Social Impact Lessons

Social Entrepreneurship: Lessons from
the Field
Jeffrey A. Robinson, Ph.D.
Assistant Professor and Assistant Director
The Center for Urban Entrepreneurship & Economic
Development
November 2010

The Center for
Urban Entrepreneurship &
Economic Development
World-Class Research
Innovative Education
Economic Development Impact

The Center for Urban Entrepreneurship
& Economic Development
Research Areas
Urban Entrepreneurship & Economic Development
– Urban Entrepreneurship (wealthcreation, businessdevelopment,
communityentrepreneurship,job creation)
– TechnologyEntrepreneurship(technologytransfer, technology
commercialization,incubators, technology clusters, leveraginguniversity
patents, green business)
– Social Entrepreneurship(social problems solving,social purpose
businesses, social investments, green business)
– International Entrepreneurship (institutionsand entrepreneurialactivity,
SME’s and developingnations,entrepreneurship towards economic
development)
– EconomicDevelopment(urban institutionsand development, economic
developmentand emerging economies)

Social Entrepreneurship Books
2006 2009 2010

• Part of NJUEDI Federal Appropriation FY 2010 and FY 2011
• Three (3) Social Innovation and Entrepreneurship Summits
• Establishment of a resource website and network
• Workshops
• Social Innovation Institute – 6 month training
– Non-profit Enterprise Track
– Social Venture Track
NJSEN  Establish a NJ Social Innovation Fund
NJ Social Entrepreneurship Network

SOCIAL ENTREPRENEURSHIP
• “Social entrepreneurship is recognized as
encompassing a wide range of activities:
– enterprising individuals devoted to making a difference;
– social purpose business ventures dedicated to adding
for-profit motivations to the nonprofit sector;
– new types of philanthropists supporting venture capital-
like „investment‟ portfolios; and
– nonprofit organizations that are reinventing themselves
by drawing on lessons learned from the business world.”
Mair, Robinson, Hockerts in Social Entrepreneurship

• Social Enterprise – NPOs creating for profit or for profit like
organizations with double- or triple-bottom lines
• Social Purpose Business – For profit organization that is created
with a specific social purpose
• Social Venture - A company or organization that a social
entrepreneur starts to achieve their social and economic goals
• Social Venture Capital – Venture capital or venture capital-like
investment targeted for social ventures; often seeks a social and
financial return on investment
Related terms

Social Impact
SocialInnovation
Sustainability
Measurement
Social
Entrepreneurship

• Different theories of change and intervention strategies (social
impact and social innovation)
• Different types of social venture opportunities
• Different approaches to innovation, structure, and measurement
There is variation in SE

Notable Examples
• Goodwill Industries
• Harlem Children’s
Zone
• One Economy
• Sweet Beginnings
• Kaboom!
• Ice Stone
• City Fresh Foods
• Greyston Bakery
• Café Reconcile
• The Doe Fund
• Wilkin Solar

City Fresh Foods was founded in 1994 with the mission of
utilizing local culinary talent to prepare traditional and home-
style meals. Behind our delicious food is a successful business
model that incorporates community and economic
development to provide organizations with a cost-effective
method of meeting their food service needs.
City Fresh Foods is located in the Four Corners neighborhood in Dorchester,
MA, a community that has been historically bypassed by business
investment. Four Corners is evolving into a vibrant, bustling neighborhood.
We believe that business is a powerful vehicle for empowering our youth,
developing the community, and nurturing the environment.
As part of our dedication to our mission, City Fresh Foods:
1. Has relationships with local schools, providing exposure to young adults
who might consider the culinary arts profession.
2. Purchases from local organic farmers in season to use the freshest
natural ingredients.
3. Recycles and minimizes waste-flow to reduce our impact on the
environment.
4. Employs from the community, providing residents with an opportunity to
manage, and eventually own the operation.
Listed on the Inc. Magazine Inner City 100

• Greyston Bakery is a force for personal transformation and community economic
renewal. We operate a profitable business, baking high quality gourmet products with a
commitment to customer satisfaction.
Greyston Bakery provides a supportive workplace offering employment and opportunity
for advancement. Our profits contribute to the community development work of
the Greyston Foundation.
Vision Statements
• Greyston Bakery is the nat ionally leading "Brownie Company".
We produce Do-Goodie, the best tasting - highest quality brownies at a great value to the
consumer.
• Greyston Bakery is a leading model for social enterprise building a coalition with
employees, community and shareholders.
We properly compensate our employees: fair/living wage, health benefits, and direct
participation in the profitability of the company. We train, promote from within, and mentor
our employees, who we source from the local community
Greyston Bakery, through its profit generation, is a substantial source of revenue for the
Greyston Mandala, supporting affordable childcare for community, affordable housing for
homeless and low income families, and affordable health care for persons with HIV.

