Top Ten Ways to Get Involved with Social Entrepreneurship

I have recently read this article about “top ten ways to get involved with social entrepreneurship” it is written by Nathaniel Whittemore. He 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. He is also the Founding Principle for Do Good Well, Inc, a consultancy focused on fusing business and philanthropy to advance social change. Most recently Nathaniel co-founded AssetMap.org, a web-based startup to help individuals and organizations better harness their assets for collaborative social change.

After I read the article, it encouraged me to explore more ways on how I can contribute not only to the economy but also to our countrymen. I didn’t realize that there are several ways to be a social entrepreneur and that it could start just by reading and educating yourself with it. I hope that when you do finish reading this article, you, would also be enlightened and TRY to make a change.

Top Ten Ways to Get Involved with Social Entrepreneurship
by Nathaniel Whittemore
Published October 05, 2008 @ 07:55PM PST

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.



















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.

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?