frameworks, and tools to life. Detailedexplanations of all the tools and techniques will help youpersonalize and apply them to your nonprofit organization-making itstronger, healthier, and better able to serve the needs of ourcommunities. Praise for Strategic Tools for Social Entrepreneurs "I search constantly for resources that can help provide insightand guidance to take Teach For America to a higher level; StrategicTools for Social Entrepreneurs does this and more. The book takesthe best practices of for-profits and social enterprises and adaptsthem to the needs of entrepreneurial, mission-driven nonprofits.Strategic Tools for Social Entrepreneurs is a tremendouscontribution to social entrepreneurs and to the nonprofitsector-many thanks to the authors for identifying this need andfilling it!" -Wendy Kopp Founder and President, Teach For America All of the royalties from this book will be used by the EwingMarion Kauffman Foundation to support continuing work on socialentrepreneurship.

Download or read book Social Innovation In Africa written by Ndidi Okonkwo Nwuneli and published by Routledge. This book was released on 2016-07-15 with total page 191 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Encouraged by the emergence and early impact of social innovators on the African Continent, but frustrated by the slow pace of large scale change, this book is focused on filling the knowledge gap for those tackling Africa’s serious social problems. It lays out the required building blocks for achieving scale at impact. By creating clear mission, vision, and values statements and piloting and rolling out business models that are demand-driven, simple, and low-cost, with compelling measurement and evaluation tools that leverage technology. It also explores the steps for attracting and retaining talent and financing and forming strategic partnerships with the private, public and non-profit sectors to foster scaling. Practical case studies provide inspiration for those who seek to become innovators or to be employed by them. Finally, it outlines the crucial steps for key stakeholders to take in order to support the emergence of more social innovators on the African continent, create an enabling environment for the scaling of high-impact initiatives and advance collective efforts to build stronger communities for current and future generations. This is a practical and inspirational guide for all entrepreneurs and individuals that seek to combine business and social goals and for those in the public, private and non-profit sectors that aim to foster and support these projects.