SOCIAL IMPACT

Social Impact
Does the venture make a significant social impact?
Social impact is a key element of a social venture.
What issue or problem is the venture being set up to
address? How a social venture makes the impact and
where it wants to make the impacts are important
strategic decision. What is the theory of change?
A social venture can make impact at different levels
(e.g. community, local, regional national) or with
varying degrees of depth (e.g. intermediary, service
provider, employer, or instructor). Social ventures are
often challenged by the tradeoff between breadth and
depth of their social impact. How the founders
reconcile this tension is an important indicator of
strategic direction.

LevelofSocialImpact
Broad
Targeted
Landscape of Intervention
CSR Program
Public Policy
Corporate Philanthropy
Pure Market
Private Philanthropy
Government Agency
High
(Bureaucratic)
Low
(Entrepreneurial)Level of Institutional Control

LevelofSocialImpact
Broad
Targeted
Landscape of Intervention
CSR Program
Public Policy
Corporate Philanthropy
Pure Market
Private Philanthropy
Government Agency
High
(Bureaucratic)
Low
(Entrepreneurial)Level of Institutional Control
Social Venture
(with philanthropic support)
Social Venture
(with market-based strategy)
Social Venture
(working closely with government)
Civic or Community
Venture

SOCIAL INNOVATION

Social Innovation
Is the venture using a new approach to addressing the
social/environmental issue?
Social ventures break new ground, pioneer new
approaches, or develop new models. These ventures
need to creatively navigate the economic, social, and
institutional entry barriers to social sector markets.
Social entrepreneurs develop new approaches to
addressing social problems or utilize technology to
facilitate problem solving. It is important that a
social venture uses effective innovations for the
problem they are addressing.

Three types of social innovation
• Service Delivery Innovation
– Closes gaps in the system through partnerships
• Boundary-Spanning (Bridging) Innovations
– Makes unusual and creative connections across
sectors
• Technology or Product Innovation
– Uses technological innovation to address
social/environmental issue

Harlem Children's Zone
Founded in 1970, Harlem Children's Zone, Inc. is a
pioneering, non-profit, community-based
organization that works to enhance the quality of
life for children and families in some of New York
City's most devastated neighborhoods. Formerly
known as Rheedlen Centers for Children and
Families, HCZ, Inc.'s 15 centers serve more than
12,500 children and adults, including over 8,600
at-risk children. The emphasis of The Children's
Zone work is not just on education, social service
and recreation, but on rebuilding the very fabric of
c o m m u n i t y l i f e . .

NLEN and Sweet Beginnings, LLC
Brenda Palms-Barber, CEO
Sweet Beginnings is a producer of natural honey-based personal care
products and premium honey. Sweet Beginnings is a Chicagobased
corporation owned by the North Lawndale Employment Network
(NLEN). The company was originally started in 2004 as a
transitional jobs program for former offenders. The success of the
program spawned the formation of the Beeline brand. The program
boasts a 3% recidivism rates versus an average rate of 80+% in most
rehabilitation programs.

WILKIN SOLAR

Wilkin Solar opportunity - challenge
Opportunity
• 56% of Ghana householdswith no access to electricity (usekeroseneand
candles)
– 23% in urban communities, the rest in rural communities
Challenge
• Uncertainty in market acceptanceof products
• Lack of existingcredit facilitiesin rural areas to facilitateupfrontconsumer
paymentsforpurchases

What are the implications of
different types of social innovation?
• What is the relationship between boundary spanning social
innovation and social impacts?
• Is the level of social innovation is related to the level of the
social impact?
• Possible answers:
– Moreinnovativesocialventureshavemore targeted social impact.
– Less innovativehavebroadersocial impact.
– Is therea hidden cost of social innovation?

SUSTAINABILITY
FINANCIAL SUSTAINABILITY

NLEN and Sweet Beginnings, LLC
Brenda Palms-Barber, CEO
Sweet Beginnings is a producer of natural honey-based personal
care products and premium honey. Sweet Beginnings is a
Chicagobased corporation owned by the North Lawndale
Employment Network (NLEN). The company was originally started
in 2004 as a transitional jobs program for former offenders. The
success of the program spawned the formation of the Beeline brand.
The program boasts a 3% recidivism rates versus an average rate of
80+% in most rehabilitation programs.

