Startup Stack: 25+ Influencers Pick Their Favorite Tools For 2016
https://sehub.stanford.edu/
Resources for Social Entrepreneurs
Acumen Fund – Venture capital fund that invests in social entrepreneurs, including both nonprofit and for-profit initiatives. Acumen’s focus is on projects that aid the “bottom-of-the-pyramid” poor.
Ashoka – Ashoka identifies and invests in leading social entrepreneurs with ideas for change in their communities, supporting the individual, idea and institution through all phases of their career.
Echoing Green – Provides seed funding and support to social entrepreneurs with bold ideas for social change. Offers a two-year fellowship program and provides hands-on support.
Good Capital – Venture capital firm that provides funding for both nonprofit and for-profit initiatives in the areas of economic opportunity, fair trade, health care, and education.
New Profit – Venture capital fund that invests in social entrepreneurs, typically nonprofits in the areas of education, minority rights, and global poverty.
Nonprofit Finance Fund – Offers loans, lines of credit, and financial consulting to nonprofits. Also serves as a broker to help nonprofits raise large amounts of capital.
npEnterprise Forum – Free online discussion group for practitioners of social enterprise, with over 7000 members.
RSF Social Finance – Provides loans of $250,000 to $5 million to both nonprofit and for-profit social ventures. Also awards grants to nonprofit initiatives.
Schwab Foundation for Social Entrepreneurship – Hosts the annual Social Entrepreneurs’ Summit, co-sponsors the annual Social Capitalist Awards, and co-sponsors the annual meeting of the World Economic Forum.
Skoll Foundation – Invests in, connects, and empowers social entrepreneurs. Skoll Awards provide grant financing to established projects. Hosts the annual Skoll World Forum on Social Entrepreneurship.
Social Edge – Free online discussion forum, newsletter, and other resources for social entrepreneurs.
Social Enterprise Alliance – Membership network for social entrepreneurs in both the nonprofit and for-profit sectors. Hosts the annual Social Enterprise Summit and a comprehensive online Knowledge Center open to non-members.
Social Venture Network – Membership network for leading social entrepreneurs, primarily for-profit CEO’s, nonprofit founders and executive directors, and social investors. Hosts two annual gatherings and an online Tools & Best Practices library open to non-members.
1. B Lab’s “Impact Assessment Tool”
The nonprofit B Lab, founded in 2009, provides a host of information on its site and certifies companies as B Corps for an annual fee (the amount varies, based on a company’s revenue). Its free Impact Assessment Tool helps companies assess their social or environmental impact and improve their performance, regardless of whether they ultimately seek certification. Examples of completed B-Reports are accessible on B Labs’s site to help guide you in the creation of your own socially sustainable business. To date, there are 488 certified B Corps in existence.
2. Ashoka.org
Ashoka, founded in 1980, strives to make social entrepreneurs competitive in the global marketplace by granting fellowships to business leaders focused on social and environmental progress. Ashoka Fellows receive a living stipend, allowing them to work full time on their social enterprise. In recent years, Ashoka’s budget has grown to $30 million, and the nonprofit has granted more than 2,000 fellowships. Along with its active work, Ashoka’s site supplies free information and aggregates media from blogs to radio feeds.
Related: How Entrepreneurs with Social Vision Secured Venture Capital
3. New York University’s speaker series
NYU’s Catherine B. Reynolds Speaker Series focuses specifically on social entrepreneurs, and hosts some of the most successful public and private sector “change-makers” from around the world. If you’re in the New York City area, the series is free and open to the public; if you’re not able to make the event in person, past series are accessible via video download on iTunes free of charge. Past speakers include Seth Goldman of Honest Tea, John Mackey of Whole Foods Market, and acclaimed writer and Nobel laureate Elie Wiesel, representing the Elie Wiesel Foundation for Humanity. A number of universities host similar programs for entrepreneurs, including Northeastern, Cornell, and Stanford universities.
4. Skoll Foundation’s SocialEdge.org
The Social Edge, founded in 2003, is a global online community for social entrepreneurs and is sponsored by the Skoll Foundation, which invests in social entrepreneurs. The site is an information hub featuring live discussions, blogs, forums, job listings, expert advice and other resources helpful to social entrepreneurs in all stages of development. For those ready to take their social enterprise to the next level visit the site’s “opportunities” section for information on fellowships, competitions and incubation programs.
5. UnreasonableInstitute.org
The Unreasonable Institute, founded in 2009, partners with more than 20 impact-investment funds and foundations. The institute picks 25 entrepreneurs through a rigorous screening progress and puts them through a six-week training and mentoring program, designed to take their ideas from the concept phase to operation. Check the Institute’s site for “Unreasonable.TV,” currently in its second season, which follows participants as they develop their social enterprises. There’s also a video interview section, profiling experts in the social business world, including Hewlett-Packard’s Phil McKinney, social venture capital firm Ennovent’s Charly Kleissner and investment firm Good Capital’s Jane Anderson.