Social Venture Award

 

HELPING NONPROFITS SUCCEED IN TOUGH ECONOMIC TIMES

Social Enterprise Academy and Venture Competition Brings Market-Based Solutions to Advance Social Change in San Diego

SAN DIEGO, CA, Dec 10, 2010 – The Academies for Social Entrepreneurship in partnership with NP Strategies is pleased to announce the winners of the Social Enterprise Academy and Venture Competition. Working with established nonprofits looking to grow, the San Diego Social Enterprise Academy & Venture Competition trained and mentored fourteen organizations on how to be more effective at expanding earned income opportunities and offered a platform to present their ventures to potential investors.

“With the rapidly changing global economy, nonprofits must operate smarter and raise dollars more effectively if they are to be successful in achieving their mission,” said Betsy Densmore, President and Founder of the Academies for Social Entrepreneurship. “The Social Enterprise Venture Competition helps nonprofits apply proven business strategies to build stronger and more sustainable organizations,” Densmore continued.

Eight groups made it to the semi-finals and four finalists “pitched” at a Social Enterprise Symposium on December 8th. The Symposium was held on the University of San Diego campus, thus attracting many students, as well as the general public. The Symposium also included a keynote presentation on sources of funding for social enterprises, delivered by Paul Lamb, a noted consultant in the field. The winner, San Diego Futures Foundation, was awarded $2500 and a marketing services package valued at $12,500. Another finalist, Shakti Rising, won the “Audience Favorite” prize of $500.

San Diego Futures Foundation

SDFF “changes lives through technology” by providing computer hardware and technology services to nonprofits, businesses and low income persons in disadvantaged communities. Already earning 40% of their revenue through the sale of products and services, they used the Academy to develop a new venture which will launch five computer “Refurbishing Centers”, creating dozens of new jobs and enabling 25,000 users to obtain their own equipment. Acting CEO Jeff Hancock wrote, “I just wanted to say thanks again for encouraging me to enter the competition. It was a lot more work and time than I thought it would be but it pushed me to formalize and verbalize a concept that I’d had in my mind for the last year.”

Shakti Rising

Shakti Rising is well known in San Diego for transformational education programs that are designed to “empower young women to uncover, rediscover and reclaim their whole selves.” Their proprietary curriculum integrates personal and professional growth, health and wellness and leadership training. Heretofore, dependent on grants and constrained by a limited number of trainers and marketing expertise, Shakti Rising is now prepared to launch an ambitious expansion plan. “Our continued growth in social enterprise ventures will not only support Shakti and the services we provide, the work will ripple out into other organizations and into our community at large,” said Christianne White, Business Development Director.

Academies and Venture Competitions have already provided knowledge, tools and ongoing support for over 150 nonprofit organizations based in San Diego, Orange and Los Angeles. Sixty five percent of the executives that have been coached in social enterprise planning generated new revenue within a year of participating. Ninety four percent say that participating significantly impacted the way that they are managing their organizations.

The Academy and Venture Competition was sponsored by Wells Fargo and supported by a collaborative of strategic partners including SD Social Venture Partners, UC San Diego Extension, Nonprofit Management Solutions, CONNECT, SANDAN and Tech Coast Angels all of whom share a commitment to a more sustainable nonprofit community. These partners provide various types of support to the participating nonprofits (e.g. training, mentoring and funding) and are helping to build an ecosystem that will truly create long-term social impact.

According to Rebecca Alvarez, Executive Director of NP Strategies and partner for the San Diego Academy, “Many established nonprofits are actually doing social enterprise and don’t think of it that way…if an organization generates earned income, it is engaging in some form of social enterprise. It is critical to think strategically, with both mission and financial goals in mind, in order to leverage these earned income streams for overall organizational sustainability. That’s what the Social Enterprise Academy and Venture Competition is all about.”

For information on the program, contact Betsy Densmore, This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it or 949-500-2381.