
Social Enterprise Misunderstandings Debunked
Even with all of the recent buzz surrounding social enterprises, many people are still left in the dark about what exactly a social enterprise is and what they do. Perhaps even worse, there are several common misconceptions about social enterprises that are leaving people confused about how social enterprises are effective mission-driven businesses. While there’s still some debate around what exactly a social enterprise is, we know for sure what they are not. That being said, here are 5 common misconceptions about social enterprises.
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Marketing Your Social Enterprise on the Cheap
When the double bottom line of impact and profit are on your mind as a social entrepreneur, it’s easy to overlook (or even hide from) marketing. However, to achieve both, effective marketing is an essential thing to have in your operational toolbox.
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New Year’s Resolutions For Social Enterprise Success
We can breathe a collective sigh of relief—2021 is here! 2020 was challenging for a plethora of reasons and while we’re still dealing with the aftermath of some of them, we’ve been dealt a new hand. Now is the time to put some steps and plans in action for your social enterprise.
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Australian Social Entrepreneurs Who Will Make an Impact in 2021
2020 has certainly been a trying year for the social sector, but that doesn’t mean that there aren’t things in the works for next year. We’re at a point in time where organisations committed to a positive social impact are more needed than ever before. That being said, we’re excited to see what will happen in 2021 for these trailblazing Australian social entrepreneurs.
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Building an Advisory Board for Your Social Enterprise? 8 Steps to Landing The Right Advisors
An advisory board is a critical tool for getting your social enterprise to the next level. These 8 tips will get the right people around your table.
Gifts for Good: Giving Presents With Purpose This Christmas
Christmas is a time for giving, sharing and celebrating, but it can also be a time that gets overwhelming with events, traditions and expectations — so how can you tie in your love for the work social enterprises are doing, with the never-ending Christmas to-do list?
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The Best of Social Impact: Must-Read Articles of the Month (September 2020)
Social impact, entrepreneurship, and innovation – if it’s interesting news, you’ll find it here. These stories may not be the ones on the top of your news feed, but chances are they’re the ones you’ll actually want to read. Whether its opinions on creating positive social change – or simply the valuable lessons learned along the way, here’s a round-up of the past month’s most interesting articles.
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From Storytelling to Social Change
Whether you are working on poverty reduction, mental health or environmental issues, there are hundreds of organisations and enterprises out there doing similar work and releasing communication materials of their own. It can feel overwhelming to be bombarded with so many numbers, statistics, and reports—especially when many people find it easier to tune out. So, how can we keep our audience’s attention? How can we tell stories that convince them to care?
Top 15 Social Enterprise Blogs & Websites To Follow in 2020
Feedspot has a team of over 25 experts whose goal is to discover and rank popular blogs, podcasts and youtube channels in several niche categories. Using combination of both algorithmic and human editing, here’s their curation of the best social enterprise blogs and websites to be across in 2020.
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From Early to Exit: What Are the Stages of a Social Enterprise?
Defining the stages of a social enterprise can be difficult. With the help of social entrepreneurs in our network we were able to pull out a few stages that nearly all of us go through. Without further ado, here are the 4 stages of a social enterprise – where are you?
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Strategies for Finding Meaning and Sustaining Purpose
How can the founders of social enterprises sustain their purpose throughout organisational growth? It’s a question that encompasses so many factors that it’s hard to pin down any answers. In this post, Alessandra Wulf explores some of the strategies, approaches and solutions for maintaining a sense of purpose on the job. These 6 strategies are helpful to consider when you are under stress or are struggling to identify and maintain focus on your sense of purpose.
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The Best Social Impact & Change Documentaries Ever
Some of the best ideas come in the form of inspiration found in the strategies, reach, and stories of other organisations and individuals making a difference. From Oscar winners to indie favourites, here are the best documentaries to fire you up to make a difference.
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How To Convince Angel Investors To Back Your Social Enterprise
While every business idea and angel investor vary in different contexts, there are foundational elements that remain the same. At the core, these are what investors are looking for, and they are, therefore, what you should be mastering and incorporating into your social enterprise and pitches to win them over. Here’s some of the most effective ways to persuade an angel investors for buying into your social enterprise.
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How to Survive a Crisis as a Social Entrepreneur
Although we’re living in unprecedented times and every path is unique, we found that some lessons come in handy over and over again. News and stress about the coronavirus from around the world are creating significant uncertainty among leaders, employees and customers. Beyond common sense measures, we wanted to provide a list of practical tips, tactics and strategies to help you make quick and needed decisions to help you navigate through these stormy times.
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The Impact of Coronavirus on Social Entrepreneurs and Changemakers
Pandemics like the H1N1 influenza of 2009 have not only set the stage for novel approaches to public health concerns, but have joined the global financial crisis in welcoming new entrepreneurial activities that address both economic and societal concerns. The outbreak of COVID-19 is affecting our lives as social enterprise founders, managers, funders, and volunteers—and it will continue to do so in several ways.
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THE NEW BREED: A New Generation of Changemakers
An interview with Pete Williams, writer, producer and director of THE NEW BREED, a new film documenting the rise of a new generation of change-makers, using business to tackle the world’s biggest social and environmental problems.
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Crisis, COVID-19, Social Enterprise and Social Change
Where social entrepreneurs and social impact workers have been aware of systemic inequalities that have existed for decades, the emergence of coronavirus has made these clearer for the rest of the world. COVID-19 has presented the world with a new look at how individuals or certain groups are exposed to health crises, food shortages, job insecurity, and more. It is becoming increasingly clear outside the social enterprise sector that social impact entrepreneurs and companies are needed in this space.
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Social Impact in Isolation
Life has changed for many of us over the past several weeks. We’ve had to acclimate to Zoom meetings, spending the day in our pyjamas, and workspaces surrounded by kids, clutter, and distractions. What could this mean for our social impact?
4 Phases of the Social Enterprise Lifecycle
Whether within local communities, nationally or globally, social entrepreneurs are dogged changemakers who put the needs of the ordinary citizens above financial gains but understand the need to be financially sustainable to scale their solution to more people. While a lot is known about what it takes to run a successful for-profit business, little is known about how a social changemaker navigates life as a business person.
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Questions to Answer Before Seeking Impact Investment
If you’re thinking about impact investment, sit down with your core team and be honest with yourselves. Answers to these questions will help illuminate whether you are ready and, if not, what you need to work on in order to get there.
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Crowdfunding for Social Enterprises: 5 Mistakes That Will Kill Your Campaign
If crowdfunding is so great, why do the vast majority of crowdfunding campaigns fail? Here’s the top five mistakes and misunderstandings to avoid at all costs.
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Systems and Structures That Help Social Enterprises Succeed
Juanita Pope from Justice Connect has many vivid memories of the Social Enterprise World Forum 2019 in Ethiopia – the people, the dancing, the camaraderie, the incredible stories of entrepreneurs pushing against the odds to create impressive social impact. But the one thing that really struck a chord was the structural and systemic aspirations of many social enterprises speaking at SEWF.
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