(Financial) Sustainability
Is this venture financially viable? Is this venture positioned to
fulfill its mission over the long-term?
A sustainable social venture is financially viable and
positioned to fulfill its mission. Many social ventures
are not sustainable because they rely upon unstable
grant-making or government institutions for their
funding. Alternatively, earned-income or fee-for-
service business model are generally more effective
strategies for social ventures.
How a social venture marshals its resources to
sustainable is an important strategic decision that
often separates traditional non-profit organizations
from social entrepreneurship.

Types of Earned Income
Strategies
• Generate revenue from the products/services provided to the
clients/communities/etc. you serve
(For-profit or nonprofit)
• Generate revenues from products/services provided to the public or
to other companies and organizations
(For-profit or nonprofit)
• Create a for profit organization that is owned by the non-profit
organization (Hybrid)
3

Types of Social Venture Opportunity
Value-based opportunities are those that demonstrate
a clear potential for profit and growth to the
entrepreneur. Although the idea has a social focus,
the primary goal of the entrepreneur is to use this
opportunity to create financial value.
Issue-based opportunities are, on the other hand,
those discovered when the entrepreneurs are not
fiscally driven but are motivated to respond directly
to the social needs of the community.
Simms and Robinson 2009

MEASURING IMPACT

What do social entrepreneurs change?
• They change behavior of people in society
• They change existing condition
• They facilitate changes in future opportunities
• How can these things be tracked? Measured?

Measurement
How does this venture measure its social impact and
evaluate success? Are the measurement tools
appropriate for this type of venture?
Measurement and evaluation are essential to social
entrepreneurship. In addition to the financial metrics
used by traditional ventures, social ventures must
measure their impact and evaluate its effectiveness.
There are many ways to measure and evaluate the
social impact of a venture.
The key is that the social venture is using an
appropriate type of measurement tool that is in line
with their theory of change.

Why Measure?
• Accountability
• Evaluation
• Outcomes and Impacts
• Effectiveness
General Principles
– Outputs vs. Outcomes
– Evaluation vs. measurement

REDF VIDEO

Key Questions for Your Venture
From REDF
• How can we measure the success of our efforts?
• How do we know whether we’re accomplishing what we set out to
do?
• How can we make informed decision about the ongoing use of our
resources?
• How can we test and convince others of what we believe to be true:
that for each dollar invested in our portfolio agencies’ efforts, there
are impressive, quantifiable resulting benefits to individuals and to
society?

In 1997, the agency began a network ofprograms for a 24-block
area: the Harlem Children'sZoneProject. In 2007, the Zone
Project grew to almost 100 blocks and served 7,400 children and
over4,100 adults.
Recent results:
 100% of students in the Harlem Gems pre-Kprogram were found to
be school-ready for the sixth year in a row.
 81% of Baby College parents improved the frequency of reading to
their children
$4.8 million returned to 2,935 Harlem residents as a result of HCZ's
free tax-preparation service
 10,883 numberof youth served by HCZ in 2008
 This year, President Obama announced that HCZ would be used
as the model for a national program to address youth issues in
urban areas.

Wilkin Solar:
Triple Bottom Line Returns
30 jobs
created
3,100 households
with access to
clean energy
105,000 liters of kerosene
offset 2007-2008

Measurement and Evaluation
• Trade-offs and Opportunities
– Short-term vs. Long-term
– Pre/Post Treatment vs. Longitudinal
– Survey vs. Interview
– Self-reported vs. Observed
– Formative vs. Summative
– Evaluation vs. Social Return on Investment
• Question: Do social ventures with multiplepointmeasurementprotocols
and evaluationproceduresreceivebetter funding than thosewithoutthese
protocolsand procedures?

Five Observations about Performance
Management (Acumen)
1. Culture matters far more than systems
2. If you build systems, start with a pencil and paper
3. Think on the margin
4. Count outputs and then worry about outcomes
5. Don’t confuse information with judgment
– “Simple Measures for Social Enterprise” - Telestad

DISCUSSION
What will your next steps be?

Social Entrepreneurship
jrobinson@business.rutgers.edu
Twitter: @jrobinsonphd
Search for Jeffrey Robinson

Social Entrepreneurship
Assistant Professor and Assistant Director
The Center for Urban Entrepreneurship & Economic
Development
November 2010

Social Impact Lessons

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