Top Ten Ways to Get Involved with Social Entrepreneurship

Published October 05, 2008 @ 07:55PM PT

1. Read

Although the field is young, the excitement and passion of those involved has already begun to produce volumes of articles, books, and case studies that give you can help you understand the challenges and opportunities of social entrepreneurship to create change. “The Power of Unreasonable People,” by John Elkington and Pamela Hartigan or “How to Change the World,” by David Bornstein are great starting points. For more, see our “Top 10 Social Entrepreneurship Reads”

2. Reach out to a social entrepreneur

Social entrepreneurs are people, just like you and me, who care deeply about an issue and have found a way to do something innovative about it. Most, if not all of them, remember the moments where they realized that they had to do something, and are excited to share their stories with up-and-coming change-makers. The internet has broken down the barriers to communication, so look ‘em up and reach out! Use this channel or www.socialedge.org to figure out who to connect with.

3. Fundraise

No matter how well publicized an organization is, almost all social enterprises (particularly those in startup and growth stages) need more money than they have. Social entrepreneurs rely on networks of friends and supporters to take some of the fundraising burden off their shoulders and allow them to focus on their missions. So get creative; instead of just donating a few dollars once, organize a group of your friends to give collaboratively every month. Change.org is just one of an incredible number of tools you have to help build the networks of support that good organizations rely on. For more options, check out www.socialactions.com.

4. Volunteer or get an internship

While fundraising is great, it can be even more rewarding to see an organization you care about in action. With organizations providing direct services you may be able to work directly with the communities social entrepreneurs seek to support. For some others, your opportunities may be more based in office work and administrative tasks. Either way, being part of a team in an entrepreneurial, mission-driven organization is an incredibly rewarding (and challenging!) experience. Check out Change.org or Idealist.org for opportunities

5. Advocate

One of the things that often distinguishes social entrepreneurs is their desire not only to remedy a problem, but to change the social landscape that allowed that problem to happen in the first place. For many organizations, this means pairing their philanthropic endeavors with government advocacy. Like fundraising, advocacy efforts require support from people like you, organizing your friends, peers and social networks.

6. Go to the source and LISTEN

The most important thing anyone who wishes to create change can do is to spend time with and learn from the communities experiencing the poverty, injustice, and inequality you wish to address. Nonprofits have long known that the most sustainable solutions to any problem are those that come from impacted communities, but it’s only recently that our transportation and communication infrastructures have given average people the opportunity to learn from one another. Intern abroad, do a volunteer vacation, work in a different part of your town. Just listen, listen, listen. No matter what you end up doing, your efforts will be better for it.

7. Enroll

Increased interest in social entrepreneurship has prompted business schools like Haas at Berkeley and Kellogg at Northwestern and undergraduate departments to begin to offer courses, certificates and even degrees in social entrepreneurship and social enterprise. If you’re a currently a student or thinking about going back to school, programs in social entrepreneurship can be indispensable in giving you the analytic and reflective tools to run and support entrepreneurial, mission-driven organizations.

8. Enter a competition

So you care passionately about an issue and think you’ve got a good plan for addressing some social ill, but you’re not sure you’re ready to start an organization? A great way to test an idea is to enter a university business plan competition such as the Global Social Benefit Incubator, or even an online competition like ideablob.com or changemakers.net. These structured environments will force you to think about your idea in new ways and more practical terms, and can help you understand whether you’re ready to take the plunge of starting a new organization.

9. Always challenge yourself

One of the hallmarks of a good educational experience is that it provides you materials that directly challenge what you think you believe. For aspiring social entrepreneurs, or even just those interested the field, it’s as if not MORE important to read criticism like Michael Edwards “Just Another Emperor” and constantly reflect upon your own ambitions. Another great challenge for would-be social entrepreneurs is to ask yourself if you really need to start a new organization, or whether your efforts would be better spent supporting ongoing work. Remember, ideas that challenge your believes don’t undermine your passion and commitment to social justice; they reinforce it and better prepare you for tackling complicated problems.

10. Start your own organization

So you’ve learned from other social entrepreneurs, read about your field, and spent time learning directly from people who experience the problems you want to address. You’ve read and reflected to challenge your own ideas, entered a competition, and you’re convinced you’ve got something. Go for it, and go for it all the way. Building organizations is not easy, but its possible, it’s important, and if you proceed in the right ways, it can be incredibly rewarding. And hey, you know where to come for support and ideas, right?

