Larry Fehr, Pioneer Human Services
| Brief
Biography | Session
Handouts |
Sue Wilkes, Refugee Women's Alliance
| Brief
Biography | Session
Handout |
Dennis Moore, Moderator
| Brief
Biography |
Social Entrepreneurship
Larry Fehr began the discussion on topic of "Social Entrepreneurship"
- Defined social entrepreneurship as "social entrepreneurs recognize and relentlessly pursue opportunities without being constrained by resources currently in hand, and are guided by an explicit mission to create and sustain social value…social entrepreneurs are driven by social mission."
- "Creating community wealth instead of transferring it"
- Instead of using other people's money, use tools from profit sector to create money from within.
- Earned income versus dependency on the outside (self-sufficiency model)
Reasons to consider social entrepreneurship
Wrong reasons include:
- Desperation: quick financial fix
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Delusions of demand: assumed profitability without good market analysis
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Development: belief that business venture will help increase donations
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Deference: board member has business idea
Right reasons include:
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Money: Anticipated financial reward is worth the risk - wealth as a means, not an end.
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Mission: Apply proven business practices to help meet nonprofit mission.
Three Critical Ingredients for social entrepreneurship to succeed:
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Organizational culture to support the effort, getting over culture of dependence on donations and grants
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Competence: managerial and other expertise to succeed.
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Capital: Sound and persuasive business plan to raise adequate capital to start.
Starting a Business Venture
Sue Wilkes spoke on the Refugee Women's Alliance's efforts to start a business venture
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Existing nonprofit serving refugee and immigrant women to start a for profit "multi-ethnic catering" business
- Risks: Look seriously at risks and benefits in starting a venture, and determine acceptable level of risk. Plan carefully to reduce risk.
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Staff time away from an already overworked staff
- Risks of compromising mission
- Benefits:
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Potential source of revenue
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Gain good internal management and operational skills
- Steps to start
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Internal audit
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Connecting idea to the mission
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Determine risk level
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Idea generation
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Feasibility studies
General discussion continued on how to draw in customers to the venture:
- For Pioneer Human Services this means delivering quality, on-time, right-priced services, same as for a for profit venture. Need to have a competitive product for it to work. (In this case many of their customers do not know about their social mission).
- Other programs have as their goal reframing social issues, and so want their customers to know their social mission while also providing a marketable service.
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