Class Description:

Your board and staff have made the decision to move to social enterprise as a strategy to enhance the sustainability of the organization. What investment of time and resources do you have to make? What fundamental and system wide changes need to be made to position the organization for success? This course outlines the steps necessary to begin to implement social enterprise and how to involve key stakeholders in the development of a successful social enterprise.

 
Class participants will learn:

• Understanding the concept of social enterprise vs. traditional funding.
• Assess organizational readiness for social enterprise: Board and Staff.
• Realities of time expectations for becoming an entrepreneurial nonprofit.
• Organizational focus: mission, vision, core values, driving forces, involvement of key stakeholders and goal setting.
• Steps in learning social enterprise: asset identification, objective evaluation; market research and feasibility, customers and competition, costing and financing, sales planning, business planning.
• Examples of successful social enterprise

 
Class Format:  This course is the recording of a live webinar and contains the slides and audio from the original presentation. Only a reasonably current version of FlashPlayer is needed to run this recording (most computers already have this installed).

 
About the Instructor, Jean Block

Jean Block began her experience with the nonprofit sector in 1955 when she was 13 years old. She organized a backyard carnival which raised nearly $500 and she was hooked. She has served as staff for several nonprofits, including the Cystic Fibrosis Foundation of New Mexico, a local hospital and the United Way of Central New Mexico. And, in the years since organizing that carnival fundraiser, Jean has been a volunteer leader with numerous local, regional and national nonprofits, including health and human service organizations, membership organizations, performing arts organizations, and advocacy groups.

In 1999, Jean formed her own consulting company to enable her to share her expertise in nonprofit management, fundraising, planning and Board development with a broad range of local and national nonprofits. She now travels extensively in the US, teaching workshops and consulting with nonprofit of all sizes and scope.

Jean has written two well-received books on nonprofits: Fast Fundraising Facts for Fame & Fortune, now in its third printing, and The ABCs of Building Better Boards, in its second printing.

In 2003, an opportunity to learn about social enterprise has led Jean in a new direction. For three years, she taught the PathFinder program for the National Center for Social Entrepreneurs, helping 25 nonprofits on the road to self-sufficiency.

In 2006, Jean and Randy Gleason formed Social Enterprise Ventures, LLC to build on their extensive knowledge base of nonprofit management and social enterprise training.