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Comments (11)

Now is the perfect time to get involved in the social enterprise sector. Zoosa (www.zoosa.org) can help you match your interests in specific “Issues of Social Responsibility” (ISRs) to your available time. Our subject areas are listed in decreasing order of time commitment: Work, Get Elected, Volunteer, Network (events), & Inspire (Q&A / Ideas).

Background: I am a 2nd year student at Harvard Business School who recently launched Zoosa with a mission to find & promote opportunities where professional skills meet social impact. Our broad definition of “Social Enterprise” includes for-profit social enterprises & non-profits, helping professionals do well while doing good.

Visit www.zoosa.org today to provide feedback and to help us grow!

Posted by Mike McGlade on 10/11/2008 @ 04:49AM PT
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Thanks for the tips and for the site. Our Social change is to get high school students involved in entrepreneurialism as motivation to do well in school and be self sufficient.See us at www.EntrepreneursNOW.org

Posted by Dorothy Suter on 10/11/2008 @ 06:09PM PT
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I'm already on it. People are always raising money for medical research. But I think it's more effective to do the research myself. If any man will not work, neither should he eat. Likewise, if I want the benefits of science, then I must learn science. Raising money doesn't necessarily solve anything.

Posted by David Lafleche on 10/18/2008 @ 04:05PM PT
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This is really good stuff. I wish my business school offered programs Like Haas and Kellogg. This is an awesome top ten list. You should post this on my buddy's site http://www.toptentopten.com/.

Posted by Travis Stark on 11/29/2008 @ 12:23PM PT
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I love the idea of Social Entrepreneurs! There is nothing wrong with wanting to be prosperous and give to others. That it's OK to fulfull your dreams and create change. They don't have to be exclusive of one another.
It's also time for people to learn they don't have to be rich first to do more now!
The company I work with combines the power of consumption with compassion.
We are creating the Largest Humanitarian Army in the world by simply helping people use safer, more effective, greener products they order online.
Sharing this mission has given me the chance to be a full time humanitarian and live my dream lifestyle.
A true example of social entrepreneurship wrapped up in a home based income opportunity.
Make it a great day!

Posted by Erica Jones on 12/22/2008 @ 01:43AM PT
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Attend the Social Enterprise Summit in New Orleans, LA (April 15-17, 2009) - http://www.se-alliance.org/summit.cfm

Posted by Paulina Migalska on 12/27/2008 @ 08:37PM PT
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This article is fabulous and would be of tremendous value to members of my membership site.

Would you permit me using the link? Is that ok? The membership site is http://www.ContributeYourWealthClub.com that seeks to empower Conscious Entrepreneurs to become Social Entrepreneurs by providing resources and networking opportunities.

Posted by Jane Johnson on 01/23/2009 @ 11:54PM PT
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Another way to get involved - and learn about - social entrepreneurship is to take part in one of our Social Entrepreneurship Journeys.

See here for more info: http://www.journeysforchange.org/

Would certainly tick off points 2, 6 and 9 above!

Posted by Richard Alderson on 07/14/2009 @ 11:15PM PT
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I have already tried to start something in our community (a very workingclass area) but failed, due I think to not enough info, on my part.I would really like to get something going again, and will use all the sites you have mentioned to improve my performance, I live just outside Durban, south Africa.

Posted by Eunice Robertson on 07/26/2009 @ 09:53PM PT
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Hey Nathaniel, this is an excellent top ten list. I hope that more people are inspired to go into Social Entrepreneurship as it has so mnay benefits to everyone involved. I am currently an MBA student at UCSD and we are trying to get momentum for a club for Social Entrepreneurship and to petition for more classes on the subject to be taught. You can cross-post this to our site http://www.toptentopten.com/ and link back to your site. We are trying to create a directory for top ten lists where people can find your site. The coolest feature is you can let other people vote on the rankings of your list.

Posted by Vince Y on 08/11/2009 @ 09:51AM PT
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Another way for emerging social entrepreneurs to get information and be inspired is to listen to lectures online. Youtube and www.ted.com are just two examples of resources for learning about the experiences, ideas and opinions of innovators, leaders and forward-thinking entrepreneurs.

Posted by Loren Abbate on 09/13/2009 @ 10:53PM PT
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Author

Nathaniel is the founding Director of the Center for Global Engagement at Northwestern University, which works annually with hundreds of students in dozens of countries around the world through curricular programs and student project incubation.